UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

CIVE 4349: Construction Planning

and Management

Instructor: Dr. Mohamed Abdel-

Abdel-Raheem

Critical Path Method (CPM):

ADM and PDM Techniques

1- Overview
• Planning= WBS + Sequencing of Work

• Activity Gas Station

Building Building Mechanical Interior Exterior Interior

Foundation
Walls Roof
• Physical Logic
System Finishes Finishes Flooring

Built-
Built- up
Parking & Gutters
Roof Electrical
Service
System
Area

• Management Logic Masonry

Prefab
Metal
Walls
Walls Doors &
Facade Glazing
Signage

Earth Asphalt Concrete

work Paving Areas

Exc. Gas Insulation Gas Gas Fire

Piping
Tank & Proofing Tank Pumps System

Exterior
Finishes

Startup
Building Construct Interior
Halpin & Senior 2011
Start & Site Foundation Slabs End
Structure Roof Finishes
Prep.
Prep.

Elec. &
Mech.
Systems

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2- Steps of Scheduling
• List of activities: WBS
• Estimating activities duration
• Sequencing of activities
• Determining earliest start and finish, and latest
start and finish for each activity
• Determining the total project duration : Critical
Path
• Reviewing, optimizing, and updating the schedule

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3- Estimating Activity Duration

Duration of an activity is determined by:
• Nature of work, Ex.: Pouring concrete for the columns 50th floor
is different from 2nd floor
• Quantities of work, Ex.: Time taken for a formwork activity of
6,000 square foot is different from 3,000 square foot
• Method of Work, Ex.: Concrete pump vs. a tower crane and
buggies
• Resources, Ex.: 20 masons will finish the job faster than 15
masons. A crew of bulldozer + loader + 5 trucks will finish the
earthmoving task faster than using a scrapper+ 5 trucks
• Working hours of the resources, Ex.: A certain task will be
finished faster using 10-
10-hour shifts compared to 8-
8-hour shifts
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3- Estimating Activity Duration – Cont’

Cont’d

Other factors:
• Optimization of resources, Ex.: If the earthmoving activity is
balanced with 5 trucks, using 7 trucks will not make any
difference
• Crowdness Effect, Ex.: Large number of different crews working
in the same area will negatively impact the productivity of each
one

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3- Estimating Activity Duration – Cont’

Cont’d

Example:
• Activity: Form Continuous Wall Footings
• Quantity: 6,000 sqr.foot of contact area (SFCA) of wall footing
formwork
• Using R.S. Means:
– Assuming 3 uses of Plywood
– One carpentry crew produces 470 SFCA/day

R.S. Means (Halpin

(Halpin & Senior 2011)
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3- Estimating Activity Duration – Cont’

Cont’d

Example:
• Using R.S. Means:
– Assuming 3 uses of Plywood
– One carpentry crew produces 470 SFCA/day
– Total duration = 6,000 / 470 = 12.76 days
– Using 2 crews: 12.76 / 2 = 6.39
– Total activity duration = 7 working days

• Working days vs. Calendar days

– Working days: Actual number of days needed to finish the activity

– Calendar days: 5 days a week and include all holidays

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4- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON)

• Precedence diagram is a graphical representation of the

project activities using rectangles and arrows
• The project activities are denoted by rectangles joined
by arrows representing relationships (dependency)
between them.
ES Activity EF ES Activity EF
Name Relationship Name

LS Duration LF LS Duration LF

Node Node
Activity Description
i j
Duration
Start Finish

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5- AON: Relationships

• There are four types of relationships that can exist

between any two activities:
ES Activity EF ES Activity EF
Relationship
1. Finish to Start Name Name

LS Duration LF LS Duration LF

0
A C
2. Start to Start 2 4

D
5

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5- AON: Relationships – Cont’

Cont’d

• There are four types of relationships that can exist

between any two activities:
B E
3. Finish to Finish 10 8

C F
7 5

A C F
4. Start to Finish 2 4 1

D G
5 2

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5- AON: Relationships – Cont’

Cont’d

• Examples

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5- AON: Relationships – Cont’

Cont’d

• Examples

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5- AON: Relationships – Cont’

Cont’d

• Examples

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5- AON: Relationships – Cont’

Cont’d

• Examples

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6- Building the Network

Example 1:
– A precedes B
– A precedes C
– C precedes F
– B precedes D
– B precedes E
– D precedes G
– D precedes F
– E precedes G
– E Precedes H ES EF
C ES EF
– B precedes H F
LS LF LS LF
ES EF ES EF ES EF ES EF ES EF ES EF
Start A B D G Finish
LS LF LS LF LS LF LS LF LS LF LS LF

ES EF ES EF
E H
LS LF LS LF

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6- Building the Network – Cont’

Cont’d
• Example 2:
Activity Successor
A D,J
B C, F
C D, J
D -
E C, F, G
F H, I, K
G H, I, K
H D, J
I J
J -
K -

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6- Building the Network – Cont’

Cont’d
• Example 3

Activity Description Duration Predec.

A Excavate Stage I 4 -
B Order & Deliver Steel Work 7 -
C Formwork Stage I 4 A
D Excavate Stage II 5 A
E Concrete Stage I 8 C
F Formwork Stage II 2 C, D
G Backfill Stage I 3 E
H Concrete Stage II 8 E, F
I Erect Steel Work 10 B, H
J Backfill Stage II 5 G, H

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6- Building the Network – Cont’

Cont’d
• Example 4

Hinze (2012)

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6- Building the Network – Cont’

Cont’d
• Example 5

Hinze (2012)

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7- Activity Times

• Each activity is denoted by four event times: Early

Start, Early Finish, Late Start, and Late Finish
• Early Start (ES): Earliest date the activity can start at
• Early Finish: Earliest date the activity can be finished at
Early Finish = Early Start + Duration
• Late Finish: Latest date the activity can be finished at
without affecting the total duration of the project
• Late Start: Latest date the activity can be started at
without affecting the total duration of the project
Late Start= Late Finish - Duration

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8- Activity Float

• If each activity is completed between its early start time

and lat start time,
time, the project total duration will not be
extended.
• Start Float: Time difference between the activity early
start and late start
Start Float = Late Start – Early Start
• Finish Float: Time difference between the activity
earliest finish and latest finish
Finish Float = Late Finish – Early Finish
Start Float = Finish Float

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8- CPM: Float

• Total Float (TF): The number of time units an activity

maybe be delayed without extending the project total
duration
Total Float = Late Finish – Early Start – Duration
Total Float = Late Start – Early Start
Total Float = Start float = Finish Float

• Total float can be split: part of it can be used before

the latest start, and part after the earliest finish.

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8- CPM: Float

Ahuja et al. 1994

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9- Forward and Backward Pass Calculations

Example 8 – Cont’
Cont’d

C F
5 15
Start A
0 7
B D G Finish
23 17 9 0

E H
12 12

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

Example 8 – Cont’
Cont’d

7 12 47 62
C F
0 0 0 7 42 5 47 47 15 62
Start A
0 0 0 0 7 7 7 30 30 47 47 56 62 62
B D G Finish
7 23 30 30 17 47 53 9 62 62 0 62

30 42 42 54
E H
38 12 50 50 12 62

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 9 Activity Duration Predecessor

A 2 -
B 4 A
C 7 A
D 3 A
H E 5 A
4
F F 7 B
3 G I L G 6 B
8
5 H 7 F
B

J M P 16
11 14
C I 5 G
1 A 2 K
R

6 7
17 S 18
J 3 G
D N K 8 C,G
9 12
Q

L 9 H, I
E O
10 13 15 M 4 F,J,K
N 7 D,K
O 8 E,K
P 6 M
Q 10 N,O
R 5 N,L,O,P
S 7 Q,R

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 9
H
F 7
7 L
B I 9
4 5
G
6 J M P
3 4 6
R
A C 5
2 7
K
8
S
7

D N
3 7

O Q
E 10
5 8

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 9
13 20
6 13 H
F 17 7 24
10 7 17 20 29
2 6 12 17 L
B I 24 9 33
2 4 6 6 12 5
G
6 6 12 12 15 20 24 24 30
J M P 30 35
0 2 20 3 23 23 4 27 27 6 33
R
A 2 9 33 5 38
C 12 20
0 2 2 5 7 12
K 38 45
12 8 20
S
38 7 45
2 5 20 27
D N
18 3 21 21 7 28

20 28 28 38
2 7 O Q
E 28 10 38
15 5 20 20 8 28

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 9
Early Late Float
Activity Duration Predecessor Start Finish Start Finish Total Free Ind.
A 2 - 0 2 0 2 0 0 0
B 4 A 2 6 2 6 0 0 0
C 7 A 2 9 5 12 3 3 0
D 3 A 2 5 18 21 16 15 0
E 5 A 2 7 15 20 13 13 0
F 7 B 6 13 10 17 4 0 0
G 6 B 6 12 6 12 0 0 0
H 7 F 13 20 17 24 4 0 0
I 5 G 12 17 19 24 7 3 0
J 3 G 12 15 20 23 8 5 0
K 8 C,G 12 20 12 20 0 0 0
L 9 H, I 20 29 24 33 4 1 0
M 4 F,J,K 20 24 23 27 3 0 0
N 7 D,K 20 27 21 28 1 1 0
O 8 E,K 20 28 20 28 0 0 0
P 6 M 24 30 27 33 3 0 0
Q 10 N,O 28 38 28 38 0 0 0
R 5 N,L,O,P 30 35 33 38 3 3 0
S 7 Q,R 38 45 38 45 0 0 0
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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 10
+12

+2 B +3 E
10 8
+5

0
A +1 C F G
1 7 5 1
+16

+2
D
14

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 10
+12

2 12 16 24
+2 B +3 E
2 10 12 16 8 24
+5

0 1 2 9 9 14 24 25
A +1 C F G
0 1 1 12 7 19 19 5 24 24 1 25
+16

3 17 +2
D
8 14 22

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

Calculating Float
• Free Float
– FS: ES of succeeding activity – Lag – EF of current activity
– SS: ES of succeeding activity – Lag – ES of current activity
– FF: EF of succeeding activity – Lag – EF of current activity
– FS: EF of succeeding activity – Lag – ES of current activity
• Independent Float
– FS: LS of succeeding activity – Lag – EF of current activity
– SS: LS of succeeding activity – Lag – ES of current activity
– FF: LF of succeeding activity – Lag – EF of current activity
– FS: EF of succeeding activity – Lag – LS of current activity

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 11
+12

2 12 16 24
+2 B +3 E
2 10 12 16 8 24
+5

0 1 2 9 9 14 24 25
A +1 C F G
0 1 1 12 7 19 19 5 24 24 1 25
+16

2 16 +2
D
8 14 22

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 11

Early Late Float

Activity Duration Predec. Start Finish Start Finish Total Free
A 1 - 0 1 0 1 0 0
B 10 - 2 12 2 12 0 0
C 7 - 2 9 12 19 10 0
D 14 G 2 16 8 22 6 6
E 8 16 24 16 24 0 0
F 5 D 9 14 19 24 10 10
G 1 D 24 25 24 25 0 0

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 12

+2
B E +3
3 3
+2 H
4
0
A C F
1 K
2 4 +1
2
J
+1 2
D G
5 2

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8- Precedence Network: Activity on Node (AON) – Cont’

Cont’d

• Example 12

2 5 +2 7 10
B E +3
2 3 5 7 3 10
9 13
+2 H
7 8 9 4 13
0 2 3 7
A C F 13 15
8 1 9 K
0 2 2 4 4 8 +1
13 2 15
11 13
J
0 5 +1 7 9 11 2 13
D G
3 5 8 9 2 11

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