Identification of Invariant Average Weighted Haul Distance to Simplify Earthmoving Simulation Modeling in Planning Site Grading Operations

This research is intended to generate relevant and quantitative decision support based on limited data and information available in the context of planning earthmoving operations at the site-grading design or early project planning stage. The researchers apply and extend the concept of haul effort in a two-axis grid. This enables calculation of the average weighted haul distance, which is shown to be invariant by conducting simulation experiments using a heuristic algorithm and making a quantitative comparison to the center of mass for a rigid body. This research applies the discrete event simulation approach commonly used to model the handling of multiple earthmoving jobs in a grading site, each job having a particular haul distance. The significant and unique contribution that has been made in this research is to substitute one unique average weighted haul distance for multiple haul distances between numerous cut and fill cells in the site grid system as simulation modeling input. When the same fleet is applied in both detailed and simplified simulation models, the question of validation concerns whether the simplified model still maintains the accuracy of the detailed model. Using a simple test problem and a real-world case, the researchers validate the proposed method and demonstrate the benefits of applying simulation for construction planning without incurring the previously necessary and prohibitively high cost associated with constructing detailed simulation models.