CE 435

Construction Engineering and Management

Dr. Anwar Al-ibrahim
Lecture Notes

Chapter 1- Construction Planning and Scheduling

What does planning and Scheduling mean in general?

Planning: it is determining “what” is going to be done, “how,” “where,” by

“whom,” and “when”.
Scheduling: is a time table of activities, such as of “what” will be done or “who”
will be working.

Why planning and scheduling is important?

In life:

- Avoid scheduling multiple things at the same time

- Ensure allowing sufficient time to prepare for an event

- Provide a record of what activities were undertook and when and how long we
spent on them.

In Construction:

- Direct impact on the financial picture of the project (Reduction of profit because
of direct impact cause more interest on borrowed money and more overhead)

- Indirect impact on other projects and work load. In addition to the contractor
name affected in the market

- Lost income and service. If there is a delay in building a hotel it will delay the
opening of the hotel which will affect the income of the owner. If the delay is in a
bridge project then the delay will cause a delay in the service provided by the
bridge.

- Loss of combativeness domestically. Postponing the project will effect the

contractor name in the market and will loose the chance of having a good project.

- Lost of combativeness internationally.

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What are the functions of a project manager?

- Planning (looking at the big picture)

- Organizing (Forming the team)

- Scheduling (assign resources and duration to what is going to be done)

- Execution

- Monitor the work and how business is done and what is going on the project by
collecting data and analyzing them.

- Control (Information Vs. data) (analyzing data and taking corrective action based
on information generated)

Who does planning and scheduling? (Owners, Designers, Contractors?)

All of them do the job:

- Owner: Needs it for feasibility study (project duration, Security loans and project
cost)

- Designer: Needs it to help the owner (prepare proposals for the owner to get the
job, project duration for people organization)

- Contractor: Needs it for the allocation of resources and for calculating profit

What does it take to be a good scheduler?

1- Good knowledge of

- Construction methods
- Planning and scheduling techniques
- Equipment selection
- Contractual issues (contract document and how to read)

2- Familiarity with related issues

- Labor matters (working in union shop or open shop, workers right, lows,
… etc)
- Environmental issues (ex. dust and noise control)
- Regulation and laws.

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 3- Ability to visualize interfaces

- Mechanical and structural interface (the two plans are not meeting)
- Sub interfaces and interdependency (work lap between them is a problem)

Who develops the schedule?

The whole management team develops the schedule not a one man job. The
scheduler job is to prepare the work schedule based on the management team comments.
The schedule is then sent out for remarks and updated based on the received remarks.
This will continue until the schedule reaches the final state. Then the scheduler will
follow the work to update the schedule (maintenance).

Four major steps in developing a schedule

1- List all activities that need to be done (by reading the scope of the project from
the project plans and specifications)
2- Sitting down with people that are responsible to do the network logic (activity
sequence)
3- Determine the duration for each activity
4- Present the information through a schedule

1- List activities using the Work Break Down Structure (WBS)

Listing activities must be accomplished (whether by owner, contractor,

subcontractor, supplier, inspector, or other party) in order for the project to be completed
may warrant inclusion in the network. To list the activity needed to complete a project,
one must recognize the different types of activities that can come into play in a
construction project:

Production/Construction: These activities relate directly to the physical effort of

creating the project. These are the activities that include a lot of labor effort and that use
resources. In most instances the resource utilization will involve labor, but this is not the
case. The resource of particular interest is time. Thus the curing of concrete maybe a
viable activity to be included in the network, even though it consumes essentially no
resource other than time. So why don’t we include this activity with casting the concrete?
Since other activities may very well be dependent on the curing of concrete before they
can begin, this justifies the inclusion of concrete curing as a separate activity.

Procurement: These activities include arranging for the acquisition of materials, money
equipment, and manpower. Readily available items generally do not require separately
defined procurement activities. Special-order, long, or uncertain lead-time items should
always have procurement activities incorporated into the network. The reason for that is

3
that it permits appropriate analysis to be performed if changes or delays occur. The
inclusion of lead-time items will also function as a reminder to take appropriate
procurement actions on selected items before they begin to delay the project.

Management: Support or administrative tasks often directly impact the project schedule.
The scheduler should always be aware of those “extra” or management activities that are
not included in the above categories. Activities such as preparing inspection reports,
processing shop drawing approvals, tracking submittal approvals, developing as-built
drawings, providing certifications on factory tests performed, and a variety of similar
tasks may need to be included.

A very common way used to list project activities is using the Work Breakdown
Structure (WBS). What is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?

It is grouping and organizing related activities in a meaningful heretical way, in

order to facilitate project control and data retrieval.

- What are the bases for listing/grouping project activities in a WBS?

(It is based on personal preference and the nature of the project)

1- By location (ex: North and South or Eternal and Internal)

2- By system (ex: Substructure or Superstructure, HVAC or Mechanical
System)
3- By contract type or specification.

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Example 1-1

Draw a WBS for the bridge given in Figure 1-1

60'-0" c.c. bearings

Abut. Abut.
no. 1 no. 2

Present ground
surface
28 creosoted timber
piles each 40 ft. long
Bridge profile

Figure 1-1-a Bridge profile

14'-0" 1'-0"

10" reinforced
concrete pavement 10"

W 36 x 150

4'-6" 4'-6" 4'-6"

Bridge transverse section

Figure 1-1-b Bridge transverse section

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6
2- Network Logic

The order of activities is based on the timing of some activities relative to the
occurrence of other activities. For each identified activity, the following must be
determined:

• Which activity must precede it?

• Which activities must follow it?
• Which activities can be concurrent with it?

- Immediately Preceding Activities (IPAs)

All these questions can be addressed by simply identifying, for each activity, all
the immediately preceding activities (IPAs). If this is done, then the network will
automatically address the other questions, provided no resource constraints will be
imposed on the project. Once the IPA list is completed for all the network activities, the
network is created.

- Constrains controlling the activities:

Ordering activities is not all the time a straight forward process. There are
different types of constraints that are the reason why two activities must be done in a
particular order. With out constraints on a project, all activities can theoretically begin on
the first day of construction. Since constraints exist in the real world, they must be
considered in order for the network to be useful. The different types of constraints can be
grouped as:

Physical constrains: Physical constrains exist due to the physical process of

construction, such as the need to erect forms before concrete can be placed. These are
logic constraints that include those identified by “how” the project is to be carried out
(construction method).

Resource constraints: these constraints are conditions of limited availability that dictate
that certain activities cannot be performed simultaneously because insufficient resources
are available. For example, having only one crane available that must be used on two
otherwise independent activities must require that the activities be scheduled so that they
do not occur at the same time. Similarly, the amount of concrete that can be placed in a
single day may be dictated by the production capacity of the concrete patch plant.

Safety constraints: Safety requirements may dictate that activities not occur
simultaneously (e.g. overhead and ground level work in the same area, drilling and
blasting taking place concurrently) or that a specified sequence occur (e.g. erection of
safety barriers before allowing work in an area). Safety considerations may also dictate
defining non-working days for extremely hot or cold days. Project lighting requirements
may also be dictated by safety concerns.

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Financial constraints: Monetary constraints can include the staggering of high cost
activities to minimize cash requirements during construction or the necessity of securing
loans prior to undertaking certain portions of a project.

Environmental constraints: Environmental constraints can include the need to carry

out mitigation procedures prior to other activities and may also address restrictions such
as not working in certain areas during such times as spawning season, fish runs, or eagle
nesting.

Management constraints: Sometimes referred to as “arbitrary”, these can be defined as

additional constraints not otherwise categorized here. They may relate to requirements of
supervisory time or the demands of other projects not reflected in the network.
Management may elect to constrain the days between two holidays as holidays too.

Contractual constraints: The owner may impose constraints on the construction

process. The owner of a condominium project may require that a particular phase of the
project be fully completed and occupied prior to beginning construction of the next
phase. On a remodeling project, the owner may require that construction noise or dust be
kept to a minimum if a portion of the facility will remain occupied and in operation.

When the network is first being developed the numbers of constraints used are
minimized or the following reasons:

1- Reduce scheduling flexibility

2- Lengthen project duration
3- Generally increase project cost
4- Confuse basic scheduling logic

Example 1-2

Create the network logic for the WBS created in example 1-1.

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9
3- Activity Duration

The duration of an activity is the estimated time that will be required to complete
it. Duration is typically measured in construction by days. It might also be measured in
months, weeks, shifts, or even hours. Durations are determined through:

- Quantity/ Production rate

- Budget/ Crew rate
- Duration can be specified by experience or through historical data of the
company. For example: asking for a permit that will take 2 weeks.

4- Schedule Presentation

- Bar chart
- Networks
o Critical Path Method (CPM)
o Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
- Linear scheduling

4.1 Bar-Chart (Gantt chart)

- Created by Henry Gantt in 1917, to present a list of activities in a time scale

manner.
- Activities are presented in bars on the chart, while across the top or the bottom of
the chart is a time line.

Bar Chart

Activity 4/4 4/11 4/18 4/25 5/2 5/9

A
B
C
D
E

Bar Chart TITLE:

Bar Chart Date:
Bar Chart Initial:

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The important things to be included in a Bar Chart:

1- List activity clearly, and don’t use symbols to represent an activity. Letters are
used in this example for generality reasons.
2- Include the schedule time on top of the chart either by days, weeks, or months.
3- Represent the activities as bars not blocks to keep track of the activity progress.
4- Make sure to show the Time-now line on the chart. This helps the reader to know
if the project is on track or not at the time of the chart development, as shown in
Figure 1-2-1.
5- Make sure to include the project Name, Bar chart development date, and the
project initial date.

Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6
A
B
C
D
E

Figure 1-2-1 Bar chart example

Example 1-3

If the black bar, Figure 1-2-2, shows the scheduled work and the gray bar, Figure
1-2-2, shows the active work of a project. Were can I place the time-now line for the
project to be:
1- On schedule,
2- A head of schedule, or
3- Delayed, How to fix the delay?

Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6
A
B
C
D
E

Project bar chart

11
Example 1-4

Based on the Bridge example and the activity list given in Table 1-1, create the
bar chart for the project.

Table 1-1 Bridge activity duration

Duration
Acivity IPA
(week)
Excavation, unclassified - 2
Excavation, structural 1 1
Timber piles 2 5
Concrete, foot 3 3
Concrete, abut. 4 9
Concrete, deck slab 8 1
Concrete, curb 6 1
Steel, reinf. 10 14
Steel, structural 5 11
Bearing plates 9 1
Guardrail 7 1
Painting 11 1

- Advantages of Bar Charts

1- Very easy to develop and understand

2- Shows the scheduled versus the actual
3- Most commonly used
4- Very good to communicate with trades and upper management

- Disadvantages of Bar Charts

1- The Interdependency are not shown

2- Any change in an activity date is not obvious (not clear)
3- The actual status of the project cannot be determined
4- Can’t identify the appropriate activities to target for acceleration in case of
project delay

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4.2 Networks

1- Critical Path Method (CPM)

2- Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

1- Critical Path Method (CPM) Networks:

Before distinguishing between the two CPM techniques, it is important to distinguish

between two important terminologies: Duration and Event. The duration of an activity is
the period of time that will be consumed in completing a task. An event is a point in time
or an instant at which the status of completion of a project or activity can be defined.
The CPM method is considered a deterministic method because the activity duration is
determined by one number.

It is important to know that there are two variations of CPM:

a- Activity-on-Arrow (A-on-A), this is the traditional technique of the CPM and it

often called the ARROW DIAGRAM because the activities are presented on the
network as arrows or lines.
b- Activity-on-Node (A-on-N), in this technique the activities are defined as boxes
and are connected together by lines. This technique is also known as
PRECEDENCE TECHNIQUE or NODE DIAGAM.

a- Arrow Diagram:

Characteristics:
- Activities are shown by Lines
- Events are shown by Nodes

Example

Activity
Description

Activity Duration

13
b- Node diagram:

Characteristics:

- Activities are shown Nodes or Boxes

- Events are shown by Lines

Example

Activity Activity
A B

Figure 1-3 shows the network representation of a simple project presented as an

arrow diagram in Figure 1-3-a and in node diagram in Figure 1-3-b.

Activity Event

B D
A Place rebar F
Tie rebar
cage
Lay out wall Place
C E Concrete
Erect wall
Check wall
forms
forms

Figure 1-3-a Simple example of an arrow diagram for erecting a concrete wall

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 Logic link line
Activity

B D
Place rebar Tie rebar
cage
A F
Lay out Place
wall concrete
C E
Erect wall Check wall
forms forms

Figure 1-3-b Simple example of a node diagram for erecting a concrete wall

Basic types of relationships that found in a network:

1- One-on-one relationship: This relationship is considered the most simple and basic
relationship that can exist between two activities. Figure 1-4 shows the one-on-one
relationship. This relationship means that activity G cannot begin until activity B has
been completed.

Activity B Activity G
Hang wallpaper on wall Install mirror
1 5 7

Figure 1-4 One-on-one relationship

2- Many-on-one relationship: As shown in Figure 1-5, three activities are dependent on

the completion of a single preceding activity. In Figure 1-5 activities are not required to
actually start at the same time (their start times are independent of the other start times),
though none of them can start before the immediately preceding event (event 5) occurs.

15
 Activity F
Install vanity light
6

Activity B Activity G
Hang wallpaper on wall Install mirror
1 5 7

Activity H
Install duplex coverplate
8
Figure 1-5 Many-on-one relationship

3- One-on-many: As shown in Figure 1-6, that a single activity has its start time
dictated by the completion of several preceding activities. In this relationship, activity G
cannot begin until activity A, B, and C have been completed. This does not mean that
activity A, B, and C will all end at the same time but that they must all be completed
before activity G can begin.

Activity A
Install wall plumbing
0

Activity B Activity B
Route electrical wiring in walls Install plasterboard
1 5 7

Activity C
Install insulation
2
Figure 1-6 One-on-many relationship

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4- Many-on-many relationship: In Figure 1-7, activities A, B, and C must be
completed before activities F, G, or H can begin. Node 5 in this example might be
considered as a milestone due to its significance. A typical example of a milestone event
in building construction is when a building has been "dried in"

Activity F
Activity A
Install insulation
Install roofing 6
0

Activity B Activity G
Install siding Install floor covering
1 5 7

Activity C
Activity H
Install windows and
Install dropped ceiling
exterior doors 8
2

Figure 1-7 Many-on-many relationship

Example

Based on the information in Table 1-2, draw an arrow and node diagram for the
project.

Table 1-2 Project Activities and IPAs

Activity IPA*
A- Shop Drawings -
B- Excavation -
C- Mobilization -
D- Procure Building A
E- Foundation A, B, C
F- U. G. Utilities A, B, C
G- S.O.G. E, F
H- Install Building D,G
I- Interior Construction D,G
* IPA = Immediately Preceding Activity

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Arrow Diagram:

D
A 2

1
B 3 E 4
G 5
H 6

C F

I
7 8 9

a- With single starting and ending events

A D
1 2

3
B 4 E 5
G 6
H 7

F
8
C I 10
9

b- With multiple starting and ending events

Node Diagram:

A D H I

B E G

C F

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CE 435
Construction Engineering and Management
Dr. Anwar Al-ibrahim
Lecture Notes

Developing a Network Model

In presenting any network, the following points must be observed:

- Each activity must have a unique address (i, j nodes),

- Number the nodes from top to bottom, and left to right,
- Make sure that node “j” is numerically greater than “i”,
- Avoid intersecting activities,
- Use minimum dummies,
- All activities must follow one direction (left to right), never loop back,
- Place the arrow heads to eliminate confutation regarding network logic.

Dummy Activity

A dummy activity is treated as an arrow, normally drawn as a dotted line, but it is

assigned no duration, meaning that it does not consume time.

Dummy activities are used for the following reasons:

1- Avoid having two activities with the same i-j designation

Activity R
Set landscaping timbers

Activity S
Plant trees
10 15

Activity R
Set landscaping timbers
11

Activity S
Plant trees
10 15

19
2- Maintain proper logic of various construction activities

Activity A Activity C
Place concrete Install prefinished
slab in garage shop cabinets
10 20 25

Activity B Activity D
Install garage Install garage
door door opener
15 30

Activity A Activity C
Place concrete Install prefinished
slab in garage shop cabinets
10 20 25

Activity B Activity D
Install garage Install garage
door door opener
15 16 30

3- Changing activity predecessors

Activity A
Install Activity D
wallboard Paint wall
10 25 40

Activity B
Install vinyl Activity E
flooring Install base trim
15 30 45

Activity F
Activity C Install floor
Install carpet registers
20 35 50

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 Activity A
Install Activity D
wallboard Paint wall
10 25 40

Activity B Activity E
Install vinyl Install base
flooring trim
15 30 31 45

Activity C Activity F
Install carpet Install floor registers
20 35 50

4- Establishing a single starting activity for a project network

Activity A
Mobilize equipment
10

Activity B
Dummy Lay out building site
1 5 15

Activity C
Order materials
20

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 5- Establishing a single end activity for a project network

Activity R
Demobilize equipment
70

Activity S
Seeding Dummy
75 85 90

Activity T
Clean up
80

- Advantages of the Arrow diagram:

1- Traditional technique used and familiar to many people

2- A good indication of time passage and easy to graphically time-scale the network
by making the length of the arrow proportional to the duration of the activity it
represents
3- It automatically generates events at every point of intersection between activity
groups.

- Disadvantages of the Arrow diagram:

1- The diagram only presents the finish-to-start relationships between activities

2- Drawing the network is a time consuming process
3- Errors in logic can go undetected when complex relationships requiring numerous
dummies
4- The network generally must be developed manually prior to entering information
in a computer program
5- The number of activities that must be dealt with is increased by the fact that
dummies must be used to correctly construct the project logic in the arrow
diagram

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The network in Figure 2-1 shows the use of dummy activities.

Dress
shoulders
50

Excavate d3
Survey and Clear and Install Lay base Pour Cut
lay out route grade drainage course pavement joints d4
5 10 15 20 25 35 45 55 60

d2
Pour
Set up batch plant d1 overpasses
30 40

Excavate and grade overpasses

Figure 2-1 Example of dummies in a network

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Example

Draw the following arrow diagram from the information given in Table 2-1.

Table 2-1 Project activities and activities IPAs

Symbol Activity IPAs

A Insulate floor 1 -
B Insulate floor 2 A
C Drywall floor 1 A
E Paint floor 1 C
F Insulate floor 3 B
G Drywall floor 2 B, C
H Paint floor 2 E, G
I Insulate floor 4 F
J Drywall floor 3 F, G
K Paint floor 3 J, H
L Drywall floor 4 I, J
M Paint floor 4 L, K

Arrow Diagram:

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 After learning how to construct an arrow diagram, look at the Network bellow,
Can you answer the following questions:

A B F H
2 3 4
5 4 4 7

8
D E G
1 5 6
3 6 6
I
7
4
C
7

1- How long would this job take?

2- Which activities are critical?

3- If you were to assign over-time or double-shifts to shorten the project duration,

which activities would you select?

4- Which activities can be delayed without delaying the project completion date, and
how long can you delay theses activities?

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Definitions

Early Activity start: The earliest time that an activity can start as determined by the
latest of the early finish times of all immediately preceding (previous) activities

Early Activity Finish: The earliest time that an activity can finish. It is determined by
adding the duration of the activity to the early start of that activity

Late Activity Finish: The latest time that an activity can be finished without delaying
the entire project completion. It is equal to the earliest of the late starts of the
immediately succeeding (following) activities

Late Activity Start: The latest time that an activity can start without delaying the
project completion. It is determined by subtracting the duration from the late finish of the
activity

Total Float: The maximum amount of time that an activity can be delayed (beyond its
designated early start time) without delaying the project completion. The total float of an
activity can be calculated by taking the difference between an activity's early finish and
its late finish, or the difference between the early start and the late start. Some texts refer
to the total float as total slack.

Free Float: The maximum amount of time that an activity can be delayed (beyond its
designated early start time) without delaying the early start of any other activity,
specifically those activities immediately following that activity. It is calculated by
subtracting the activity's early finish from the early event time of its ending event.

Critical Activity: It is the activity that cannot be delayed without extending the project
duration. Activities with no total float (TF= 0) are defined as critical. These activities
have early and late starts that are equal, indicating that they must be started at the
calculated time and completed within the stipulated duration in order for the project to be
completed in the estimated amount of time

Critical Path: The path (or paths) from the first activity to the last activity in the
network that passes through only those activities that have a total float of Zero. Each
network has at least one critical path connecting the first and last nodes in the network,
provided the early and late project completion times are set equal to each other.

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Forward CPM Calculations

A B F H
2 3 4
5 4 4 7

8
B E G
1 5 6
3 6 6
I
7
4
C
7

Backward CPM Calculations

A B F H
2 3 4
5 4 4 7

8
B E G
1 5 6
3 6 6
I
7
4
C
7

27
- Identification of the Critical Path

Examine the critical path in the above exercise and determine the characteristics
of the critical path:

a- Longest path through the network,

b- More than one critical path can exist in a network,
c- More than one critical path can converge into one,
d- One critical path can spread out into many paths,
e- Any critical path must be a continues chain of activities starting at the
beginning of the network and ending at it’s end.

- Complete the following table based on previous network:

Forward Pass Backward Pass Activity Float

Critical
Activity Duration ES EF LS LF TF FF
??
A 5
B 3
C 7
D 4
E 6
F 4
G 6
H 7
I 4

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Example

Create the Network for the project shown in Table 2-2, and then complete Table 2-3.

Table 2-2 Project activity duration and IPA

Activity Duration (days) IPA

A 4 -
B 5 -
C 7 -
D 5 A
E 3 B
F 7 B
G 2 A, C
H 3 A, C, E
I 4 A, C, E
J 1 D
K 1 D
L 2 G, H, K
M 1 J
N 1 F
O 2 F, I

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 Table 2-3 Activities ES, EF, LS, LF, TF, and FF

Forward Pass Backward Pass Activity Float

Duration Critical
Activity IPA ES EF LS LF TF FF
(days) ??
A 4 -
B 5 -
C 7 -
D 5 A
E 3 B
F 7 B
G 2 A, C
H 3 A, C, E
I 4 A, C, E
J 1 D
K 1 D
L 2 G, H, K
M 1 J
N 1 F
O 2 F, I

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Precedence Diagrams:

As discussed earlier, in precedence diagrams or node diagrams activities are

represented by nodes. The nodes are linked by lines that show the relationships that exist
between the activities.

The relationships between activities are defined as being finish-to-start (FS)

which means that the preceding activity must be finished before the succeeding activity
can start, Figure 2-7.
A B

Figure 2-7 Finish-to-start relationship

The precedence technique to handle other situations exists as well. These

relationships are:

- Start-to-start (SS): This means that when activity A starts, activity B starts as
shown in Figure 2-8.

A B

Figure 2-8 Start-to-start relationship

- Finish-to-finish (FF): This means that after activity A finishes, B finishes as shown
in Figure 2-9.

A B

Figure 2-9 Finish-to-finish relationship

- Start-to-finish (SF): This means that after activity A starts, activity B can finish
as shown in Figure 2-10.

A B

Figure 2-10 Start-to-finish relationship

31
 These relationships are used to specify activities that overlap to some degree or that
have a delay time of some sort between them. To understand how these relationships
work, consider for example that we have the following sequence of activities:

A: Place concrete (1 day)

B: Cure concrete (2 days)
C: Strip forms (1 day)

As we know curing concrete is an activity that does not use and type of resource
beside time. In the traditional node diagram we will draw the relationship as follows:

A B C
1 2 1

When using the relationships introduced earlier, the diagram will look as follows:

A 2 C
1 1

This means that activity C starts 2days after activity A finishes. Number (2) showing
on the top of the arrow is called lead or lag time. Another example to illustrate the
relationships is the following example. Assume we must pump a pit for 1 day before
starting a concrete pour and keep pumping while we pour. To draw this relationship in
the traditional we would introduce the following activities:

A1: Pump before pour

A2: Pump during pour
B : Pour

The network would look as follows:

A2
3
A1
1
B
3

Using the node diagram relationships the activities will be defined as follows:

A: Pump the pit

B: Pour concrete

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The network would look as follows:

A B
4 3

The Node diagram is known for its simplicity when compared to the arrow
diagram. When drawing a network using the node diagram no dummy activities are used
to insure proper logic. In addition, when an activity is added to a network it will not
cause any distortion (misrepresentation) to the scheduling logic. This is not true when we
are working with an arrow diagram, because an addition of an activity to the network
causes complications due to the necessity to include additional dummy activities. This
addition will usually cause errors in scheduling logic. To demonstrate the complexity of
the arrow network when compared to the node diagram, look at Figure 1-11. Figure 1-
11-a is a project network presented in arrow diagram, while Figure 1-11-b is the node
diagram presentation for the same project.

I L
1

A B F J
1 1 1 1 1 1

G M
1 1 1 1

C E H K
1 1 1

Figure 1-11-a Arrow diagram

A B F I

C G J L

E H K M

Figure 1-11-b Node diagram

Figure 1-11 Network diagrams

33
- Creating the node diagram

The nodes in a node diagram are denoted as a box or circle as shown in Figure 1-12.

Activity
ES EF
LS LF
Duration

Figure 1-12-1 Precedence diagram circle node

ES Activity EF

LS Duration LF

Figure 1-12-1 Precedence diagram box node

Figure 1-12 Precedence diagram nodes

The procedures for creating a precedence network are very similar to those of
developing an arrow diagram network:

- Identifying activities
- Finding the logic between activities
- Draw the network
- Assign duration to activities
- Perform calculations

The node or precedence diagram differs from the arrow diagram technique in the
network representation and in the process of doing the network calculation. There is a
systematic approach called Sequence Step used to organize the activity into levels. When
using this approach the scheduler insures a network representation with minimum
crossing lines and clutter.
The Sequence step technique assigns a different sequence step to each activity in a
chain. All activities without predecessors are assigned step 0. Activities immediately
following only step 0 activities are on step 1, and so on. To illustrate the technique
further solve the following example.

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Example

Determine the Sequence Steps for the following project activities and draw the
Node diagram.

Sequence
Activity IPAs
Step
A - 0
B A 1
C B 2
D G, H 4
E - 0
F E 1
G C, F 3
H - 0

A B C

E F G

H D

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- Lead and Lag time

Lead and lag times are numbers assigned to the link line between nodes indicating
an anticipation or delay in the beginning or ending of a succeeding activity. They are
used to determine the free float and total float of an activity and should not be confused
with the float. Remember that free float and total float are assigned to activities, while
lead and lag time are numbers assigned to the link lines (which are not activities) to
provide a means of showing the association of one activity to another.

What do these relationships mean?

A B
5 7
LS LF LS LF
2 2
FS with no lag

A B
5 7 1
LS LF LS LF
2 2

FS with lag

A B
5 7
LS LF LS LF
2 2

SS with no lead

A B
5 7 1
LS LF LS LF
2 2

SS with lead

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 A B
5 7 1
LS LF LS LF
2 1

SS with lead and FF with no lag

A B
5 7 1
LS LF LS LF
2 1

SS with lead and FF with lag

A
5 7 1
LS LF
2 C

LS LF
1
B
3 5
LS LF
2

FF with lag and FS with no lag

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 A
5 7 4
LS LF
2 C

3 LS LF
1

FF with lag and SS with lead

In this class we will work only with FS relationships, which mean that we will be
working with lag time only.

Calculation on a precedence network (only for FS relationships)

- Calculating ES and EF:

1- Assign 0 as the early start date of first activity

2- Calculate the EF time for the activity (EF = ES + duration)
3- Assign EF to the early start of each succeeding activity. (If lag time is
specified for a link, then the ES of the succeeding activity for that link would
be EF of the preceding activity PLUS the lag time (ESpro = EFsucc + Lag time)
4- Repeat Steps 2 and 4 for each activity.

- Calculating Free Float (FF):

1- Calculate lags for each link by subtracting the EF of the preceding activity
from the ES of the succeeding activity
2- Determine the FF of an activity as equal to the smallest lag across all links
leaving that node

- Calculating Total Float (TF):

1- Assign a value of 0 TF to the last activity in the network

2- Compute the TF for those activities that immediately precede the last activity.
Do this by adding the TF of the last activity to the link lag value of the link
line that connects them
3- Proceed in backward pass fashion until you have computed the TF for all
activities. When an activity is connected to two or more activities that follow
it, you will compute several sums of the TF and link values. Always assign
the smallest sum as the TF for the activity in question

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- Calculating LS and LF:

1- Add the TF to the ES of each activity to determine the LS of each activity

2- Add the TF to the EF of each activity to determine the LF of each activity

Example

Solve the following node diagram network that has no lag time

B E I

5 9 7

6
H
L
A C 1
3
2 4
J

D G K

7 8 9

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Example

Solve the same node diagram but with lag time (use the precedence diagram
calculation steps stated earlier)

B E I
2

5 9 7

6
H
L
A C 1 1
3
2 4
3 J

1
D G K

7 8 9

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2- Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

- It was developed by the late 1950s.

- It was developed to evaluate the risk in meeting the time goals of the execution of
projects whose activities had some uncertainty in their duration estimates.
- This method is considered a probabilistic method. In this method the activities
duration cannot be precisely predetermined so the planner will specify three
separate durations for each activity: the most likely, the optimistic, and the
pessimistic duration estimates.
- The three times express the time to accomplish an activity in terms of likelihood
rather than for certain. Likelihood in turn can be expressed in terms of statistical
probability and distribution curves representing the frequency of occurrence of
various durations if the activity were to be performed a large number of times.
- To perform the traditional CPM analysis and determining the project duration,
PERT will calculate a single weighted average duration (expected elapse time, te)
for each activity using the following formula:

te = (a + 4m + b)/6

where,
te = activity expected duration
a = optimistic duration (1 in 100 chance) = minimum duration
b = pessimistic duration (1 in 100 chance) = maximum duration
m = most frequent duration (most likely)

- In PERT, the given estimates of times and the likelihood of occurrence are
represented by Beta curve.

m
Beta distribution
Curve

0.5

Activity
Duration
a te b

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 - As shown in the curve above, the te points divides the area under the curve into
two equal parts, which means that the activity has a 50-50 chance of being
accomplished earlier or later than te.

- to represent the variability and level of uncertainty in the activity duration, the
activity variance is calculated as follows:
σte2 = [( b - a ) / 6]2

where,
σte2 = activity duration variance

- The variance, σte2, is larger when optimistic and pessimistic estimates are far
apart, representing high uncertainty in the activity duration estimate.
- This method is usually used when there is insufficient experience or historical
data available for estimating the durations of individual activities in a project.
- Steps followed to find the project duration using PERT:

- Find the individual activity duration using:

te = (a + 4m + b)/6

- Find the project duration, TE, using CPM calculations and the activities floats.
- Assuming that the project is executed a large number of times, the resulting
population of project durations maybe assumed normally distributed with the
following values:

µTE = TE = ∑ te

σTE = √(∑ σte2)

- Since the project will follow a normal distribution, we can obtain probabilities
from standard probability tables and make conclusions, as follows:

Z = Desired Completion Date - µTE / σTE

= 0.5 reasonable
Using Z and
Standard Probability Get > 0.5 not necessarily good
Tables Probability
< 0.5 no good

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 Example

Find the probability of the project being completed in 30 days or less.

D
2 3
2,8,10
A E
3,4,5 1,4,6

B F H I
1 4 5 6 9
2,6,9 7,10,12 7,8,10 3,6,9

C G
12,16,20 K
1,2,4
6,10,14
J
7 8
7 5,6,8

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- Criticisms to PERT Technique:

The PERT approach has been used for risk analysis in R&D (Research and
Development) projects. Many researchers, however, have reported several comments on
its applicability, including:

- Requires three estimated durations for each activity, which requires time
consuming analysis of past projects
- Assumes continues probability distribution for activity durations. In various
domains, including construction, only discrete durations are available.
- The assumption of the suitability of beta distribution for activity durations is
debatable.
- It focuses on a single Critical Path and ignores close-to-critical paths.
- It assumes independent activity durations, where as in practice, activity durations
are correlated with one another.
- It ignores the risk that occurs at convergence points, therefore, according to some,
is suitable only for one-path schedules.

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