Development of a Fleet Management System for Effective Earthwork Operations

Sung-Keun Kim¹

Abstract

Earthwork that is a basic operation for all types of civil and architectural works affects construction time, cost, and productivity. It is executed by various construction equipment as a group and is usually performed by equipment operator's heuristic and intuition. According to recent statistics, the average rate of equipment operation has not increased in the last 10 years in South Korea, even multi-functional equipment has used in construction sites. Many experts insists that the equipment clustering that takes no account of the real-time conditions of earthworks, the poor skills of equipment operators, and the lack of real-time access to necessary information for effective earthwork can cause the low average rate of equipment operation and the high fuel consumption. To solve this problem, the fleet management system for construction equipment is suggested for operation planning, equipment allocation, equipment path control, and information exchange. The purpose of this research is to suggest core methods for developing a fleet management system for multiple construction equipment. The methods include 3D solid model generation, soil distribution planning, task package generation and scheduling, and equipment fleet operation. Nine primitive objects are suggested for the 3D solid modeling of a construction site, and the Octree parametric model with transportation algorithm is applied for generating a soil distribution plan. Task packages that are a basic work unit of matching a cutting area to filling areas are automatically generated and optimally scheduled. Equipment allocation is carried out based on real-time work process and site conditions. Real-time information on equipment moving path is provided through the GUI (Graphic User Interface) of the fleet management system. A case study is performed to verify the effectiveness of the fleet management system for the given earthwork operations by comparing existing work method with methodology suggested in this research. The result of the case study shows that the fleet management system shortens working time and increases working volume per hour, which can raise the average rate of equipment operation and reduce carbon emission by curtailing fuel consumption of equipment.

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Cite this Article as Follows

Sung-Keun Kim. Development of a Fleet Management System for Effective Earthwork Operations. International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering (2017): 13. Print.