Publications / 1990 Proceedings of the 7th ISARC, Bristol, United Kingdom

Estimating activity durations by expert systems

A. Boussabaine; Roy Duff
Pages 629-636 (1990 Proceedings of the 7th ISARC, Bristol, United Kingdom, ISSN 2413-5844)
Abstract:

The identification and specification of construction operations and the selection of construction methods, including equipment and labour resources, are central activities in the production planning of construction projects. The decisions taken are complex and the choice of construction method and estimate of production output have serious consequences for the effectivesness of programming in achieving the most economic, practible solution. Improving construction productivity by detailed and accurate planning is critically important in the increasingly competitive environment of the construction industry. Mathematical or statistical models of factors affecting production output together with knowledge based expert systems, available to the planner through the medium of the micro-computer, could be valuable tools by which to improve planning and productivity and hece minimize the costs of construction. This paper describes a pilot study of a syste, designed to provide such a tool for all the activities associated with concrete frame construction. This prototype expert system consists of a rule-frame-classes-based knowledge base which can be used to simulate a consultation between an expert in construction methods, a domain expert in productivity analysis and a construction planner, the system user.

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