A Computerized Substructure Construction Planning Approach

This paper presents a computerized planning approach to optimize substructure construction sequence for medium to high rise buildings in restricted urban areas. Common substructure construction alternatives include traditional excavation and strutting method, top/down method, and ?go over next slab? method. Since different alternative may result in different construction cost and duration, the best alternative would be the one that yields the least construction cost and meanwhile has a favorable construction schedule meeting project requirement. Important planning factors include soil conditions, number of floors and floor height of the substructure and superstructure, diaphragm wall strength, mining excavation efficiency and possible outlets, formwork use, and miscellaneous secondary works associated with each method. Through intensive interviews and literature survey, a systematic planning process with computerized components is developed. With this planning approach, planners can effectively evaluate more substructure construction alternatives and so forth to determine an optimal substructure construction method. As growing concerns of cost and scheduling impacts on urban development projects arise, the approach described in this paper can serves as a valuable development towards construction Automation.