UNIVERSITY OF NOlTINGHAM Infrastructure 2: Construction issues

SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Set of notes

'31

t INTRODUCTION
PLANT FtEETS

,I Resources in construction rarely work independ~ntly of one another. They are usually
formed into gangs and co~sequently interact with other members of the gang on an .

I activity. An example of such a gang w:ithinte~actionisa bricklayer and labourer gang.

The bricklayer cannot produce finished hrickwork efficiently 'if the labourer does not
provide the ,materials in the correct place at the correct time; the labourer on the other '
,J - . - .

hand can only provide materials. and 'cannot himself produce finished work.
"

The gangs themselves' also interact al'id have an effect on each other s product.ivity. ,For
1

example, a pipeJayinggangwilJ be limited iii its' output'by the performance of the

I trench excavation gang and the material supply gang. The productivity-of the combined
gang or'gangs i~often considered to be that of the slowest member. The foHowing'
Ii ... 'analysis attempts to provide a mathematical basis for the ,development of a figure or set
of figures which can be uS,edfor estimating purposes. ,It is based on the concept that the
output of a single resource working unhindered and alone is known.

The method is developed, by the consideration of plant -operations but it could equally be
I, , applied toany other work in which two or more resources interact in the specified
manner.

BASIC CONCEPTS
Plant or workers in gangs Can often be considered to be working in chains. This means
-, ' I

that the pro~esson which the plant is employed 'requirese,achof th~_types of plant in
turn. Exa'mples of this for earth moving operations using excavators, lorries and
co'mpactors and rippers, scrapers a'nd compactors ,is showR,in the diagram below:

I Excavatoml.I.. Lomes I. .1 Compactors

f Rippem I ...1 Scmpers I .1 Compactors

Models of earth moving operations

At the absolute maximum, the' output of the gang/chain is that of the'slowest part.
However, it is -not always the same piece of equipment which is the~lowest part of the'
gang since outputs vary from ,time to time even for the same' piece of'equip~ent
performing nominally the same task. The alteration 'of the piece of ~quipment which is
, -
the slowest or has the lowestoutput will naturally alter the output of the combined -
 '-::F~
:'4);,"'i.'
UNIVERSITY OF NOmNGHAM Infrastructure 2: Construction Issues
SCHooL OF CIVIL ENGI.NEERING Set of notes
32

gang. Notwithstanding ,this alteration of the slowest member, it is 'important to balance

the parts to minimise the cost per unit output.

MODELLING GANGPERFORMANCI: FOR ESTIMATING .

.Initiailythe following section considers the operation ofindividu~1 gangs working' without .
interference from any other resources. There are many ways of ~odelli~g this. Two are
Considered here, one based on site study, the other based ona model of plant
.availability .

.Site study
Site study Will provide an ipdlcation of the output of a g~()UPof machines. It will however - .. ~~.
usually provide a'n 'instantaneous' snapshot of a,changing productivity and a set of
readings for the productivity could be combined to provide a histogram of all outputs
that might be usefulforestimatin'g. ' .

For example, if,we couldm~asure'the amount of rock excavated by a group of machines

without interference over several days, We would obtain results of the form shown in
table 1.

Output,(cu.m per day) 800 900 ... 1000

No. of.days on ,which 6 15 9
achieved

Table 1.. Results .of site observations

This can be converted to a histpgram' of proportions :and we can ...

assume, that the results
will be representative of potential future excavation. Thus on any future daY,the
, ..

volume excavated has a 0.2 chance of being 800m3, a 0.5 chance of being ,900m3 and a_
0.3 chanceof beinglo00m3• The resulting 'histogram is shown in figure 1.
o l/t pvt. .P(~Pet\;dft~ 'fIfo

o ~o ~ ~
,OJl

~/(O ~ p.5
~
4/10 £ 0.4

0.3

0.2,

:: 700 BOO 900 1000 1100

Output (cubIc mettes per day)

, .

;Figurel. Expected daily 'output of machines without interference

 UNIVERStTYOF NOlTINGHAM Infrastructure 2: Construction issues
SCHOOL OF CIVILENGINEERING
Set of notes
33

The mean dally output can be calculated by summing the'productsof t~e volume and
probability.

. .... '. • ,.3

i.e. mean daily output =O.2'xBOO + 0.5 x 900 + 0,.3 x 1000 = glOm.

This is called the 'expected'dailyoutput~

'PLANT AVAILABILITY

This methoda.ssumes that theplant ina gang can be considered to be ,either 'working' or
'not working'. If the plant is working, then the output will be fixed and knOWn. If it is.not
working, the ,output will be zero. The output of the gang can therefore be ,determined
from the'number bfmembersw'orking. '

As an example, assume the plant in the group breaks down 'on a random basis ,and that
each pi~ce. has 'a.'probabilityp of being'a~ailable for work on any day. When a piece of
plant is available, itcanmovea ,fixed quantity .ofmuck x. Thus, if we have 3 trucks (a,
b~ and c)onsite, the probability ofit' broken down arid band c workirigis(assuming
, breakdowns- are fndependent) ,
UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM Infrastructure 2: Construction issues
SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Set of notes
34

Knowing ",sand p we can calculate the probability for any 0 S 5 S n.

Further, knowing quantity x we can calculate the output for any 5 = xs.

The mean output can thus be calculated as above. Alternatively, it will always be given
approximately by the simple formula:
mean output = npx.

Example
4 excavators are each able to excavate lQO m3/day. Each excavator has a 0.9
probability of being available for work on any day. Produce a histogram for their
combined daily output and calculate the mean daily output.
----,

Probability of 4 working . - ...1L 0.9

4
0.1
0
= 0.6561
0141
,
(output::: 400 m
3
)
L) I " ....

Probability of 3 working = ...1L 0.9

3
0.1
1
= 0.2916
1131
(output = 300m3)

Probability of 2 working = ...1L 0.9

2
0.1
2
= 0.0486
2!2!
(output = 200 m3)

Probability of 1 working = -.1L 0.9

1
0.1
3
= 0.0036
3!1!
(output = 100 m3)

Probability of 0 working = ...1L 0.9

0
0.1
4
= 0.0001
4!0!
(output = Om3)
Check 2.= 1.0000
 UNIVERSITY OF NOlTINGHAM Infrastructure 2: Construction issues
~- .
SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Set of notes
35
0.6561
f..~.

0.6 -
P.. -

0.5 -
~
!"---
:cm
.0
~, 0
L-
0.4 -
0-

1"---

l.
0.3 - 0.2916

~~_o.
0.2 .
. .
!J.

V"~ 0.1 -
'0.0486
t••. ". 0.0036
0.0001
11'" ...,-' 0
100 200 300 400

Output (cubic metres per day)

Figure 2. Predicted daily output for team of 4 lorries

Mean daily output = 400xO.6561 + 300xO.2916 + 200xO.0486 + 100xO.0036 = 360 m3

Or
3
Mean daily output (approx) = 4 x 0.9 x 100 = 360 m

r:

l.

t_

L_

L
UNIVERSITY OF NOTIINGHAM Infrastructure 2: Construction issues
SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Set of notes
36

GANGS WORKING TOGETHER

A gang of excavators has outputs as shown in figure 3. It is easy to calculate that the

mean output of the excavators working alone would be 910 m3/day.

-
0.5
-

-
0.3
.
- )

0.2
.
- I

o
700 800 900 1000 1100
-I

~ ~ xo.1.-tQooxo.5 l' IOQ) ~o:;

Output (cubic metres per day)
~ 'bo t" 4~o +- JtxJ ~ 910 n,3/cl(4
Figure 3. Expected daily output of excavators ~

Now consider a gang of lorries with output as shown in figure 4.

0.6 - I
::::: So + 360 ~ Jo:J t" £.:to
::. QSo Jv)) I~~~
0.5 .
~
:.cco
.c
0
L-
0.4 - 0.4

a.
0.3
0.3 .

0.2
0.2 .

0.1
0.1
-!

o
700 800 900 1000 1100 -, i

Output (cubic metres per day)

Figure 4. Expected daily output of lorries

r UNIVERSITY OF NOntNGHAM
SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEI;:RING
Infrastructure 2: Construction issues
Set of notes

l For this the mean output of the lorries working alone

37

[ = 0.1 x 800 + 0.4 x 900 + 0.3 x 1000 + 0.2 x 1100

3 '.
= 960 m /day

l However, in reality, lorries and excavators rarely work independently. More often, they
work together and the question of their output asa combined team must be considered.
[
. ::. ~-,.- .. -.'""'i' ." .

\ A single output is unlikely and it is therefore i'mportant to determine the probability of

any .particular output for the team.
[
. .3,
For example, an output of 900rn /day. This can be achieved by

I
1. Both gangs having an output of 900.
[ " This occurs with a probability of 0.4 x 0.5 = 0.20
t

2., =
[ Lorries 900, excavators>
This occurs with a probability 0.4 x 0.3' =
900
0.12

3. Lorries> 900, excavators = 900

This occurs with a probabili~
, .
0.5 xO.5
~
= 0.25

, (o;1-tO:;) . 3
Therefore the probability of the team producing an'output of 900m /day is 0.57

We can work out similarfi,gures for all possible putputs for the team. i.e. 800, 900,
, 3
" 1000, 1100m lday. This is shown in the table below:

O/p. Limited by . Limited by Equally Total probability

'J excavators lorries limitinc

800 .2 x.9 0.18 .1 x.8 0.08 .2 x.l 0.02 0.28

I 900 .5 x.5 0.25 .4 x'.3 0.12 .5 x.4 0.20 0..57
1000 .3 x.2 0.06 .3 x 0 0 .3 x.3 0.09 0.15
1100 . - 0 .2 x 0 0 a x.2 0 0.00

Check L = 1.00

The histogram can now be drawn as shown in figure 5.

I
I
, ~oo
( \. Both ~.01-)( 0 .. \ ,-; (). Ol.
~ ]
i .. t;>::c,. '/8oo( L.<>"Y"\~ ':-$00 (o~~ k o.~) >{o'.( :; 0 .()~
'01' '
UNIVERsm OF NOlTINGHAM astructure 2: Construction issues
SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Set of notes
38

. 0,57

.
.
-

- 0.28

.
0.15

o •.

700 800 900 1000 1100

Output (cubic metres per day) .1

FigureS. Expected' daily outp'utofteam of excavators 'a:ndlorries.

, 'I
As before" the mean daily output _canbe.calculated- as:
Mean output = 800 -x 0.28 + 900 x 0.57 + 1000 x 0.15 + 1100.x'Q

= 887
- 3
m jday
.
I
-

This method can obviously be applied to any number of types of plant working together _
.

I
by adding one in at a time. For example, we can treat the excavator/lorry team as one
set of-plant and repeat the process With a gro\.lp ofcoi11pactors with the output
histogram shown. in figure 6.
.. ,,:~-.
I
I
~
:isco
0.6

0.5
.
,
.c
e .
Q.
0.4
I
0.3 - 0.3

".,,,
0.2
0.2 "
0<15

0.1 . ".
I
0
700 800 900 - 1000 1100 I
Output (cubic metres per day)
.1-
Figure 6. Expected daHyoutputof
. .
compactors'
,

,I
 ~.

UNIVERSITY OF NOTIINGHAM Infrastructure 2: Construction issue.s

SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Set of notes
39

. The resulting histogram for the combined team of excavators, lorries and compactors is
shown in the table and in figure 7.

olp Limited by Limited by Equally Probability

exes/lorries comoactors Iimitina
r'"
700 ax .0.9 0 O.lx 1 0.1 Ox 0.1 0 0.1

800 0.28 x 0.65 0.18 0.25 x 0.72 0.18 0.28 x 0.25 0.07 0.43

900 0.57 x 0.35 0.20 0.3 x 0.15 0.05 0.57 x 0.3 0.17 0.42

1100 0.15 x 0.15 0.02 0.2 x 0 0 0.15 x 0.2 0.03 0.05

1100 - 0 0.15 x 0 0 Ox 0.1 0 0

Check L 1.00

Using the same method as above, the mean daily output of the team can be determined:

Mean output = 700 * 0.1 + 800 * 0.43 + 900 *0.42 + 1000 * 0.42

= 70 + 344 + 378 + 50
3
= 842 m Iday

.
0.43 0.42

-
..
-
-

- n1

0.05

0
o
700 800 900 1000 1100
Output (cubic metres per day)

Figure 7. Expected daily output for team of excavators, lorries and compactors.
UNIVERSITY OF NOmNGHAM Infra~tructure 2: Construction issues
SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING . Set of notes
40 t
.-
CONC'LUSION
Although the method has been iIIu~tratedin terms of plant, it
any 'gangs working in a chain. Typically, any of thecydic
in construction are su.itable. An indication of w~etheror
IS equally applicable to.
or repetitive operations found.
not any given operation is
suitable can be found by considering the method that would be used to plan it. If a
,
J
.. '

technique such as line of balance or time-chainagecharts

benefit from this treatment.
would be used, it :is likely to
In .considering the effect of chains of work/ comparison
I
should be drawn to PERT- a project planning technique that tries to model the effects of
uncertainty of activity duration .for a chain of activities. The procedure produces an
I
esti~ate of the combined duration using statistical methods. It is always optimistic
because it does not properly account for the interaction between processes or activities
.'
I
. indicated here.
I
EXAMPLE TO TRY
1. The probability of different output levels for groups of excavators and.lorries
when operating without interference are shown in table .Q1.

Develop the corresponding table for the excavators and lorries working as a
I
team.
.1
Output cu mper day
0 500 1000 1500 I
'Excavators 0~1 0.2 0.5 0.2
!

Lorries a 0.2 0.5. 0.3

Table Ql - Probabilities
..
~..
I
It is proposed to complete ~he earthmoving team by the addition offour
I
compactors/,each of Which is available for work on nine ..days out of ten. When a .
compactor is working, it can handle.400cu.m. per day. I
. . ".

Develop a histogram for the combined team and suggest its expected daily I
output.

.1
.Describe how a manager ,might use this type of information for planning. or
estimating fora .project and what other information might be used in its place.
I
I
I.