LECTURE NOTES

ON
CONSTRUCTION
PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

Construction Engineering and Management

CE 461 CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
Dr.Salah Haj Ismail
i
 CHAPTER 1

PROJECT PLANNING

This chapter deals with preparing projects plans in terms of defining: work breakdown
structure, activities, logical relations, durations and activities direct cost. Terminology of
project planning will be presented and discussed. Project network representation using
different graphical methods including: activity on arrow and activity on node are presented.

1.1 Introduction

Planning is a general term that sets a clear road map that should be followed to reach a
destination. The term, therefore, has been used at different levels to mean different things.
Planning involves the breakdown of the project into definable, measurable, and identifiable
tasks/activities, and then establishes the logical interdependences among them. Generally,
planning answers three main questions:

What is to be done?
How to do it?
Who does it?

In construction, for example, plans may exist at several levels: corporate strategic plans,
pre-tender plans, pre-contract plans, short-term construction plans, and long-term
construction plans. These plans are different from each other; however, all these plans
involve four main steps:

- Performing breakdown of work items involved in the project into activities.

- Identifying the proper sequence by which the activities should be executed.
- Activities representation.
- Estimating the resources, time, and cost of individual activities.

Planning & Scheduling 1 Dr. Emad Elbeltagi

Detailed planning for tendering purposes and the preparation of construction needs to be
conducted through brainstorming sessions among the planning team. The inputs and
outputs of the planning process are shown in Figure 1.1.
Contract information Activities
Drawings Relationships among activities
Specifications Method statement
Available resources Responsibility
PLANNING
Bills of quantities Reporting levels
Site reports Project network diagram
Organizational data Activities duration
Construction methods Activities cost

Figure 1.1: Planning inputs and outputs

Planning requires a rigorous effort by the planning team. A planner should know the
different categories of work and be familiar with the terminology and knowledge used in
general practice. Also, the planning tem should seek the opinion of experts including actual
construction experience. This helps produce a realistic plan and avoids problems later on
site.

1.2 Project Planning Steps

The following steps may be used as a guideline, or checklist to develop a project plan:
1. Define the scope of work, method statement, and sequence of work.
2. Generate the work breakdown structure (WBS) to produce a complete list of
activities.
3. Develop the organization breakdown structure (OBS) and link it with work
breakdown structure o identify responsibilities.

4. Determine the relationship between activities.

5. Estimate activities time duration, cost expenditure, and resource requirement.
6. Develop the project network.

Planning & Scheduling 2 Dr. Emad Elbeltagi

1.2.1 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The WBS is described as a hierarchical structure which is designed to logically subdivide

all the work-elements of the project into a graphical presentation. The full scope of work
for the project is placed at the top of the diagram, and then sub-divided smaller elements
of work at each lower level of the breakdown. At the lowest level of the WBS the elements
of work is called a work package. A list of project’s activities is developed from the work
packages.

Effective use of the WBS will outline the scope of the project and the responsibility for
each work package. There is not necessarily a right or wrong structure because what may
be an excellent fit for one discipline may be an awkward burden for another. To visualize
the WBS, consider Figure 1.2 which shows a house construction project.

House

Civil Plumping Electrical

Foundations Walls/Roof Piping H/C Water Wiring Fittings

Figure 1.2: WBS and their description

As shown in Figure 1.2, level 1 represents the full scope of work for the house. In level 2,
the project is sub-divided into its three main trades, and in level 3 each trade is subdivided
to specific work packages. Figure 1.3 shows another example for more detailed WBS, in
which the project WBS is divided into five levels:

Level 1 Gas development project

Planning & Scheduling 3 Dr. Emad Elbeltagi

Level 2 Recovery unit 300 Process unit 400

Level 3 Train 2 Train 1 Gas treating Separation and stabilization

Level 4 Instrumentation Structural steel Civil Piping

Piping
Level 5 fabrication

Figure 1.3: Five levels WBS

Level 1: The entire project.

Level 2: Independent areas.
Level 3: Physically identifiable sections fully contained in a level 2 area, reflect
construction strategy.
Level 4: Disciplines set up schedule.
Level 5: Master schedule activities, quantity, duration.

Example 1.1:

The WBS for a warehouse is as follow:

For more details, another two levels (third and fourth levels) can be added as shown below:

Planning & Scheduling 4 Dr. Emad Elbeltagi

Accordingly, a complete WBS for the warehouse project can be shown as follow (Figure
1.4):

Figure 1.4: Warehouse project WBS

Planning & Scheduling 5 Dr. Emad Elbeltagi

 WBS and organizational breakdown structure (OBS)

The WBS elements at various levels can be related to the contractor’s organizational
breakdown structure (OBS), which defines the different responsibility levels and
their appropriate reporting needs as shown in Figure 1.5. The figure, also, shows that
work packages are tied to the company unified code of accounts. The unified code of
accounts allows cataloging, sorting, and summarizing of all information. As such, the
activity of installing columns formwork of area 2, for example, which is the
responsibility of the general contractor’s formwork foreman, has a unique code that
represents all its data.

WBS coding

A project code system provides the framework for project planning and control in
which each work package in a WBS is given a unique code that is used in project
planning and control. The coding system provides a comprehensive checklist of all
items of work that can be found in a specific type of construction. Also, it provides
uniformity, transfer & comparison of information among projects. An example of
this coding system is the MasterFormat (Figure 1.6) which was developed through a
joint effort of 8 industry & professional associations including: Construction
Specifications Institute (CSI); and Construction Specifications Canada (CSC). Figure
1.7 shows an example of the coding system using a standardize system as the
MasterFormat. The Master format is divided into 16 divisions as follows:
1) General Requirements.
2) Site work.
3) Concrete.
4) Masonry.
5) Metals.
6) Woods & Plastics.
7) Thermal & Moisture Protection.
8) Doors & Windows.
9) Finishes.

Planning & Scheduling 6 Dr. Emad Elbeltagi

 10) Specialties.
11) Equipment
12) Furnishings.
13) Special Construction.
14) Conveying Systems.
15) Mechanical.
16) Electrical.

1.2.2 Project Activities

The building block (the smallest unit) of a WBS is the activity, which is a unique unit of
the project that has a specified duration. An activity is defined as any function or decision
in the project that: consumes time, resources, and cost. Activities are classified to three
types:

Planning & Scheduling 7 Dr. Emad Elbeltagi

Figure 1.6: MasterFormat coding system
Planning & Scheduling 8 Dr. Emad Elbeltagi
 Production activities: activities that involve the use of resources such as labor,
equipment, material, or subcontractor. This type of activities can be easily
identified by reading the project’s drawings and specifications. Examples are:
excavation, formwork, reinforcement, concreting, etc. each production activity can
have a certain quantity of work, resource needs, costs, and duration.

Procurement activities: activities that specify the time for procuring materials or
equipment that are needed for a production activity. Examples are: brick
procurement, boiler manufacturing and delivery, etc.

Management activities: activities that are related to management decisions such

as approvals, vacations, etc.

An activity can be as small as “steel fixing of first floor columns” or as large as “construct
first floor columns”. This level of details depends on the purpose of preparing the project
plan. In the pre construction stages, less detailed activities can be utilized, however, in the
construction stages, detailed activities are required. Accordingly, level of details depends
on: planning stage, size of the project, complexity of the work, management expertise.

Figure 1.7: An example of an activity coding system

Example 1.2:

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Figure 1.8 shows a double-span bridge. Break the construction works of the bridge into
activities. The plan will be used for bidding purposes.
Hand rail

Road base left Road base right

Deck slab
Precast beams

Figure 1.8: Double span bridge

A list of the double-span bridge activities is shown in Table 1.1

Table 1.1: Activities of the double-span bridge

Activity Description
10 Set-up site
14 Procure reinforcement
16 Procure precast beams
20 Excavate left abutment
30 Excavate right abutment
40 Excavate central pier
50 Foundation left abutment
60 Foundation right abutment
70 Foundation central pier
80 Construct left abutment
90 Construct right abutment
100 Construct central pier
110 Erect left precast beams
120 Erect right precast beams
140 Fill left embankment
150 Fill right embankment
155 Construct deck slab
160 Left road base
170 Right road base
180 Road surface
190 Bridge railing
200 Clear site

Planning & Scheduling 11

1.2.3 Activities Relationships

In order to identify the relationships among activities, the planning team needs to answer
the following questions for each activity in the project:

- Which activities must be finished before the current one can start?
- What activity(ies) may be constructed concurrently with the current one?
- What activity(ies) must follow the current one?

A circle of activity precedence will result in an impossible plan. For example, if activity A
precedes activity B, activity B precedes activity C, and activity C precedes activity A, then
the project can never be started or completed. Figure 1.9 illustrates the resulting activity
network.

Figure 1.9: Example of a circle of activity precedence

Example 1.3:

Suppose that a site preparation and concrete slab foundation construction project consists
of nine different activities:
A. Site clearing (of brush and minor debris),
B. Removal of trees,
C. General excavation,
D. Grading general area,
E. Excavation for utility trenches,
F. Placing formwork and reinforcement for concrete,
G. Installing sewer lines,H. Installing other utilities,
I. Pouring concrete.

Planning & Scheduling 12

Activities A (site clearing) and B (tree removal) do not have preceding activities since they
depend on none of the other activities. We assume that activities C (general excavation)
and D (general grading) are preceded by activity A (site clearing). It might also be the case
that the planner wished to delay any excavation until trees were removed, so that B (tree
removal) would be a precedent activity to C (general excavation) and D (general grading).
Activities E (trench excavation) and F (concrete preparation) cannot begin until the
completion of general excavation and grading, since they involve subsequent excavation
and trench preparation. Activities G (install lines) and H (install utilities) represent
installation in the utility trenches and cannot be attempted until the trenches are prepared,
so that activity E (trench excavation) is a preceding activity. We also assume that the
utilities should not be installed until grading is completed to avoid equipment conflicts, so
activity D (general grading) is also preceding activities G (install sewers) and H (install
utilities). Finally, activity I (pour concrete) cannot begin until the sewer line is installed
and formwork and reinforcement are ready, so activities F and G are preceding. Other
utilities may be routed over the slab foundation, so activity H (install utilities) is not
necessarily a preceding activity for activity I (pour concrete). The result of our planning is
the immediate precedence shown in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2: Precedence relations for Example 1.3

Activity Description Predecessors
A Site clearing ---
B Removal of trees ---
C General excavation A
D Grading general area A
E Excavation for utility trenches B,C
F Placing formwork and reinforcement for concrete B,C
G Installing sewer lines D,E
H Installing other utilities D,E
I Pouring concrete F,G

Example 1.4:

Determine the relationships between activities of the project studied in Example 1.2.

Planning & Scheduling 13

 Table 1.3: Solution of Example 1.4
Activity Description Predecessors
10 Set-up site ---
14 Procure RFT ---
16 Procure P.C. Beams ---
20 Excavate left abutment 10
30 Excavate right abutment 10
40 Excavate central pier 10
50 Foundation left abutment 14, 20
60 Foundation right abutment 14, 30
70 Foundation central pier 14, 40
80 Construct left abutment 50
90 Construct right abutment 60
100 Construct central pier 70
110 Erect left P.C. Beams 16, 80, 100
120 Erect right P.C. Beams 16, 90, 100
140 Fill left embankment 80
150 Fill right embankment 90
155 Construct deck slab 110, 120
160 Left road base 140
170 Right road base 150
180 Road surface 155, 160, 170
190 Bridge railing 155
200 Clear site 180, 190

Logical relationship considering resource constraints

For efficient use of resources or in case of constrained resources, it might be beneficial to

consider the resources when determining the logical relationship among the activities that
use the same resources. For example, consider the case of construction a simple project
consists of three units and each unit has three sequential activities (logical relationship).

Table 1.4 shows the logical relationship among these activities assuming unconstrained
(resources are available with any quantities) and constrained resources (only one resource
unit is available from each resource type).

Planning & Scheduling 14

 Table 1.4: Logical relationships considering constrained and unconstrained
resources
Predecessors Predecessors
Activity description (unconstrained resources) (constrained resources)
A1 Excavate unit 1 - -
B1 Concreting unit 1 A1 A1
C1 Brickwork unit 1 B1 B1

A2 Excavate unit 2 - A1
B2 Concreting unit 2 A2 B1, A2
C2 Brickwork unit 2 B2 C1, B2

A3 Excavate unit 3 - A2
B3 Concreting unit 3 A3 B2, A3
C3 Brickwork unit 3 B3 C2, B3

Overlap or lag

Overlap between activities (negative lag) is defined as how much a particular activity must
be completed before a succeeding activity may start. The absence of overlap means that
the first activity must finish before the second may start. A negative overlap (lag) means a
delay is required between the two activities (Figure 1.10)

+ve overlap (-ve lag) -ve overlap (+ve lag)

Figure 1.10: Overlap among activities

Example 1.5:

This case study is for a small 3 houses project. The main segments of a single house, the
responsibilities, and the logical relationship are identified as follows:

- 11 work packages are involved: A and B (civil work, substructure), C, D, E, and F

(civil work, superstructure), G (electrical, interior), H (electrical, exterior), I
(mechanical, HVAC), J (mechanical, elevator), and K (mechanical, plumbing).

Planning & Scheduling 15

 - Substructure is supervised by Ahmed (activity A), and Ali (activity B).
- Superstructure is supervised by Hossam (activities C and F) and Mona (activities D
and E).
- All electrical work is supervised by George.
- HVAC and plumbing are supervised by Adam; elevator work is supervised by Samy.
- Activities E and F follow activity B.
- Activity C precedes activity G.
- Activity I follows the completion of activity E.
- The predecessors to activity K are activities H and I.
- Activity D follows activity A and precedes activity H.
- Activity J is preceded by activities F and G.

It is required to create a WBS and OBS chart.

Solution

From the available information, the relationship table, the network diagrams, and the WBS
linked to an OBS are formed as shown below (Table 1.5 and Figure 1.11).

Table 1.5: Logical relationships of Example 1.5

Activity Predecessors

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 Start -
A Start
B Start
C Start
D A
E B
F B
G C
H D
I E
J F, G
K H, I
Finish J, K

Figure 1.11: WBS and OBS of Example 3.5

Planning & Scheduling 17

 Types of activities relationships

Four types of relationships among activities can be defined as described and illustrated
below (Figure 1.12). Typically, relationships are defined from the predecessor to the
successor activity.

a) Finish to start (FS). The successor activity can begin only when the current activity
completes.
b) Finish to finish (FF). The finish of the successor activity depends on the finish of
the current activity.
c) Start to start (SS). The start of the successor activity depends on the start of the
current activity.
d) Start to finish (SF). The successor activity cannot finish until the current activity
starts.

a b

c d

Figure 1.12: Types of relationships

1.2.4 Drawing Project Network

A network is a graphical representation of the project activities and their relationships. A

project network is a set of arrows and nodes. Before drawing the network, it is necessary
to ensure that the project has a unified starting and ending point. The need for this start
activity arises when there is more than one activity in the project that has no predecessors
and the end activity is needed when there is more than one activity that has no successors.
Also, networks should be continuous (i.e., each activity except the first and the last has
both preceding and succeeding activities).

Planning & Scheduling 18

There are two ways that are commonly used to draw a network diagram for a project:

1. Activity on Arrow (AOA) representation.

2. Activity on Node (AON) representation

Activity on arrow network (AOA)

In this method, the arrows represent activities while the nodes represent the start and the
end of an activity (usually named as events) (Figure 1.13). The length of the arrow
connecting the nodes has no significance and may be straight, curved, or bent. When one
activity depends upon another, both appear on the diagram as two arrows having a common
node.
Activity A Activity B
i j j>i 5 10

A B
5 10 15 B depends on A

A C
5 10 15 C depends on A and B
B
5

15
B B depends on A
C depends on A
A C
5 10 15

5 15
A C B depends on A and B
D depends on A and B
B 10 D
5 15

Figure 1.13: Basic patterns of AOA diagrams

The following are some rules that need to be followed when constructing an AOA network
diagram:

- Each activity must have a unique i – j numbers, where i (the number at the tail of
the arrow) is smaller than j (the number at the head of the arrow).

Planning & Scheduling 19

 - It is recommended to have a gap between numbers (i.e., 5, 10, 15, etc.). This will
allow for accommodation of missed activities.
- Avoid back arrows.

In some situations, when more than one arrow leave the same node and arrive at another
node, dummy activities must be used. The dummy activity is an activity with zero duration,
consumes no resources, drawn as dashed lines, and used to adjust the network diagram. A
dummy activity is also used when one activity depends upon two preceding activities and
another activity depends only upon one of these two preceding activities as shown in Figure
1.14.

Activity on node network (AON)

This method is also called the precedence diagram method. In this method, the nodes
represent activities and the arrows represent logical relationships among the activities. If
the arrow starts from the end side of an activity (activity A) and ends at the start side of
another activity (activity B), then A is a predecessor of B (Figure 1.15). AON
representation allows the overlap or lag representation on the relationship arrows
connecting activities.
A C A C
5 15 20 5 20 25
C depends
B D Dummy
on A and B
25 D depends B D
10 10 15 30
on B only

A A
5 15 5 15

B
Dummy
B
10

Incorrect representation Correct representation

Figure 1.14: Use of dummy activity

Planning & Scheduling 20

 10 Activity number 20
A B
Activity name

10 20
B depends on A
A B

10 30 40 C depends on A and B
A C D D depends on C

20
B
30
C
10 20 B depends on A
A B C depends on B
D depends on B
40
D

Figure 1.15: Basic patterns of AON diagrams

Comparison between AOA and AON

While both networks can be used to represent a project network, there are some differences
between them:
- There is no need for the use of dummy activities in AON representation.
- AON are more easily to draw and to read.
- In AOA, an activity can only start when all its predecessors have finished.
- AON allows for overlap/lag representation.
- AON allows for the representation of the four types of relationships while AOA
allows only for the finish to start relationship.

Example 1.6:

Construct an AOA and AON networks for the activities listed in Table 1.6.
Table 1.6: Data for Example 1.6
Activity Predecessors

Planning & Scheduling 21

 A -
B -
C A, B
D C
E C
F D
G D, E

Forming an AOA network for this set of activities might begin be drawing activities A, B
and C as shown in Figure 1.16 (a). At this point, we note that two activities (A and B) lie
between the same two event nodes; for clarity, we insert a dummy activity X and continue
to place other activities as in Figure 1.16 (b). Placing activity G in the figure presents a
problem, however, since we wish both activity D and activity E to be predecessors.
Inserting an additional dummy activity Y along with activity G completes the activity
network, as shown in Figure 1.16 (c).

Figure 1.16: AOA Network for Example 1.6

To understand the drawing of the AON, some ordering for the activities may be necessary.
This is done by placing the activities in a sequence step order. A sequence step may be
defined as the earliest logical position in the network that an activity can occupy while
maintaining the logical relationships. In this example, as there are two activities (activities

Planning & Scheduling 22

A and B) has no predecessor, then a start activity is added to have one unified start activity
(Start) for the project. Also, a finish activity (Finish) is added as there are two activities
without successors (activities F and G).

Considering the data given in Table 1.6, sequence step 1 is assigned to the Start activity.
Then, we take all activities on the list one by one and look at their immediate predecessors
and then assign a sequence step that equals the highest sequence step of all immediate
predecessors plus one as given in Table 1.7. After all sequence step numbers have been
assigned, the AON diagram can be drawn.

Table 1.7: Determining the sequence steps

Activity Predecessors Sequence step (SS)
Start Start SS(Start)=1
A Start 2=SS(Start)+1
B A, B 2=SS(Start)+1
C C 3=Highest of [SS(B), SS(A)]
D C 4=SS(C)+1
E D 4=SS(C)+1
F D, E 5=SS(D)+1
G F, G 5=Highest of [SS(D), SS(E)]
Finish 6= Highest of [SS(F), SS(G)]

AON representation is shown in Figure 1.17, including project start and finish nodes. Note
that dummy activities are not required for expressing precedence relationships in activity-
on-node networks.

Sequence step 1 2 3 4 5 6

Planning & Scheduling 23

 Figure 1.17: An AON Network

Example 1.7

Draw the AOA and AON networks for the project given in Example 3.5.

Solution

The AOA is given in Figure 1.18 and the AON is given in Figure 1.19 as shown below.

D
10 25
A H

B E I K
5 15 30 40 45

F
C J

G
20 35

Figure 1.18: AOA network

A D H K

Start B E I Finish

F
J

C G

Figure 1.19: AON network

Planning & Scheduling 24

1.3 Estimating Activity Duration and Direct Cost

Having defined the work activities, each activity has associated time duration. These
durations are used in preparing a schedule. For example, suppose that the durations shown
in Table 1.8 were estimated for a project. The entire set of activities would then require at
least 3 days, since the activities follow one another directly and require a total of 1.0 + 0.5
+ 0.5 + 1.0 = 3 days.

Table 1.8: Durations and predecessors for a four-activity project

Activity Predecessor Duration (Days)
Excavate trench --- 1.0
Place formwork Excavate trench 0.5
Place reinforcing Place formwork 0.5
Pour concrete Place reinforcing 1.0
All scheduling procedures rely upon estimates of the durations of the various project
activities as well as the definitions of the predecessor relationships among activities. A
straightforward approach to the estimation of activity durations is to keep historical records
of particular activities and rely on the average durations from this experience in making
new duration estimates. Since the scope of activities is unlikely to be identical between
different projects, unit productivity rates are typically employed for this purpose.

The duration of an activity may be estimated as:

Activity duration = quantity of work / number of crews x resource output

Typically, the quantity of work is determined from engineering drawings of a specific

project. The number of crews working is decided by the planner. In many cases, the number
or amount of resources applied to particular activities may be modified in light of the
resulting project plan and schedule. Some estimate of the expected work productivity must
be provided. Historical records in a firm can also provide data for estimation of
productivities.

Planning & Scheduling 25

Having defined an activity duration, it means that the planner have already defined the
number of resources that will be employed in a particular activity. Knowing activity
duration and resources employed, it is simple to estimate the activity direct cost. Then, the
three elements of an activity: duration, cost, and resources form what is called construction
method. Some activities can be performed using different construction methods. Where, its
method will have its own resources, cost and duration.

Example 1.8:

If the daily production rate for a crew that works in an activity is 175 units/day and the total
crew cost per day is LE 1800. The material needed for daily work is 4.5 units at LE
100/unit.

a. Calculate the time and cost it takes the crew to finish 1400 units
b. Calculate the total unit cost. Consider an eight hour work day.

Solution

a. Duration (units of time) = Quantity / Production per unit of time x number of crews
= 1400 / 175 x 1 = 8 days
Cost (labor cost) = Duration (units of time) x crew cost per unit of time
= 8 days x LE 1800 / day = LE 14400
Total direct cost = Le 14400 + 4.5 units of material x LE 100 / day x 8 days =
LE 18000

b. Unit cost = total cost / quantity

= LE 18000 / 1400 = LE 12.86 / unit

Sometimes the productivity of a specific crew expressed in man-hours/unit not units/day.

For example, if the productivity is said to be 0.5 Man-hour/cubic meters, this means how
long it will take one labor to construct one unit. This way applied to any crew formation
and work hours.

Example 1.9:

Planning & Scheduling 26

What is the duration in days to install 6000 square feet of walls shuttering if:

a. Crew of 2 carpenters is used with output of 200 square feet/day

b. Productivity is measured as 0.008 man-hour/square feet. Number of
carpenters =3, and number of working hours/day = 8 hours

Solution

a. Duration = 6000 / 200 = 3 days

b. Total man-hours needed = 6000 x 0.008 = 48 man-hours (if one man used)
Duration = 48 / 8 = 6 days (if one man used)
Duration using 3 men = 6 / 3 = 2 days

Example 1.10: (use of several resources)

The construction of a reinforced concrete wall involves placing 660 m3 concrete, fixing 50
ton of steel, and 790 m2 of formwork. The following information belongs to the jobs
involved in this activity:
- A 6 man concrete crew can place 16 m3 of concrete/day.
- A steel-fixer and assistant can fix 0.5 ton of reinforcement/day.
- A carpenter and assistant can fix and remove 16 m2 of shuttering/day.
Calculate the duration of the activity considering the steel-fixer as the critical resource.

Solution

- using one steel-fixer: duration = 50 / 0.5 = 100 days

- using one carpenter: duration = 790 / 16 = 49.4 days
- using one concreting crew: duration = 660 / 16 = 41.25 days.

Then, for a balanced mix of resources, use 2 steel-fixer crews, one carpenter crew, and
cone concreting crew. Accordingly, the activity duration = 50 / 0.5 x 2 = 50 days.

Planning & Scheduling 27

1.4 Exercises

1. Select the right answer:

I. The elements of construction project planning are:
a. Time b. Resources
c. Cost d. All
II. Which of the following is not a typical activity category?
a. Production b. Procurement
c. Administrative d. None of the above

2. In developing the WBS for a project, level of details depends on: …..,……,……..

3. List four main differences between AOA and AON networks.

4. A small single-story commercial building is to be constructed on the site of an

existing old structure. The exterior and interior walls are of concrete blocks. The
roof is erected from steel members covered with rigid insulation and build-up
roofing. The ceiling is of suspended tile. The floor is a concrete slab on grade with
an asphalt tile finish. Interior finish on all walls is paint. The project has been
broken down into 18 steps with construction time estimate has been made for each
step. These steps are not given in any particular order. Specify the predecessors of
each activity.

- Under ground services (water and sewage services), 1 day.

- Exterior walls, 6 days. - Foundations, 3 days.
- Demolition, 2 days. - Roof steel, 2 days.
- Interior walls, 3 days. - Roof finishing, 2 days.
- Floor slab, 3 days. - Floor finishing, 2 days.
- Rough plumbing, 3 days. - Finish plumbing, 4 days.
- Rough electrical, 3 days. - Finish electrical, 3 days.
- Rough carpentry, 2 days. - Finish carpentry, 4 days.
- Ceiling, 3 days. - Windows, 1day.
- Painting, 1day.

Planning & Scheduling 28

 5. Prepare a complete plan for the project described below. This project calls for the
contractor to construct a temporary two-span, Bypass Bridge for use while a
permanent bridge is being replaced. The following figure contains a sketch of the
project.

Scope of Work: The Bridge’s substructure will include two abutments and a midstream
pier. The abutments will be constructed by driving a row of timber piles. Heavy
planks will be spiked to the shore side of these piles to act as a retaining wall. A
heavy timber will be placed on top of the row of piles as an abutment cap. The pier
will be constructed by driving two rows of timber piles. Heavy timbers will be
fastened on top of these piles to serve as the pier cap. The superstructure will consist
of steel beams supported by the abutment and pier caps. Timber decking will be
secured to the steel beams to serve as the roadway. Miscellaneous bracing, curbs,
and guard rails will be installed to complete the bridge. It will be necessary to
construct an asphalt concrete access road at both ends of the temporary bridge and
to demolish that access road once the bypass bridge is removed. The scope of this
project does not include removal of the bypass bridge or its access roads.

Planning & Scheduling 29

 Planned Work Sequence: Only one pile-driving rig is available. It is not possible to
drive this rig across the existing bridge, and it is not feasible to detour around the
bridge; therefore, all piles must be driven from one side of the stream. All other
equipment needed for construction can cross over the existing bridge. Work will
start with the construction of the access road to the east bank pier. This access road
will not be paved until pile driving is completed. Next, the piles will be driven for
the east bank abutment, and the east bank abutment will be completed. Then, the
midstream piles will be driven from the east bank. When the east bank abutment is
completed and when the caps have been installed on the midstream pier, the steel
beams will be placed for the east span. After the east span decking is installed, the
pile driver can be moved onto the east span and the west bank piles can be driven.
Equipment other than the pile driver can be driven across the existing bridge to the
west bank; therefore, construction of the west bank access road can be started as
soon as the equipment is released from the same task on the east bank.

Task Definition: The tasks shown in the following table have been defined. Task
durations were estimated on the basis of an eight-hour workday.

Description Estimated Duration

Task No. (days)

Planning & Scheduling 30

 1 Survey and layout 1
2 Rough-grade access road on east bank 2
3 Drive timber piles for east abutment 1
4 Construct east abutment 5
5 Drive timber piles for midstream pier 2
6 Complete midstream pier 5
7 Place steel girders east span 2
8 Place timber decking east span 2
9 Drive timber piles west abutment 1
10 Construct west abutment 5
11 Place steel girders west span 2
12 Place timber decking west span 2
13 Rough-grade access road on west bank 2
14 Finish grading access road east bank 1
15 Finish grading access road west bank 1
16 Pave access roads both banks 3
17 Install curbs and gutters on bridge 5
18 Stripe access road 1
19 Erect barricades to site of permanent bridge 1

6. Draw a PDM network for a project with the following activities. Show all steps
including removing redundant relations; and sequence steps.

- Activity B depends on A;
- Activity G follows E, F & D;
- Activity E depends on B and A;
- Activity F can start when D & B are completed;
- Activity C is followed by F and follows A; - Activity D is dependent upon
A and B.

7. Consider the following set of activities:

Code Description

Planning & Scheduling 31

 A Layout foundation
B Excavation
C Obtain concrete materials
D Place concrete
E Obtain steel reinforcement
F1 Cut and bend reinforcement (part 1)
F2 Cut and bend reinforcement (part 2)
G1 Place reinforcement (part 1)
G2 Place reinforcement (part 2)
H Obtain formwork
I Erect formwork
J Remove formwork
K Clean up
A gang of steelfixers is used to cut and bend reinforcement and another gang is used
for placing reinforcement. The first part of reinforcement can be placed during
formwork erection while the second part should wait for completion of formwork
erection. Tabulate the predecessors of each activity and draw AON network.

8. For the network below, prepare a table showing a list of immediate predecessors
and immediate successors for each of the activities. Use the i - j node notation for
activities.
5 6

1 3 4 7

9. The construction of RC wall involves placing 660 m3 concrete, 50 t of steel, and

790 m2 of formwork. Calculate the duration of the activity using a balanced mix of
the resources if:

- A 6 man concrete gang can place 16 m3 of concrete / day.

Planning & Scheduling 32

 - One steelfixer and one assistant can fix 0.5 t of steel / day.
- One carpenter and one assistant can fix and strike 16 m2 / day.

10. Estimate the labor cost for the formwork of a continuous wall footing that has a
quantity of 500 SF. The activity is constructed by crew that has a daily output of
485 SF/day, and consists of: 3 carpenters at rate LE 21.60/hr & 1 building labor at
rate LE 17.15/hr.

11. A construction project has the following activities along with their relationships.
Develop an Activity on Arrow (AOA) network.

I. A is the first activity.

II. B, C and D follow A and can be done concurrently.
III. E and G cannot begin until C is completed, and can be done
concurrently.
IV. F is the immediate successor to activities B and E. V. H and
K run in parallel, and both succeed G.
VI. L succeeds F and H.
VII. J and I are immediate successor activities to D.
VIII. M and N are immediate successor to K and I. However, both M and
N can be performed concurrently.
IX. Q is the last activity and follows O & P. O is the immediate
successor to N and L. Activity P is the immediate successor to M
and J.

Planning & Scheduling 33