The Application of Front End Planning and Special Purpose Simulation Templates to Drainage Tunnel Construction

Abstract

The Construction Industry Institute (CII) has a best practice under the heading “Front End Planning” (1995) that is meant to ensure that projects are as complete, as optimized, and as certain as possible throughout the project life cycle. In order to demonstrate this, the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) was optimized to suit underground drainage tunnel construction. The rating index has been successfully used for 2 of 3 key area workshops to demonstrate the usefulness of this tool to both the case study and the construction industry. A special purpose simulation template was created for use in the simulation environment Simphony, specifically for underground drainage tunnel construction. This proved to be extremely helpful in the front end planning of the case construction project to confirm alternate construction alignments, construction methods, and what type of shifts and crews were necessary to meet a targeted construction budget and schedule deadline. The selected model was then updated throughout the construction phase of the project to confirm the necessary crews and schedule to complete the project within the deadline and budget.