An Expert Systems Approach to Highway Construction Scheduling

Slattery, Dianne K.; Slattery, Kerry T.; Bruce, Richard D.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/45818 Copy

Description

Title

An Expert Systems Approach to Highway Construction Scheduling

Author(s)

• Slattery, Dianne K.
• Slattery, Kerry T.
• Bruce, Richard D.

Issue Date

2011-09

Keyword(s)

Highway construction scheduling, ICSES, expert systems

Abstract

The goal of this project was to assist design engineers in developing more realistic construction schedules for a wide variety of IDOT projects. The research involved conducting in-depth interviews with subject matter experts in highway construction firms; reviewing the scholarly literature and published research on expert systems in highway construction scheduling and productivity rates for highway construction activities; analyzing historical weather records published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to determine the probable periods during which temperature-sensitive construction operations could be conducted; and synthesizing the expert knowledge developed from all sources in a software tool to assist designers in developing schedules for a variety of typical highway construction activities. The report includes the user manual and documentation for a computer program, the Illinois Construction Scheduling Expert System (ICSES), developed using Visual Studio 2008. ICSES provides 12 road and bridge project templates, each containing typical controlling items and their sequential relationships, links controlling items to the schedule using historical temperature trends at the project location, and provides expert guidance on how to select appropriate production rates for controlling items. The output provides a bar chart schedule with completion date, number of calendar days and working days and tabulates the Estimate of Time Required.

Series/Report Name or Number

FHWA-ICT-11-089

ISSN

0197-9191

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45818

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

Illinois Department of Transportation ICT R27-86

Copyright and License Information

No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161

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