Optimized Planning Approach for Multiple Tower Cranes and Material Supply Points Using Mixed-Integer Programming
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146, Issue 3
Abstract
It is common to implement multiple tower cranes on building construction projects. The plan for usage of multiple tower cranes should be optimized for better project performance, such as reduced cost or operation time. Optimization of plans for multiple cranes is complex, especially when considering the supply of transported material (e.g., location, quantity, material type), as well as assigning lift tasks among tower cranes that are in range. This study developed a mathematic formulation that can solve this optimization problem using mixed-integer programming. The formulation introduces several binary variables and restricts the domain of the indices of these variables using an additional set of auxiliary variables. The proposed model contributes to the body of knowledge by showing the feasibility of using mixed-integer-programming techniques to solve the optimization problem of multiple tower cranes and their supply systems. The findings also demonstrate that when a multiple tower crane problem is concerned, optimizing each piece of equipment individually could lead to suboptimal solutions. Specifically, the operation time drops by 6.8% and the operation cost decreases by 3.6% in the two-tower crane case study example. The proposed model can also assist engineers with assessing a large number of alternative plans, which are heavily needed in preconstruction planning, where site layout is preliminary.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 3 • March 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 26, 2019
Accepted: Aug 8, 2019
Published online: Jan 9, 2020
Published in print: Mar 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Jun 9, 2020
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