Abstract

Earthwork allocations are needed in excavation work to determine the quantities of material to be moved from each cut section to each fill section. Two basic methods of earthwork allocations are available: mass diagram and linear programming. The mass diagram can be used to determine the most economic distribution of cut and fill. However, the usefulness of mass diagram diminishes for situations in which haul costs are not directly proportional to the haul distance; swell and shrinkage vary along the roadway; and additional quantities of soil are available at borrow pit or may be disposed of at disposal sites. This study presents an integrated system for estimating earthmoving production, selecting fleet and optimizing earthmoving operations. Geographic information system (GIS) is employed to acquire and analyze spatial data. Fleet Production and Cost Analysis (FPC) is used as software tool to select the best Fleet. The methodology used in the development of optimization model is based on the Mixed-Integer Linear Programming which determines optimum quantity of materials to be moved between different cut and fill sections, borrow pits and disposal sites. The standard Microsoft Excel Solver has been used to run the presented MILP model. This study also proposes an algorithm for determining longitudinal interval for a part of road segment. The study concludes that the presented integrated system can assist engineers, contractors and clients of earthmoving projects in quantity take-off determination work, for selecting best equipment fleet and in determining the optimum quantity of earthwork materials to be moved between different sections so as to finish the project in minimum time and within budget with optimum use of available resources