Efficient Hybrid Genetic Algorithm for Resource Leveling via Activity Splitting
by Seyed Hossein Hashemi Doulabi, (corresponding author), (Research Assistant, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Amirkabir Univ. of Technology, Tehran, Iran E-mail: Hashemidoulabi@aut.ac.ir), Abbas Seifi, (Associate Professor, Industrial Engineering and Productivity Research Center, Amirkabir Univ. of Technology, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: aseifi@aut.ac.ir), and Seyed Yasser Shariat, (Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Social Science, Imam Khomeini International Univ., Ghazvin, Iran. E-mail: sharya@ikiu.ac.ir)
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 137, No. 2, February 2011, pp. 137-146, (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000261)
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| Document type: |
Journal Paper |
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Section Heading: Cost and Schedule |
| Abstract: |
Resource leveling problem is an attractive field of research in project management. Traditionally, a basic assumption of this problem is that network activities could not be split. However, in real-world projects, some activities can be interrupted and resumed in different time intervals but activity splitting involves some cost. The main contribution of this paper lies in developing a practical algorithm for resource leveling in large-scale projects. A novel hybrid genetic algorithm is proposed to tackle multiple resource-leveling problems allowing activity splitting. The proposed genetic algorithm is equipped with a novel local search heuristic and a repair mechanism. To evaluate the performance of the algorithm, we have generated and solved a new set of network instances containing up to 5,000 activities with multiple resources. For small instances, we have extended and solved an existing mixed integer programming model to provide a basis for comparison. Computational results demonstrate that, for large networks, the proposed algorithm improves the leveling criterion at least by 76% over the early schedule solutions. A case study on a tunnel construction project has also been examined. |
| Author Keywords: | 
| Resource leveling |
| Splitting |
| Resource management |
| Construction project |
| Scheduling |
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