Automatic Planning for Cable Crane Operations in Concrete Dam Construction
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 150, Issue 12
Abstract
Cable cranes serve as critical lifting equipment in large-scale construction projects such as dam construction, bridge building, and mining. Particularly in concrete dam construction, cable cranes are the preferred equipment for transporting concrete due to their flexible spatial moving capacity and large-span coverage. However, because of the narrow dam construction site, the intensive and concurrent transportation activities of the cable crane group are proven to cause space conflicts, resulting in low operation efficiency. Effective planning of cable crane operations is conducive to accelerating construction progress, improving the productivity of cable cranes, and ensuring a safe construction scenario. The planning of cable crane operations involves task allocation in collaborative construction (among several cable cranes) and parallel scheduling under complex spatial constraints. This paper develops an automatic planning system for cable crane operations in concrete dam construction that can directly output the optimal transportation plan of cable cranes, requiring only the input of relevant construction parameters. First, a two-sided matching model is proposed to address the task allocation problem among cable cranes. Second, a simulation model for the concrete transportation process of the cable crane group is established to solve the parallel scheduling problem and avoid collisions. Third, an improved ant colony algorithm is proposed that constructs initial solutions based on the two-sided matching model, calculates key construction indicators using the simulation model, and applies a multiobjective decision making method to find the optimal solution. Finally, an actual dam construction case validates the superiority and reliability of this proposed method. Compared with the conventional engineering approaches, the planning results of this proposed method demonstrate a 12% reduction in pouring duration and a 25% enhancement in the utilization balance of cable cranes, effectively increasing productivity and accelerating construction progress.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This study is sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51779131).
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Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 150 • Issue 12 • December 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 27, 2024
Accepted: Jul 8, 2024
Published online: Sep 27, 2024
Published in print: Dec 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Feb 27, 2025
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