5D Planning, Scheduling and Control of Construction Projects by Integrating Project Management Software and GIS
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Date
2017-12
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AAU
Abstract
Construction industry can be deemed as the most vital driving force of a country. Construction of vast projects such as township, stadiums, and dams is a challenging task both in terms of managing complexities of the project and addressing the demands of all stakeholders. Its success or failure largely depends on cost effectiveness, time-bound delivery, quality and amount of resources available throughout the lifecycle of the project. This clearly turns the focus towards
effective construction project management.
Today’s demand of construction industry requires highly accurate planning, scheduling and management of the process of a project which can enable the overall optimization of cost, time, and resources. With the advances in information technology, its use is being constantly explored in the area of construction planning and monitoring. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the methodology of integrating Geographic Information System (GIS) with construction project
management to provide a better solution for optimization and real time monitoring of the progress
of a project.
GIS is a computer based tool and being used extensively to solve various engineering problems involving the use of spatial data. The technology provides capabilities to solve problems involving creation and management of data, integration of information, visualization and cost estimation to which most of the construction management software are lacking. In spite of the
growing popularity its complete potential to the construction industry has not been realized.
Integration of GIS and Project management might assist a planner in a better perception of a project as well as in the integration of other parties’ activities in the planning process. It will provide a common basis of understanding and communication among stakeholders. This helps in reducing construction errors occurring on sites and thereby reduces the amount of administrative
time.
In this research paper a review of up-to-date work on the applications of GIS technology in construction industry is presented. Methodology to generate 3D view of a building and to represent construction schedule within GIS environment is also discussed. With this, integration of GIS and Project Management is developed using AutoCAD, MS-Excel, ArcGIS, and Visual
Studio to assist construction managers in controlling and monitoring a construction progress. With time as the fourth dimension, the progress of construction task can be displayed as 4D (3D + time) view. The 5D (3D + time + cost) model of progress monitoring is beneficial to all stakeholders and can be opted as the future of planning and monitoring in the fast developing
construction industry.
A case study of one story building is selected for the purpose of presenting the integrated tool for progress monitoring. Ultimately, an easy to use Graphic User Interface (GUI) named as “5D Construction Monitoring Application” is developed to enable project participants have an idea of
the current status of a project at run-time.
The paper explores the potential of GIS environment in developing a construction project information system for rate analysis; and safety and quality control recommendation. It also suggests that the proposed GIS based methodology may replace manual methods used to extract information from the available database and can be easily updated as most of the information is in digital format. Successful project control is a challenging responsibility, but the job becomes easier when it is complimented with visualization of information. The propositions presented herein could facilitate and accelerate this trend, and as well provide means of measuring the success of implementation of 5D planning in construction projects and be a basis for further research.
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Keywords
Construction Industry, Planning and Scheduling, Project Management, GIS, Takeoff, 5D Model, Run-time Application