Repetitive project planner: Resource-driven scheduling for repetitive construction projects

Construction contractors often encounter projects with repetitive units, such as floors in multistory buildings or stations in highways. In these types of repetitive projects, crews of resources (labor and equipment) perform similar or identical work repeatedly from one unit to the next creating the need for a construction schedule that facilitates the uninterrupted flow of resources eliminating unforced idleness and ensuring work continuity.; This research developed and validated the Repetitive Scheduling Method (RSM), a new computational algorithm to generate easy-to-understand graphical representations in the form of production diagrams. RSM is a repetitive scheduling system that provides the necessary activity and precedence link (relationship) types to model real-life projects. The necessary activity types are three and include line, block, and bar activities. Precedence link types include time-controlled (global and local), distance-controlled, and continuity relationships.; RSM is described in detail to allow implementation. It treats various scheduling concerns, such as (1) relationships between activities may be time-controlled or distance-controlled, (2) a lead-distance may be non-integer, (3) preceding and succeeding crews may change production rates at different locations, (4) activities may have different work directions, (5) crews may skip certain units and take break between units, and (6) activities may be controlled by local and not just by global relationships. RSM automatically generates graphical schedules and hence provides the visual benefit of important production information (locations and production rates of crews).; RSM generates important controlling information for each activity (i.e., which predecessor controls the activity via which relationship at which repetitive unit), based on which RSM introduces the new concept of a controlling sequence and distinguishes that from critical activities. Four types of activities are identified depending on whether they belong to the controlling sequence and whether they are critical.; Repetitive Project Planner (RP2) is a prototype implementation of the RSM algorithm and runs under Windows. To validate the RSM algorithm, RP2 has been used to schedule three real-life projects and demonstrated the ability to handle all practical situations. These projects include a 1,000-meter steel pipeline, a five-mile highway rehabilitation, and a community with four four-story apartment buildings.