Liu, W (2008) Systems theory based method for construction project planning. PhD thesis, University of Florida, USA.
Abstract
A variety of methods have already been developed in the past for planning and scheduling construction projects, including the CPM method, the LSM method and the simulation methods. One of the biggest problems with the existing methods is that each of them has a limited scope of application, yet most construction projects have mixed features that extend beyond the boundaries of the individual tools. Second, all of the existing methods have some fundamental limitations that restricted their abilities in the modeling of many realistic situations. Thirdly, the existing methods are becoming more and more complicated to learn and to use. This study aims to develop a new planning and scheduling method that is simple in form, powerful in function, and universally applicable to all types of construction projects. The proposed method is based on the system theory and formalized with the DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification) specification. A set of graphical modeling elements have been designed so the user can easily utilize the full capacity of this method without any specialized knowledge in the underlying theory or any computer languages. The proposed method has been applied to four real-world projects including a typical regular project, a typical linear project, a typical repetitive project and a project of mixed features. By comparing these models with those built with the existing methods, it was demonstrated that the proposed method has advantages in the scope of application, accuracy of modeling, form of representation and multi-level modeling.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Issa, R R |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | accuracy; systems theory; construction project; project planning; scheduling; simulation |
| Index terms: | scheduling, specification, accuracy, construction project, project planning, boundaries, systems theory, discrete event system, becoming, repetitive project, modelling |
| Subjects: | professional development, production management, contractual condition, theoretical framing, philosophical process, control systems, analytical methods, property law, operations research, modelling and simulation |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Project Management, Legal Issues, Information Management, Research Practice, Digital Applications, Contract Administration, Time Control |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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