Reduction of Short-Interval GPS Data for Construction Operations Analysis
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 131, Issue 8
Abstract
The systems that historically have been used to collect data for time studies of construction operations are manual in nature and limited to the observer’s field of view. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology incorporated into an onboard instrumentation system can be used to autonomously collect position and velocity data without the field of view limitation. Data must be collected at a short time interval to provide the level of detail necessary for operations analysis. Thus the issue becomes managing the data and identifying the relatively key records that mark the start and stop of activities. A field observer identifies the key times in real time with instantaneous decisions of when one activity stops and the next starts based on enormous volumes of visual information. This work developed a methodology for making equivalent decisions based on GPS data and presents the procedures developed to identify the key records necessary to calculate activity durations. A case study is used to illustrate application of the system to an earthmoving operation. Also, it is postulated how the information can be used in discrete event simulation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Ackroyd, N. (1998). “Earthworks scheduling and monitoring using GPS.” Proc., Trimble User Conf., pp 1–6.
Bjornsson, H. C., and Sagert, P. (1994). “Multimedia based system for analyzing production organizations,” J. Comput. Civ. Eng., Vol. 2, 1405–1411.
Cor, H., and Martinez, J. C. (1999). “A case study in the quantification of a change in the conditions of a highway construction operation.” Proc., Winter Simulation Conf., P. A. Farrington, H. B. Nembhard, D. T. Sturrock, and G. W. Evans, eds., 1007–1009.
Frank, S. (2001). “Field operations analysis laboratory—A tutorial on the review and analysis aspects of operations analysis:” Project and Rep., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, Va.
Ioannou, P. G. (1999). “Construction of a dam embankment with nonstationary queues.” Proc., Winter simulation Conf., P. A. Farrington, H. B. Nembhard, D. T. Sturrock, and G. W. Evans, eds., 921–928.
Ioannou, P. G. and Martinez, J. C. (1996a). “Comparison of construction alternatives using matched simulation experiments.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 122(3), 231–241.
Ioannou, P. G., and Martinez, J. C. (1996b). “Simulation of complex contruction processes.” Proc., Winter Simulation Conf., J. M. Charnes, D. J. Morrice, D. T. Brunner, and J. J. Swain, eds., 1329–1336.
Kannan, G. (1998). “Automated data collection for earthwork estimating.” J. Comput. Civ. Eng., K. Wang, eds., 457–465.
Kannan, G. (1999). “A methodology for the development of a production experience database for earthmoving operations using automated data collection.” PhD dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, Va.
Kannan, G., and Vorster, M. C. (2000). “Development of an experience database for truck loading operations.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 126(3), 201–209.
Martinez, J. C. (1998). “EarthMover—Simulation tool for earthwork planning.” Proc., CIB W78 Conf., Dept. of Construction Management and Economics, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Martinez, J. C., and Ioannou, P. G. (1995). “Advantages of the activity scanning approach in the modeling of complex construction processes.” Proc., Winter Simulation Conf., Society for Computer Simulation, San Diego.
Oglesby, C. H., Parker, H. W., and Howell, G. A. (1989). Productivity improvement in construction, McGray-Hill, New York.
Sangarayakul, B. (1998). “Use of simulation to analyze block manufacturing methods.” MS thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, Va.
Stem, J. (1990). “State plane coordinate system of 1983.” NOAA manual NOS NGS 5, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Rockville, Md.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 131 • Issue 8 • August 2005
Pages: 920 - 927
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 19, 2002
Published online: Aug 1, 2005
Published in print: Aug 2005
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.