Analysis of the Transmission of Project Duration and Cost Impacts Based on the GERT Network Technique

In engineering projects, project duration and a cost increase occur in every phase and will propagate their impacts downstream. Associated with the compensation of project duration, the duration and cost impacts are transferred among phases. In this paper, after illustrating the transmission of project duration and cost impacts, we will use the risk transmission theory and GERT (Graphic Evaluation and Review Technique) network technique to build a transmission model. We have designed equivalent parameters of project duration and cost impacts in the GERT model for serial, parallel, and hybrid structures. The algorithm of the GERT network for project cost and duration transmission is analyzed. The effectiveness of this model and algorithm is proved by numerical examples. This paper provides a new analytical method for cost and duration control of engineering projects.