AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTIBILITY ANALYSIS OF WORK-ZONE TRAFFIC-CONTROL PLANNING

Constructibility, in simple words, is the ability to construct effecti vely. This study involved the development of a prototype system to per form highway constructibility analysis of traffic-control planning (TC P). The results of meetings with personnel at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) indicated that work-zone traffic control is one of the most critical factors impeding the constructibility of highway projects. The lack of personnel, the inability to fill the knowledge void caused by transfer or retirement of experts in the field, and the inability to effectively learn from mistakes are some factors that in dicate a need for advanced automation techniques in the highway constr uction industry. The prototype system developed included a database mo dule (CONTRAF), an expert system module (TRAPS), and a fuzzy schedulin g module. It is developed to provide designers and construction manage rs with generic constructibility recommendations on traffic control, a nd direct access to a constructibility database, before the final TCP is designed. Once the final TCP is developed, the system helps in phas ing the activities, calculating the fuzzy durations of the activities, and linking the activities to a project-management software for proje ct scheduling.