ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

IN

PROGRAMMING AND SCHEDULING

TECHNIQUES
2nd edition

Thomas E. Uher
Adam Zantis
This edition published 2011
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ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

IN
PROGRAMMING AND SCHEDULING
TECHNIQUES

2nd edition

Thomas E. Uher
Adam Zantis
FOREWORD
This Answers to Exercises document supplements the Programming and
Scheduling Techniques textbook. It contains worked solutions to exercises set out
in most chapters of the textbook. The exercises have been carefully formulated to
improve your comprehension of important topics explained in the textbook and
to enable you to self-test your knowledge. Upon accessing Answers to Exercises
on the Spon Press website, you may peruse this document, download it or even
print it free of charge.

The most effective way of using Answers to Exercises is for you to solve or
attempt to solve individual problems first before looking up the answers. We
trust you will find Answers to Exercises a useful supplement to the textbook. We
are confident that it will improve your understanding of the programming and
scheduling techniques introduced in the textbook, and make your study much
easier and more enjoyable.

T.E. Uher
A. Zantis
CONTENTS

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN CHAPTER 3 5

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN CHAPTER 4 9

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN CHAPTER 5 15

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN CHAPTER 6 18

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN CHAPTER 9 29

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN CHAPTER 10 40

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN CHAPTER 11 44

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN CHAPTER 13 47

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN
CHAPTER 3 (pp )

Solution to exercise 3.1

Precedence schedule

C G

A D F M

E L N P

B K J O

1
Solution to exercise 3.2

Precedence schedule

C G

A D H L

J K O

B F E M Q

N P

Solution to exercise 3.3

Precedence schedule

A C D N

E H J L M

F G

2
Solution to exercise 3.4

Precedence schedule

Solution to exercise 3.5

Precedence schedule

3
Solution to exercise 3.6

4
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN
CHAPTER 4 (pp...........)
Solution to exercise 4.1 (a)

Solution to exercise 4.1 (b)

5
Solution to Exercise 4.2 (a)

Solution to exercise 4.2 (b)

A more even distribution of the total daily labour resource may be achieved by varying
it or by splitting it.

6
Solution to exercise 4.3

Hoist Lifting Table

Trade Activity No. of Cycle/ Activity Total Cumulat.
Contract loads/ floor time/ time/ time (hrs)
floor (min.) floor floor
(hrs) (hrs)
1 Formwork 100 15 25 28 28
Contingency 10% 3
2 Reinforcement 40 15 10 36 64
Concrete 170 7 20
Conduits & cables 5 30 3
Contingency 10% 3
3 Handrails 6 15 2 2 66
Contingency 10% 0
4 A/C ducts 20 15 5 8 74
Sprinkler pipes 10 15 3
Contingency 10% 1
5 Plumbing stock 5 30 3 4 78
Lift rails 3 30 2
Contingency 10% 0
6 Bricks 15 15 4 16 94
Mortar 10 15 3
Windows 7 60 7
Door frames 3 30 2
Contingency 10% 1
7 Electrical 8 60 8 26 120
Plaster 30 15 8
Glazing 8 60 8
Contingency 10% 2
8 Ceiling frames 4 30 2 10 130
Wall & floor tiles 20 20 7
Contingency 10% 1
9 Toilet partitions 2 30 1 1 131
Contingency 10% 0
10 Plumbing fixtures 2 60 2 2 133
Contingency 10% 0
11 Ceiling tiles 8 30 4 11 144
Lights 6 60 6
Contingency 10% 1
12 Lift doors 17 30 9 9 153
Contingency 10% 1
13 Doors 2 30 1 9 162
Vanity units 3 60 3
Venetian blinds 1 60 1
Mirrors 3 60 3
Contingency 10% 1
14 Induction units 2 30 1 7 169
Lift lobby finish 12 20 4
Door hardware 4 15 1
Contingency 10% 1

7
Cumulative Hoist Lifting Schedule
Week Hoist time/week Cumulative hoist time
No. in hours in hours
1 28 28
2 36 64
3 2 66
4 8 74
5 4 78
6 16 94
7 26 120
8 10 130
9 1 131
10 2 133
11 11 144
12 9 153
13 9 162
14 7 169
15 169
016 169
17 169
18 169
19 169
20 169
21 141
22 105
23 103
24 95
25 91
26 75
27 49
28 39
29 38
30 36
31 25
32 16
33 7
34 0

8
 Hoist Lifting Schedule

Solution to exercise 4.4

Crane 1 Crane 2 Crane 3

1. The lift shaft will be built to level 3 (3 storeys) prior to installation of
crane and will take 4 weeks to complete 28 days 28 days 28 days
2. The crane will be installed within the only Goods Lift 5 days 3 days 3 days
3. The jump form system will be installed using the crane and will take 3
weeks to complete 18 days 18 days 18 days
4. The structure will take 34 weeks to complete once the jump form is
installed. There are approximately 329 load lifts required per floor with NOT
the average load weighing 4 tonnes and distance of 200 m OK OK OK
Test Crane Speed = Loads/floor * no. of floors * cycle time per load =
x, then convert to time scale
Take Crane 1 for example = ((329 loads/floor * 34 floors * 12 min/load)
/ (60 min x 8 hrs))/ 6 days 47 weeks 35 weeks 31 weeks
5. The jump form system removal can take place after the structure is
complete and will take 3 weeks to complete. 18 days 18 days 18 days
6. The roof plantroom is to be constructed from structural steel with the
largest steel member weighing 5 tonnes and being located 45 m from the NOT
goods lift shaft. OK OK OK
Test Crane load = tonne/metre * metre. Final load to be confirmed by
crane supplier and structural engineer.
Take Crane 1 for example = 8.25 tonne / 60 m * 45 m, then check with
structural engineer & crane supplier 6.2 t 5.4 t 4.5 t
7. Heaviest permanent plant weighs 7 tonnes and is located 40 m from the NOT
goods lift shaft. OK OK OK
Test Crane load = tonne/metre * metre. Final load to be confirmed by
crane supplier and structural engineer.
Take Crane 1 for example = 8.25 tonne / 60 metres * 40 m, then check
with structural engineer & crane supplier 5.5 t 4.8 t 4.0 t
8. The crane can be removed after the final piece of plant is lifted into
position and jump form removed. 6 days 4 days 4 days

9
In selecting the appropriate crane for the project, all project information needs to be
reviewed and a crane selected based on the crane speed, maximum reach, capacity at the
maximum reach & average cycle time per lift. The project particular information should
be tabulated as shown in the above table and each crane's ability to meet the project
particular information should be analysed. The crane that can carry all heavy loads at
the required distances and has the most efficient cycle time should then be selected.
Based on the requirements of in the above exercise, Crane 2 appears to meet the
requirements.

10
ANSWERES TO EXERCISES IN
CHAPTER 5 (pp...........)

Solution to exercise 5.1

11
Solution to exercise 5.2

12
Solution to exercise 5.3

13
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN
CHAPTER 6 (pp. )
Solution to exercise 6.1

14
15
16
Solution to exercise 6.2

17
18
Solution to exercise 6.3

19
20
21
22
23
Solution to exercise 6.4 (adapted from Burke, 1999, p 213)

The EAC calculations are performed using the following equation:

EAC = (ACWP/BCWP) x BAC

Cases BAC BCWS BCWP ACWP EAC

1 $10,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $10,000
2 $10,000 $5,000 $4,000 $4,000 $10,000
3 $10,000 $5,000 $5,000 $4,000 $8,000
4 $10,000 $5,000 $6,000 $4,000 $6,667
5 $10,000 $5,000 $4,000 $5,000 $12,500
6 $10,000 $5,000 $6,000 $5,000 $8,333
7 $10,000 $5,000 $4,000 $6,000 $15,000
8 $10,000 $5,000 $5,000 $6,000 $12,000
9 $10,000 $5,000 $6,000 $6,000 $10,000
10 $10,000 $5,000 $3,000 $4,000 $13,333
11 $10,000 $5,000 $4,000 $3,000 $7,500
12 $10,000 $5,000 $7,000 $6,000 $8,571
13 $10,000 $5,000 $6,000 $7,000 $11,667

Case 1: The project is on schedule and within cost budget.

Case 2: The project is behind schedule but within cost budget.

Case 3: The project is on schedule and under cost budget.

Case 4: The project is ahead of schedule and under cost budget.

Case 5: The project is behind schedule and over cost budget.

Case 6: The project is ahead of schedule and under cost budget.

Case 7: The project is behind schedule and over cost budget.

Case 8: The project is on schedule but over cost budget.

Case 9: The project is ahead of schedule and within cost budget.

Case 10: The project is behind schedule and over cost budget.

Case 11: The project is behind schedule but under cost budget.

Case 12: The project is ahead of schedule and under cost budget.

Case 13: The project is ahead of schedule but over cost budget.

24
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN
CHAPTER 9 (pp............)
Solution to exercise 9.1

The original schedule provides continuity of resource use for Trade A only (verify this
by examining the earliest start and finish dates). Trade B is discontinuous as is Trade C.
In Trade C, two activities Level 4 and Level 5 compete for the same resource.

With introduction of resource restraints, which ensure a logical progression of Trades

A, B and C through the structure, the overlap between the activities Level 4 and
Level 5 in Trade C was eliminated. However, the project duration was extended by 2
time units. Discontinuity in the use of the committed resources continues in Trades B
and C.

A clearer picture of the use of resources can be deduced by converting a critical path
schedule to a MAC schedule.

25
The first three columns of MAC show the converted original schedule. The
discontinuity in the use of the committed resources is clearly apparent as is the overlap
between the activities Level 4 and Level 5 in Trade C.
The next three columns show the converted schedule with the resource restraints. The
planner can now adjust the schedule to eliminate or minimise discontinuity in the use of
resources. The adjusted MAC is shown in the last three columns.

26
Solution to exercise 9.2

Alternative 1

Quantities of materials per floor and crew sizes have been calculated and are given in
the table below.

Activities Quantities Production Person Activity Crew

rates hours duration size
in hours
Setout ceiling grid 8 4 2

Ceiling hangers 16x11 = 176 0.1 person say 20 10 2

@ 2m centres hrs/hanger
Ceiling frame (31x20m) + (41x30m) 50m/person 37 say 2
= 1,850m hr 20
Ceiling tiles 30mx20m = 600m2 12.2 48 24 2
m2/person
Sprinkler heads 9x6 = 54 3/person 18 say 2
@ 3m centres 10
Light fittings 9x6 = 54 6/person 9 say 1
@ 3m centres 10
Aircon. registers 7x4 = 28 3/person 10 10 1
@ 4m centres

In this alternative, crew sizes have been kept at the maximum of 2 persons per crew per
activity. To speed up Ceiling fixing, it is assumed that 2 crew of 2 persons each will
work at the same time. The following MAC shows the arrangement of work for all the
crews.

27
While the continuity of work of the ceiling fixing crews has been maintained, the other
crews work discontinuously. The pattern of work of the ceiling fixing crews also
changes substantially from one level to the next.

28
Alternative 2

The previous solution requires crews to move from floor to floor. Lets try to work out a
better solution by changing crew sizes. The adjusted MAC now provides a more
satisfactory solution.

Activities Quantities Production Person Activity Crew

rates hours duration size
in hours
Setout ceiling grid 8 4 2

Ceiling hangers 16x11 = 176 0.1 person say 20 20 1

@ 2m centres hrs/hanger
Ceiling frame (31x20m) + (41x30m) 50m/person 37 10 4
= 1,850m hr
Ceiling tiles 30mx20m = 600m2 12.2 48 12 4
m2/person
Sprinkler heads 9x6 = 54 3/person 18 10 2
@ 3m centres
Light fittings 9x6 = 54 6/person 9 9 1
@ 3m centres
Aircon. registers 7x4 = 28 3/person 10 10 1
@ 4m centres

29
30
Solution to exercise 9.3

The first truck will be unloaded in 54 minutes when the 8th pallet has been loaded with
bricks. The cycle time of moving three pallets through the system is 21 minutes.

31
Solution to exercise 9.4

Precedence schedule

32
MAC schedule

Solution to Exercise 4.

33
Solution to exercise 9.5

Preliminary MAC schedule

34
Final MAC schedule

35
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN
CHAPTER 10 (pp. ..............)
Solution to exercise 10.1
With only one crew per activity, the total construction time in days per activity is
calculated first. For example, the activity A will take 4 days x 40 floors = 160 days.
Durations of the other activities are given in the following table in the third column.
Start and finish dates of the repetitive activities are given in columns 4 & 5. For
example, the activity D, which is faster per cycle of work than its preceding activity
B will be scheduled from the end of the 40th completed activity B, which is day 164.
The 40th activity D will then be completed 3 days later or on day 167. The start of the
1st activity D will then be 167 120 = 47.

The LOB table

Activity Time duration Total Start of activity Finish of

in days construction in days activity in
time in days days
A 4 160 0 160
B 4 160 4 164
C 6 240 8 248
D 3 120 47 167
E 8 320 14 334
F 4 160 178 338

Lets now add time buffer zones of 6 days and recalculate start and finish dates of the
activities.

The LOB table with buffer zones

Activity Time duration Total Start of activity Finish of
in days construction in days activity in
time in days days
A 4 160 0 160
B 4 160 10 170
C 6 240 20 260
D 3 120 59 179
E 8 320 32 352
F 4 160 202 362

The LOB schedule for the project in question is given below.

40 typical floors will be constructed in 362 days with the first floor fully completed on
day 206.

36
The LOB schedule in the form of a graph

37
Solution to exercise 10.2
The production rates per week are calculated first from activity durations. They are
given in the following LOB table in column 3. To achieve the required production
output of 2 service stations per week, multiple crews are introduced to each activity, see
column 4. Please remember that with multiple crews durations of activities per
repetitive cycle will remain the same. Crews in each activity will work concurrently.
For example, the activity A will continue to take 3 weeks per service station, however,
there will be 6 of these activities built concurrently with 6 crews.

The total duration in weeks per activity will be calculated next, see column 5. Since the
crew numbers per activity are uneven, these durations may need to be adjusted later.

Star and finish dates of each activity will be determined in the same manner as in
Exercise 10.1, see columns 6 & 7.

The LOB table

Activity Time Production Number Total Start of Finish of

duration rate per of crews duration activity activity
in weeks week in weeks
A 3 0.33 6 51 0 51
B 3 0.33 6 51 3 54
C 2 0.50 4 50 3 53
D 3 0.33 6 51 3 54
E 2 0.50 4 50 6 56
F 4 0.25 8 50 6 56
G 2 0.50 4 50 8 58
H 4 0.25 8 50 10 60
I 2 0.50 4 50 12 62

Lets examine the impact of having an uneven number of multiple crews of workers.
The activity F requires 8 crews of workers while the preceding activities C and D
only 4 & 6 respectively. It means that on week 6 only six crews of the activity F will
be able to star. It will therefore be necessary to delay the start of the activity F until all
of its crew could star, which will be on week 9. The activity F will then be completed
on week 59, see the following table. The start and finish dates of the activities G &
H will be recalculated as 11 & 61 and 13 & 63 respectively.

The adjusted LOB table

Activity Time Production Number Total Start of Finish of

duration rate per of crews duration activity activity
in weeks week in weeks
A 3 0.33 6 51 0 51
B 3 0.33 6 51 3 54
C 2 0.50 4 50 3 53
D 3 0.33 6 51 3 54
E 2 0.50 4 50 6 56
F 4 0.25 8 50 9 59
G 2 0.50 4 50 11 61
H 4 0.25 8 50 15 65
I 2 0.50 4 50 17 67

The activity H requires eight crews of workers while the preceding activities G and
E only four each. It means that on week 13 only four crews of the activity H will be

38
able to start. By delaying the activity H by two weeks, all of its crews will be able to
commence work. Therefore, the activity H will start on week 15 and finish on week
65. The activity I will then start on week 17 and finish on week 67.

The final start and finish dates of the activities are given in the following table.

The adjusted LOB table with buffer zones

Activity Time Production Number Total Start of Finish of

duration rate per of crews duration activity activity
in weeks week in weeks
A 3 0.33 6 51 0 51
B 3 0.33 6 51 4 55
C 2 0.50 4 50 4 54
D 3 0.33 6 51 4 55
E 2 0.50 4 50 8 58
F 4 0.25 8 50 11 61
G 2 0.50 4 50 14 64
H 4 0.25 8 50 19 69
I 2 0.50 4 50 22 72

The project will completed in 72 weeks with the first service station delivered on week
24. The crew sizes are sufficient to meet the contract requirements.

39
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN
CHAPTER 11 (pp. .............)
Solution to exercise 11.1

Standard time = Basic time + Relaxation allowance + Contingency

Assessed rating
Basic time = Observed time x
Standard rating

Total standard time of work

Utilisation = x 100%
Time of work available

Basic time = 6 min. x (120/100) = 7.2 minutes

Standard time = 7.2 + (7.2 x 50/100) = 10.8 minutes

Utilisation = ((10.8 x 160) / (4days x 8hrs x 60min)) x 100% = 90%

40
Solution to exercise 11.2
The MAC schedule shows that the present method of work that uses 1 m3 kibble can
deliver 1 m3 of concrete every 4.5 minutes. Consequently, the delivery of 130 m3 of
concrete will take (130 x 4.5 min.) / 60 or 9.8 hours. However, since the delivery of
materials is restricted to only 8.5 hours during the working day, this method of
distributing concrete is inadequate.

If the contractor engaged 1.5 m3 kibble, the cycle time of delivering 1.5 m3 of concrete
to the working floor would be 5.5 minutes. The delivery of 130 m3 of concrete would
then take ((130 / 1.5) x 5.5 min.) / 60 = 7.9 hours, which is within the limit of delivery
hours.

41
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES IN
CHAPTER 13 (pp............)
Solution to exercise 13.1

S = (1.77 + 0.69 + 0.25 + 0.69) = 3.4

S = 1.84
Ts Te 25 23.5
z= = = 0.815
S 1.84

The probability of completing the project within 25 weeks is 79%.

Solution to exercise 13.2

Precedence schedule

42
Solution to exercise 13.3

43