Site layout for earthworks in road projects

This paper describes the integration of various models to provide a realistic decision support system for linear project site layout. Initially, the paper describes an investigation to determine the actual methods currently used by project managers and planners. A review of both techniques adopted by the managers and the knowledge acquisition methods employed are included in the paper. Following this, this paper describes the work done to automate the existing systems. This resulted in a system which has been used in practice and has been shown to be a great help to managers. It is based on the traditional method of mass-haul diagrams used to determine the earthworks activities. A separate simulation and artificial intelligence model of earthworks are described. This will be extended to model linear projects more realistically than does mass-haul.