Yousefi, S; Hegazy, T; Capuru̧o, R A C and Attalla, M (2008) System of multiple anns for online planning of numerous building improvements. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 134(5), pp. 342-351. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The aging infrastructure in North America and worldwide mandates large investments in repair and improvement (R&I) activities. For organizations that own many assets, managing a large number of R&I activities is not a simple task and requires accurate estimating and scheduling so that proper budgeting and resource allocation decisions can be made. To support these decisions, this paper introduces a Web-based system that estimates the cost and duration of a user-requested R&I activity and provides alternative schedules based on resource availability. For estimating, the Web-based system hosts 32 artificial neural networks (ANNs), trained on actual historical data, for 32 common R&I activities in building projects. Each ANN incorporates a sensitivity analysis to consider the uncertainty in the input parameters on the estimate, and is linked to a central scheduling algorithm for resource allocation based on a first-come first-serve basis. The automated system helps practitioners in planning numerous R&I requests with least time, cost, and paper work. Details on system development are provided in this paper along with perceived benefits and the opinion of users on its performance.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | computer applications; estimation; infrastructure; maintenance costs; reconstruction; scheduling |
| Index terms: | web-based system, budgeting, artificial neural network, mandate, sensitivity analysis, scheduling, repair, estimating, practitioner, computer application, estimation, reconstruction, resource allocation, estimate, duration, maintenance cost |
| Subjects: | project controls, building construction, environmental hazards, political science, financial management, maintenance engineering, software systems, digital technology, operations research, modelling and simulation, financial and cost management, resource management, practitioner |
| Topics: | Governance, Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Site Management, Time Control, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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