Improving planning and estimating process for scaffolding operation in heavy industrial construction projects

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Heavy industrial construction projects generally involve complex structures, large-scale sites, and large numbers of workers from different disciplines such as civil, mechanical, and chemical. These disciplines may require similar or completely different scaffolding systems in order for workers to not only access their working areas but also move material horizontally and vertically. The variability of scaffolding systems required by the different disciplines operating on these complex sites can be a primary cause of increased project costs since general construction contractors need to have large volumes of scaffolding systems on site. However, planning and estimating of scaffolding works is a topic that has garnered relatively little attention either in academia or in practice. In practice, scaffolding works are estimated and planned in an ad-hoc manner which depends on expert experience, historical data, and a company's risk policy, even though scaffolding as temporary works account for more than 60% of the total project cost or approximately 30-40% of the total man-hours of direct work. To address this challenge, this research proposes following tasks: (i) identification of factors (e.g., disciplines and work classifications) affecting man-hours of scaffold activities; (ii) computation of ratio between scaffolding indirect man-hours and direct man-hours (per discipline); (ii) mapping man-hours of scaffolding works into sub-areas (e.g., modules, vessels, etc.) on-site; (iii) development of a predictive model using machine learning techniques to improve accuracy and efficiency in the scaffolding estimation process; and (iv) development of post-data mining 3D visualization for the purposes of the project management such as scheduling conflicts and monitoring severity and utilization of the scaffolding work on the construction site corresponding to project progress. As a result, this research will provide to the construction industry the following benefits: (i) improving the accuracy and efficiency of estimating scaffolding man-hours which can reduce the economic loss; (ii) improving the accuracy of scaffolding planning; and (iii) enhancing competitiveness in the international markets for construction contractors in Canada.