Construction scheduling using Genetic Algorithm based on Building Information Model

The construction project schedule is one of the most important tools for project managers in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry that makes them able to track and manage the time, cost, and quality (a.k.a. Project Management Triangle) of projects. Developing project schedules is almost always troublesome, since it is heavily dependent on project planners' knowledge of work packages, on-the-job-experience, planning capability and oversight. Having a thorough understanding of the project geometries and their internal interacting stability relations plays a significant role in generating practical construction sequencing. On the other hand, the new concept of embedding all the project information into a 3-dimensional representation of a project (a.k.a. Building Information Model or BIM) has recently drawn attention to the construction industry. In this paper, the authors demonstrate a novel approach of retrieving enough information from the BIM of a project and then develop construction sequencing for the installation of the project elements. For this reason a computer application is developed that can automatically derive a structurally (statically) stable construction sequence, using the concept of the Genetic Algorithm (GA). The term structurally stable sequencing in this article refers to the sequencing order of erection in which the structure remains statically stable locally and globally during the entire installation process. To validate the proposed methodology, the authors designed 21 different experiments and used the proposed method for generating stable construction schedules, which all were successfully accomplished. Therefore, this methodology proposes a novel approach of construction project application of the GA, as an Expert System tool. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.