Zheng, D X M; Ng, S T and Kumaraswamy, M M (2002) Applying genetic algorithm techniques for time-cost optimization. In: Greenwood, D (ed.) Proceedings of 18th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2002, Northumbria, UK.
Abstract
Completing a construction project with the least time and cost is critical in a competitive environment. However, shortening the duration of any construction activity usually requires the engagement of additional labour and plant or the adoption of alternative construction techniques, and these usually add extra cost liabilities to the contractor. To minimize the total costs associated with schedule compression, contractors are often urged to establish the optimal time-cost relationships for construction activities when planning decisions are made. Several analytical models have been developed for time-cost optimization. Despite that, difficulties are still being encountered in construction Time-Cost Optimization (TCO), as there is a lack of unique solutions for integrating constraints associated with the time and cost requirements. Being a powerful tool to locate the global optimum (rather than local optimum), the Genetic Algorithms (GA) could be used to establish the fitness of solutions by evaluating the objective function and its constraints. In this paper, the analytical power of the GA is compared with other techniques proposed for TCO. The results indicate that the GA techniques could generate the most optimal outcome for construction TCO, especially when the project is large and/or complex.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction cost; genetic algorithm; optimization; time-cost trade-off; time duration |
| Index terms: | liability, genetic algorithm, cost optimization, construction activity, construction cost, construction project, time-cost trade-off, schedule compression, construction time, duration, analytical model |
| Subjects: | theoretical framing, quantity surveying, algorithms, economics, production management, project controls, liability law, operations research, construction operations, financial and cost management |
| Topics: | Time Control, Site Management, Digital Applications, Legal Issues, Risk Management, Cost Management, Research Practice, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here