A Simulation-Based Genetic Algorithm Schedule Optimization Method for Bridge Construction

9 pages•Published: August 28, 2025

Yuan Yao, Vivian Tam, Jun Wang, Khoa Le, Anthony Butera and Wenchi Shou

Abstract

Off-site construction has become widely acknowledged for its advantages, such as saving time, enabling faster assembly, and being cost-efficient. The sector's rapid growth has driven the demand for more advanced and effective methods of construction scheduling. Construction scheduling is naturally complicated due to the numerous constraints it involves, including those connected to workforce and resource availability. Conventional approaches, like the Critical Path Method (CPM), fail to account for multiple constraints, which limits their effectiveness in practical project scenarios. This research presents a simulation-based Genetic Algorithm (S-GA) approach to develop optimal construction schedules while accounting for constraints in labour and resources. Reducing the total project duration is the objective of proposed method. The proposed S-GA framework enhances the ability to manage scheduling across all construction phases. A real-world case which contains a prefabricated bridge with 6 spans was conducted to assess the method. For comparison, traditional methods and the evolution algorithm (EA) were adopted, and the findings indicated that S-GA not only produced superior construction schedules but also operated with less computational time. As a result, the proposed approach offers an advanced scheduling method that is applicable to real-world construction projects.

Keyphrases: automated scheduling, genetic algorithm, scheduling optimization, simulation

In: Jack Cheng and Yu Yantao (editors). Proceedings of The Sixth International Conference on Civil and Building Engineering Informatics, vol 22, pages 464-472.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/ctG5
	https://doi.org/10.29007/dnwf

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ICCBEI2025:Simulation_Based_Genetic_Algorithm,
  author    = {Yuan Yao and Vivian Tam and Jun Wang and Khoa Le and Anthony Butera and Wenchi Shou},
  title     = {A Simulation-Based Genetic Algorithm Schedule Optimization Method for Bridge Construction},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of The Sixth International Conference on Civil and Building Engineering Informatics},
  editor    = {Jack Cheng and Yu Yantao},
  series    = {Kalpa Publications in Computing},
  volume    = {22},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2515-1762},
  url       = {/publications/paper/ctG5},
  doi       = {10.29007/dnwf},
  pages     = {464-472},
  year      = {2025}}

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