Simulation of Breakwater Construction
Introduction
Construction of breakwater involves wide range of activities that need transportation of resources from wide range of sources. Moreover, since most of the materials required for construction have to be carried to the site of construction by ships and barges, it will not be economical to transport materials as and when required as in land constructions. So it is necessary to plan activities in a way that would minimize the number of cycles required for barges, which further are limited by their carrying capacity and availability.
At the same time, the duration required for project completion gets increased if the number of barges used are reduced, which further may increase overhead costs and liquidated damages, if applicable. Also there are many other technical and construction issues which influence the cost of construction. It would be beneficial from a project’s perspective to optimize the time and cost of the total project so that it finally benefits the profitability and efficiency of the project.
Objective and scope
The main objective of this project is to apply simulation in optimizing the cycle time and logistics of various activities involved in construction of a breakwater. The main benefit of this simulation analysis is a detailed look at the techniques for improving breakwater construction
The scope of this project is limited to breakwater construction sites. The project scope includes modeling, simulation and optimization of construction methods used in breakwater
Methodology
In this project suitable simulation techniques are used to model the construction of a breakwater and capture the uncertainties in the construction methods. Optimization is done with the help of software like EZstrobe which use Monte Carlo simulation to simulate the activities and suggest improvements. Application of Heuristic methods and Genetic algorithm to arrive at improvements is suggested.
Data and facilities required
• Productivity, Cycle time,
Construction of breakwater involves wide range of activities that need transportation of resources from wide range of sources. Moreover, since most of the materials required for construction have to be carried to the site of construction by ships and barges, it will not be economical to transport materials as and when required as in land constructions. So it is necessary to plan activities in a way that would minimize the number of cycles required for barges, which further are limited by their carrying capacity and availability.
At the same time, the duration required for project completion gets increased if the number of barges used are reduced, which further may increase overhead costs and liquidated damages, if applicable. Also there are many other technical and construction issues which influence the cost of construction. It would be beneficial from a project’s perspective to optimize the time and cost of the total project so that it finally benefits the profitability and efficiency of the project.
Objective and scope
The main objective of this project is to apply simulation in optimizing the cycle time and logistics of various activities involved in construction of a breakwater. The main benefit of this simulation analysis is a detailed look at the techniques for improving breakwater construction
The scope of this project is limited to breakwater construction sites. The project scope includes modeling, simulation and optimization of construction methods used in breakwater
Methodology
In this project suitable simulation techniques are used to model the construction of a breakwater and capture the uncertainties in the construction methods. Optimization is done with the help of software like EZstrobe which use Monte Carlo simulation to simulate the activities and suggest improvements. Application of Heuristic methods and Genetic algorithm to arrive at improvements is suggested.
Data and facilities required
• Productivity, Cycle time,