Interactive Dynamic Layout Planning

Abstract

The layout of temporary facilities on a construction site necessarily changes over time, so the term dynamic layout is used to describe a sequence of layouts spanning the entire duration of construction of a project. Many layout changes are dictated by the construction schedule. In the MovePlan model, which is presented here, the activity schedule is therefore augmented with data needed to construct layouts, i.e., resources required to perform activities, and their dimensions. This augmented schedule can drive the dynamic layout process, including the positioning of temporary facilities on site and the movement of materials and equipment. Conservative modeling assumptions were made in order to keep computational costs low, so that the MovePlan implementation would run on a microcomputer and thus be readily field‐usable. The MovePlan prototype system provides a graphical interactive interface with underlying consistency maintenance mechanisms. MovePlan enables users to model approximate site space needs during project scheduling and to create layouts for different stages of construction. Several strategies for creating layouts are described. MovePlan's output can be further refined by adding geometric detail and using more sophisticated graphical packages for detailed process planning. MovePlan can also be integrated with off‐the‐shelf project‐management software.