Automated Tower Crane Planning Leveraging BIM and Rule-Based Checking

Tower cranes are common equipment on building construction projects used to facilitate lifting tasks. Designers need to identify feasible alternatives that meet expectations with respect to project schedule, cost, and safety. The status quo of tower crane planning relies on 2D drawings and planners’ comprehension of site conditions to generate site-specific constraints, which would define the feasibility of tower crane plans. Consequently, the planning process lacks accuracy, efficiency, and consistency. Tower crane constraints need to be transformed to facilitate customization and implementation from one project to another, so that the planning process is consistent and the outcome is accurate. This research introduces an automated tower crane planning approach, that leverages building information modeling (BIM) and rule-based checking to realize the transition from 2D, ad-hoc planning to 3D and semi-automated planning. The feasibility of integrating rule-based design and 3D BIM modeling for tower crane planning is demonstrated, with high recall in initial tests. The capability to handle more complex problems is promising and will be tested in a follow up study.