An essential skill required from construction managers is the ability to choose the most appropriate construction method and combination of productive resources for a given project. The choice made will affect the rate of progress and therefore the cost of an operation. In order to study the productivity and resource efficiency of construction operations, one has to consider the role of a wide variety of factors. Usually, the complexity of construction systems is such that it is difficult to make the best choice by intuition. Computer-based stochastic simulation is potentially one of the most powerful modelling techniques available for analysing construction activities. This sort of simulations model the systems by directly recognising the inherent randomness in the times required to carry out each individual activity. Recently, a graphical based simulation program called ICONS (Interactive CONstruction Simulation) was developed at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology for analysing construction processes. The development of ICONS modelling technique and the accompanying software for model building and running has made the use of simulation as a management tool in the construction industry much more feasible. This paper describes the modelling of concreting operation of reinforced concrete slabs. The modelling process is considered to be cycles of operations, forming a network through points of interaction. The model built is experimented with for various combinations of different productive resource capacities and different values of the haul distance. The model enables the construction managers to experiment on it, in order to find the best combination of productive resources and best site layout which would produce greater productivity.

purchase the full-text of this paper (price £20)

go to the previous paper
go to the next paper
return to the table of contents
return to the book description
purchase this book (price £55 +P&P)