Computer Based Linear Scheduling Application for Highway Construction Planning

Since the early 1960s many techniques have been developed to plan and schedule linear construction projects. However the bar charts and the network diagrams overshadowed the others. As a result, these techniques developed into powerful and effective tools that are today. However, those techniques are suitable for many types of projects but they do not fit for linear constructions. Linear projects are typified by activities that must be repeated in different locations such as highways, railways, and airports. Road construction works can be divided into three main categories: earthworks, pavement laying and structure building. By earthworks we mean all those works aiming at modifying the ground morphology, whether this is done on the ground surface (diggings or excavations and embankments), underground (trench digging, wells and tunnels) or underwater (structures being built by permanently working under the water level). Pavement laying consists of using materials whose properties have been normalized using complex techniques. Instead, building protection and completion structures means working at erecting constructions such as supporting walls, bridges, overpasses, side ditches, road drain wells etc. Recently, there has been renewed interest in linear scheduling. Much of this interest has involved a technique called linear scheduling method. Only recently has there been the ability to calculate the controlling activities of a linear schedule, independent of network analysis. In this paper the authors propose the results of a computer based linear scheduling application for highway construction project management. The ultimate product of this research is a Linear Scheduling prototype (UNaLSS – University of Naples Linear Scheduling Software) comprised of models, procedures and software tools that allow for implementation of the linear scheduling method. This software is able to allow planners to visually plan highway construction projects, to calculate the controlling activity path of such schedules and to print reports of the status of the schedule. The paper describes the software that was developed by the research, its documentation and example for an Italian case study that was scheduled using this prototype. In addition to the software, the authors propose to road agencies and contractors the utilization of linear scheduling for highway construction management. With this computer tool, road agencies will be able to integrate the software with its current project management tools improving the existing methods. For complete implementation of UNaLSS additional modules and further research have to be developed. Two of the proposed modules are the cost and resource analysis modules, which would allow project schedulers to calculate the minimum additional cost to reduce project delays and to optimise resource allocation. This additional capability will provide the linear scheduling method with the statistical analysis tools comparable to those of network diagrams.