Improving Multitower Crane Layout Planning by Leveraging Operational Flexibility Related to Motion Paths

Abstract

Effective crane management is imperative to ensure that construction projects are completed on time, within budget, and with a high degree of safety. Prior research on crane management has mostly focused on satisfaction of spatial constraints and minimization of overlapping areas for operation of multiple cranes. However, little attention has been paid to maximizing concurrent crane operations that justify interdependencies among paths, cranes, overlapping areas, and tasks. To overcome this limitation, this study aims to improve multicrane layout planning comprehensively by accounting for various crane operational and managerial parameters (testing various crane specifications and layouts along with alternative cranes, motion paths, and task execution queues) and their parametric interdependencies. Results of the study on an actual construction site demonstrated the improved ability of the developed model in terms of efficiency compared with existing approaches. Therefore, this research anticipates assisting project managers and practitioners with a model for efficient decision making regarding site layout plans for operation of multiple tower cranes.