Site‐Layout Modeling: How Can Artificial Intelligence Help?
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 118, Issue 3
Abstract
Using the site‐layout task as an example to compare existing practices and tools used in industry and research environments, this paper puts artificial intelligence (AI) modeling techniques in perspective. The site‐layout task is characterized, field practice is described, and a thorough review of available tools for layout product modeling (including physical models and computer‐aided design tools) and process modeling (using AI as well as operations research methods) is presented. A rationale is provided for why many such tools have failed to gain widespread use in the construction industry. Comparing the capabilities as well as the data and knowledge needs of computer programs with those of construction practitioners reveals a large discrepancy, which is also apparent when fitting the layout literature in a comprehensive table. This paper argues that AI‐based systems can reduce this discrepancy by better matching model capabilities with industry needs, and, therefore, suggests that such models will become valuable decision‐support tools for construction management.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
“Associated specialty contractors temporary job utilities and services.” (1973). National Joint Guideline, NJG‐6, Associated General Contractors, 2, Washington, D.C.
2.
Andre, J.‐M. (1986). “CADOO, a knowledge‐based system for space allocation.” Second Int. Expert Systems Conf., 399–409.
3.
Armour, G. C., and Buffa, E. S. (1963). “A heuristic algorithm and simulation approach to relative location of facilities.” Mgmt. Sci., 9(2), 294–309.
4.
Balkany, A., Birmingham, W. P., and Tommelein, I. D. (1991). “A knowledge‐level analysis of several design tools.” Proc. of the First Int. Conf. on Artificial Intelligence in Design, AID 91, Butterworth‐Heinemann, Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom.
5.
Baykan, C. A., and Fox, M.S. (1987). “An investigation of opportunistic constraint satisfaction in space planning.” Proc. Int. Joint Conf. on Artificial Intelligence, Morgan Kaufmann, Los Altos, Calif., 1035–1038.
6.
Bohinsky, J. A., and Fails, D. W. (1991). “Computer‐aided rigging design system.” Proc. 7th Conf. on Computing in Civil Engineering and Database Symp., L. F. Cohn, and W. Rasdorf, eds., ASCE, New York, N.Y., 710–718.
7.
Bozer, Y. A., Meller, R. D., and Erlebacher, S. J. (1991). “An improvement‐type layout algorithm for multiple floor facilities.” Tech. Report 91‐11, Univ. of Michigan, Dept. of Industrial and Operations Engrg., Ann Arbor, Mich.
8.
Buffa, E. S., Armour, G. C., and Vollman, T. E. (1964). “Allocating facilities with craft.” Harvard Business Review, 42, March/April, 136–158.
9.
Chandler, I. E. (1978). “The planning and storage of materials on site.” Building Tech. and Mgmt., October 14–16.
10.
Cleveland, A. B. Jr. (1990). “Real‐time animation of construction activities.” Excellence in the constructed project, Proc. Construction Congress I, R. J. Bard, ed., ASCE, New York, N.Y., 238–243.
11.
Dressel, G. (1963). Arbeitstechnische Merkblätter für den Baubetrieb. Forschungsgemeinschaft Bauen und Wohnen, IFA‐Verlag Stuttgart, West Germany, 3, Auflage, (in German).
12.
Driscoll, J., and Sangi, N. A. (1986). The development of computer aided facilities layout (C.A.F.L.) systems—International survey 1985–86—Survey report and results. The Univ. of Liverpool, Liverpool, U.K.
13.
Eastman, C. M. (1972). “Preliminary report on a system for general space planning.” Commun. ACM, 15(2), 76–87.
14.
Eastman, C. M. (1973). “Automated space planning.” Artif. Intell., 4, 41–64.
15.
Eastman, C. M., ed. (1975). Spatial synthesis in computer‐aided building design. Halsted Press, New York, N.Y.
16.
Feigenbaum, E. A. (1977). “The art of artificial intelligence: Themes and case studies of knowledge engineering.” Proc. Int. Joint Conf. on Artificial Intelligence, Morgan Kaufmann, Los Altos, Calif.
17.
Fenves, S. J., Flemming, U., Hendrickson, C., Maher, M. L., and Schmidt, G. (1988). “An integrated software environment for building design and construction.” Proc. of the Seventh Conf. on Computing in Civ. Engrg., ASCE, New York, N.Y., 21–32.
18.
Fisher, E. L. (1984). “Knowledge‐based facilities design,” PhD thesis, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, Ind.
19.
Flemming, U., Coyne, R. F., Glavin, T., Hsi, H., and Rychener, M. D. (1989). A generative expert system for the design of building layouts (final report). Engrg. Design Res. Ctr., Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, Pa.
20.
Foulds, L. R. (1983). “Techniques for facilities layout: Deciding which pairs of activities should be adjacent.” Mgmt. Sci., 29, 1414–1426.
21.
Foulds, L. R., Gibbons, P. B., and Giffin, J. W. (1985). “Facilities layout adjacency determination: An experimental comparison of three graph theoretic heuristics.” Oper. Res., 33(5), 1091–1106.
22.
Foulds, L. R., and Robinson, D. F. (1963). “Graph‐theoretic heuristics for the plant layout problem.” Int. J. of Production Res., 16, 27–37.
23.
Francis, R. L., and White, J. A. (1974). Facility layout and location. Prentice‐Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
24.
Furusaka, S., and Gray, C. (1984). “A model for the selection of the optimum crane for construction sites.” Constr. Mgmt. Economics, 2, 157–176.
25.
Garey, M. R., and Johnson, D. S. (1979). Computers and intractability, a guide to the theory of NP‐completeness. W. H. Freeman and Co., N.Y.
26.
Gates, M. and Scarpa, A. (1978). “Optimum location of construction haul roads.” J. Constr. Div., ASCE, 104(4), 395–407.
27.
Gray, C., and Little, J. (1985). “A systematic approach to the selection of an appropriate crane for a construction site.” Constr. Mgmt. Economics, 3, 121–144.
28.
Hamiani, A. (1987). “CONSITE: A knowledge‐based expert system framework for construction site layout,” PhD thesis, Univ. of Texas, Austin, Texas.
29.
Hamiani, A., and Popescu, C. (1988). “CONSITE: A knowledge‐based expert system of site layout.” ASCE Proc. 5th Conf. Computing in Civil Engrg.: Microcomputers to Supercomputers, ASCE, New York, N.Y.
30.
Handa, V., and Lang, B. (1987). Site planning elements. Univ. of Waterloo, Constr. Mgmt. Group and Constr. Safety Association of Ontario, Ontario, Canada.
31.
Handa, V., and Lang, B. (1988). “Construction site planning.” Constr. Canada, 88(5), 43–49.
32.
Handa, V., and Lang, B. (1989). “Construction site efficiency.” Constr. Canada, 89(1), 40–48.
33.
Henderson, E. M. (1976). “The use of scale models in construction management.” Tech. Report No. 213, Stanford Univ., The Constr. Inst., Stanford, Calif.
34.
Hollnagel, E., Mancini, G., and Woods, D. D., eds. (1986). Intelligent decision support in process environments. Springer‐Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany.
35.
Howard, H. C., Levitt, R. E., Paulson, B. C., Pohl, J. G., and Tatum, C. B. (1989). “Computer‐integration: Reducing fragmentation in the AEC industry.” J. Comp. Civ. Engrg., ASCE, 3(1), 18–32.
36.
Johnson, R. V. (1982). “SPACECRAFT for multi‐floor layout planning.” Mgmt. Sci., 28(4), 407–417.
37.
Kirkpatrick, S., Gelatt, C. D., and Vecchi, M. P. (1983). “Optimization by simulated annealing.” Sci., 220(4598), 671–680.
38.
Kusiak, A., and Heragu, S. S. (1987). “The facility layout problem.” Eur. J. Oper. Res., 29, 229–251.
39.
Lee, R. C., and Moore, J. M. (1967). “CORELAP‐computerized relationship layout planning.” J. Ind. Engrg., 18(3), 195–200.
40.
Maher, R. H., and Stark, R. M. (1981) “Earthmoving logistics.” J. Constr. Div., ASCE, 107(2), 197.
41.
Meller, R. D., and Bozer, Y. A. (1991). “Solving the facility layout problem with simulated annealing.” Tech. Report 91‐20, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
42.
Moore, J., (1971). “Computer program evaluates plant layout alternatives.” Ind. Engrg., 3(80), 19–25.
43.
Moore, J. (1980). “Computer methods in facility layout.” Ind. Engrg., 19, 82–93.
44.
Muther, R. (1961). Systematic layout planning. Industrial Education Inst., Boston, Mass.
45.
Neil, J. M. (1980). “Teaching site layout for construction.” ASCE Convention and Exposition, ASCE, New York, N.Y.
46.
Neil, J. M. (1982). Steam‐electric generating station construction. M‐K Power Group, Boise, Idaho, 7‐11–7‐29.
47.
Newell, A. (1981). “The Knowledge Level.” AI Mag., 2(2), 1–20, 33.
48.
Parsons, R. M., and Pachuta, J. D. (1980). “System for material movement to work areas.” J. Constr. Div., ASCE, 106(1), 55–71.
49.
Pfeffercorn, C. E. (1975). “The design problem solver: A system for designing equipment or furniture layouts.” Spatial synthesis in computer‐aided building design, C. M. Eastman, ed., Halsted Press, New York, N.Y., 98–146.
50.
Popescu, C. (1978). “Large construction site design and organization in developing countries.” SAE Paper No. 780533, Soc. of Automotive Engrs. (SAE).
51.
Popescu, C. (1980a). “Construction site population: Estimating the size and structure.” Proc. of the 8th CIB Congress, Int. Council for Building Res. Studies and Documentation (CIB), Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
52.
Popescu, C. (1980b). “Temporary facilities‐utilities designing steps.” ASCE Convention and Exposition, ASCE, New York, N.Y.
53.
Popescu, C. (1981). “Managing temporary facilities for large projects.” Proc. of the PMI and INTERNET Joint Symp., Project Mgmt. Inst. (PMI), Drexel Hill, Pa., 170–173, 28–30.
54.
Popescu, C. (1986). “Steps and criteria in designing temporary facilities in Romania.” Proc. CIB‐W65, Int. Council for Building Res. Studies and Documentation (CIB), Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
55.
Rad, P. F. (1982). “A graphic approach to construction job‐site planning.” Cost Engrg., 24(4), 211–217.
56.
Rad, P. F., and James, B. M. (1983). “The layout of temporary construction facilities.” Cost Engrg., 25(2), 19–26.
57.
Reference fossil power plant models. (1978). Stone & Webster Engrg. Corp., Boston, Mass.
58.
Reinschmidt, K. F., and Zabilski, R. J. (1990). “Applications of computer graphics in construction.” Excellence in the Constructed Project., Proc. Constr. Congress I, R. J. Bard, ed., ASCE, New York, N.Y., 137–142.
59.
Rodriguez‐Ramos, W. E. (1982). “Quantitative techniques for construction site layout planning,” PhD thesis, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
60.
Rodriguez‐Ramos, W. E., and Francis, R. L. (1983). “Single crane location optimization.” J. Constr. Div., ASCE, 109(4), 387–397.
61.
Roth, J., and Hashimshony, R. (1988). “Algorithms in graph theory and their use for solving problems in architectural design.” CAD, 20(7), 373–381.
62.
Seehof, J. M., and Evans, W. O. (1967). “Automated layout design program.” J. of Ind. Engrg., 18, 690–695.
63.
Scriabin, R. C., and Vergin, R. C. (1975). “Comparison of computer algorithms and visual based methods for plant layout.” Mgmt. Sci., 22(2), 172–181.
64.
Stark, R. M., and Mayer, R. H. (1983). Quantitative construction management: Uses of linear optimization. John Wiley & Sons, New York, N.Y.
65.
Tatum, C. B., and Harris, J. A. (1981). “Construction plant requirements for nuclear sites.” J. Constr. Div., ASCE, 107(4), 543–550.
66.
3D Design System Users Manual, Overview of Bechtel 3D Design System (Version 1.1). (1988). Bechtel Power Corp., Gaithersburg, Md.
67.
Tommelein, I. D. (1989). “SightPlan—An expert system that models and augments human decision‐making for designing construction site layouts,” PhD thesis, Stanford Univ., Stanford, Calif.
68.
Tommelein, I. D., Levitt, R. E., Hayes‐Roth, B., and Confrey, T. (1991). “SightPlan experiments: Alternate strategies for site layout design.” J. Comp. Civ. Engrg., ASCE, 5(1), 42–63.
69.
Tommelein, I. D., Johnson, M. V. Jr., Hayes‐Roth, B., and Levitt, R. E. (1987a). “SIGHTPLAN: A blackboard expert system for construction site layout.” Expert Systems in Computer‐Aided Design, J. S. Gero, ed., North‐Holland, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 153–167.
70.
Tommelein, I. D., Levitt, R. E., and Hayes‐Roth, B. (1987b). “Using expert systems for the layout of temporary facilities on construction sites.” Managing construction worldwide, Vol. 1, Systems for managing construction, P. R. Lansley and P. A. Harlow, eds., E. & F. N. Spon, London, U.K. 566–577.
71.
Tompkins, J. A., and White, J. A. (1984). Facilities planning. John Wiley & Sons, New York, N.Y.
72.
Vollman, T. E., and Buffa, E. S. (1966). “The facilities layout problem in perspective.” Mgmt. Sci., 12(10), B‐450–B‐468.
73.
Warszawski, A. (1973). “Multi‐dimensional location problems.” Oper. Res. Q., 24(2), 165–179.
74.
Warszawski, A. (1990). “Expert systems for crane selection.” Constr. Mgmt. Economics, 8, 179–190.
75.
Warszawski, A., and Peer, S. (1973). “Optimizing the location of facilities on a building site.” Oper. Res. Q., 24(1), 35–44.
76.
Weidemier, J. (1986). “Layout of power station construction sites.” ESAA Conf., The Queensland Electricity Commission, Australia, 6B.1–6B.9.
77.
Weinzapfel, G., and Handel, S. (1975). “IMAGE: Computer assistant for architectural design.” Spatial synthesis in computer‐aided building design, C. M. Eastman, Halsted Press, New York, N.Y.
78.
Whitehead, B., and Elders, M. (1965). “The planning of single‐storey layouts.” Building Sci., 1(2), 127–139.
79.
Woods, D. D. (1986). “Cognitive technologies: The design of joint human‐machine cognitive systems.” AI Mag., 6(4), 86–92.
80.
Yoshida, K., Kobayashi, Y., Ueda, Y., Tanaka, H., Muto, S., and Yoshizawa, J. (1986). “Knowledge‐based layout design system for industrial plants.” Proc. Fall Joint Comp. Conf., IEEE Comp. Soc., 216–222.
81.
Zabilski, R. J., and Hall, H. E. (1989). “Presented in 3‐D.” Civ. Engrg., ASCE, 59(6), 48–50, June.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 118 • Issue 3 • September 1992
Pages: 594 - 611
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 ASCE.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1992
Published in print: Sep 1992
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.