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Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport June, 2017

FACTORS AFFECTING CONSTRUCTION DURATION OF HIGH RISE


BUILDINGS
Ehab Yasser E-Tahlawy, Ahmed Darwish, Mohammed M. Hamed, Islam Magdy
Department of Construction & Building Engineer, AAST Smart Village, Egypt

ABSTRACT
The study in this paper reviews the general factors that can affect the overall construction duration of high rise
buildings. Also shows the difference between these variable choices and the advantage of each one. The main factors
studied are 1) Role of formwork type choice in reducing the slab cycle time and choice parameters. 2) Vertical delivery
challenges and the huge role of temporary hoists, concrete pumping system and tower cranes to reduce the wasted time
during the construction phase. 3) The choice of the scheduling method either CPM, LOB or LBRS and how to choose
the suitable method for the project to be executed. The purpose of the study to determine some effective factors to be
considered in the planning and construction phases of high-rise building in order to reduce effort exerted to accomplish
the project in the required time frame.

INTRODUCTION
High rise building in the world is a phenomenon which has emerged since the late 19th century and in the early 20th
century, when the first steps were taken towards producing skyscrapers about 1880-1900 in Chicago. At the turn of the
nineteenth century, steel structure began to substitute for heavy masonry structures in construction of multi-storey
buildings. Coincided with the Industrial Revolution (accompanied by urbanization and rapid population growth), mass
building was common.

Positive and Negative Effects of High Rise Building

Like other human-made artifacts, high rise buildings have both positive effects and advantages and negative effects and
disadvantages obtained from their construction in urban environments [1]. Negative effects of high rise building can be
studied in different environmental, traffic, social, aesthetical and categories. In addition, positive effects of tall
buildings can be known as such things as reduced cost, visual aspects and [1].

Negative effects:-

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Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport June, 2017

Table 1: High rise buildings negative effects


Positive effects:

Table 2: High rise buildings Positive effects

1- Role of Formwork
Form work significantly influences successful project completion in high-rise building construction with reinforced
concrete structures. One of the effective ways for reducing the form work duration is to strip the forms without delay
when concrete placed in the form is sufficiently cured to stand by itself. The selection of formwork systems in high-rise
buildings is often governed by their competence in optimizing concrete activities in an isolated manner, without relating
this choice to the entire construction workflow[2].

Formwork Choice and Construction Workflows


The logic of work execution followed to satisfy building safety and integrity shapes the scheduling of involved
activities. Structural works are the skeleton of every construction project and they set the pace to other downstream
architectural and MEP activities. Hence, ensuring a continuous and on-time execution of structural framing is essential to
keep the project on schedule. Assuming adequate availability of labor and material, the choice of formwork systems
(e.g., the climbing technique) directly affects the progress of concrete works, and greatly influences the interlocking
workflows of walls, shafts, and slabs where several tasks from different trades are involved. For instance, crane-lifted
formwork used for core wall erection can congest the crane schedule and consequently delay the delivery of materials to
other site zones. The quality of formwork system and the tolerance range it can provide is essential to ensure a smooth
progress of work from one phase to another, and from one trade to another. Nonetheless, smaller tolerance ranges allow
the incorporation of prefabrication and remote assembly that can boost construction speed [3].

Formwork Selection Parameters


Construction of high-rise buildings requires innovative formwork system technologies to overcome the limitations of
space, budget, and time. However, many parameters affect the choice of formwork systems and are mainly divided into
internal and external parameters as shown in Table 1. While internal parameters fall under designers and contractors

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Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport June, 2017

control, external ones are affected by owner requirements, project milestones, project location, and corresponding local
rules and regulations

Table 3: Formwork selection parameters

Schedule Optimization and Workflow Improvements


Advanced formwork systems allow project managers to optimize the project schedule. The trailing platform plays a
major role in opening downstream work early in the project and benefitting from the available core wall shaft areas
which are usually wasted work spaces in regular formwork technologies as conveyed through Figure 1. The early
engagement of elevator crews reduces corresponding material batches where required accessories can be delivered to site
on demand without storing large inventories. On the other hand, the independent progress of columns and slabs helps
streamline both activities together and reduce the risk of one process delaying the other as is the case of using regular
formwork. It also boosts production of both activities due to learning curve effects. Higher availability of tower crane for
none concrete activities when using advanced systems, along with making building service elevators functional at core
mid-height, can increase material and labor delivery rates to work zones, thus increasing production rates of non-
concrete activities as presented Figure 2. Nonetheless, core wall labors could be relocated to other activities once the
core wall is erected, therefore decreasing total labor costs and allowing for more flexibility in resource allocation[3].

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Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport June, 2017

Figure 1:- Schedule Using Regular Formwork

Figure 2:- Schedule Using advanced Formwork

2- Vertical Delivery Challenges

The vertical delivery of materials and labor on construction sites is mainly achieved using temporary hoists, tower
cranes and concrete pumping systems. However, the increasing number of high-rise building projects worldwide has
introduced new challenges in vertical delivery. As the height of buildings grows, the efficiency of vertical transportation
drops exponentially, thus affecting the safety, cost and overall schedule of projects. In particular, those sites in spatially-
constrained urban areas are limited in the number of equipment that can be installed on site [4].

First, construction temporary hoists are the main method of transporting labor. Unlike materials that can be lifted
during the night, workers only can be transported at the time of executing their assigned tasks Therefore, a significant
amount of unproductive time is spent being transported to their designated floors, particularly in high-rise buildings.
Second, concrete is a common building material that is used throughout a project. Traditional methods of delivering
concrete by crane and bucket are constrained by the limited number of cranes and weather conditions. The use of
concrete pumps and an innovative method to reduce costs and guarantee constant flow will be highlighted. Finally,
tower cranes are used to lift and/or move heavy materials and large pieces of building components, and can be a big
challenge in terms of safety. Special challenges for the use of tower cranes in tall buildings will be discussed.

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Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport June, 2017

Temporary Hoist

A construction temporary hoist, also known as a temporary elevator, construction elevator, or construction lift, is
commonly used in building construction projects to lift materials and labor. For most building projects, hoists are leased
or rented by the general contractor. Unlike a permanent elevator, temporary hoists are operated manually by an on-board
operator, allowing direction changes or stops at any time according to the operator. Hoists are commonly have single or
double cages (1 or 2 cages per tower respectively) with a capacity varying from 25 to 35 people per cage. Capacity is
reduced when materials and tools are carried with workers. The growing height of a building, limited number of hoists,
and reduced capacity can make workers movement between floors inefficient, resulting in a significant amount of time
wasted waiting for hoists each day. Hoist operations are also affected by weather and local regulations, which may
restrict hours of operation. Therefore, optimized planning and operation of construction hoists is needed to reduce
worker waiting time and improve overall schedule performance. Furthermore, since workers typically begin work
simultaneously every morning, the biggest challenge of hoist operation optimization is to solve peak-hour congestion

Strategies used in the elevator industry, such as zoning, can be applied to minimize worker transit time in high-rise
construction .Zoning is used to divide buildings into groups of continuous vertical floors. These groups form zones that
can be reached only by specifically assigned hoists. In this way, the number of stops each hoist has to make is reduced,
Another, less restrictive way to reduce lifting times for sites with multiple hosts is to coordinate the hoists by optimizing
the stops for each hoist when calls come for a pick up. Another alternative for dealing with peak hour congestion is to
apply staggered arrivals to the workers daily schedule. Staggered arrivals have been studied in transportation and
elevator planning for office buildings to reduce the queue during morning peak hours [4].

Figure 3:- Temporary Hoist


Concrete Pumping System

The majority of tall buildings under construction generally are concrete. The significant increase in the use of
concrete in tall building construction is attributed to improvements in concrete technology including strength,
admixtures, pumping, construction techniques and structural systems. To accommodate tight construction schedules,
hydraulic concrete pumping has developed as a fast and economical method of transporting concrete due to its reduction
in labour requirements and the ability to deliver continuous concrete pours. The traditional crane and bucket method of
delivering concrete is limited by the availability of cranes, the effects of heavy winds, and its inability to deliver a
continuous flow of concrete. Pumping methods aim to address these limitations.

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Factors Affecting Concrete Pumping

Concrete pumping for construction purposes is directly related to two major factors, concrete composition and the
mechanical characteristics of the pumping equipment. Concrete mix composition affects the properties of fresh concrete
such as bleeding, segregation, viscosity, cohesion and compactness. These properties have a significant impact on the
pumpability of the concrete and the formation of a boundary layer (also referred to as lubrication layer), which forms at
the interface between the concrete and the pipe. This lubrication layer is crucial to reducing the shear stress between the
concrete flow and pipe wall to achieve the lower pressures necessary for pumping [4].

Figure 4: - Example Of Concrete Pumping system Figure 5: - Example Of Tower Cranes

Tower Cranes
Tower cranes are considered as the centerpiece of construction equipment in building projects. They play a key role
in transporting a variety of materials vertically and horizontally. The efficiency of tower cranes largely depends on
their type, number, location, operator skill and many more. As the number of work tasks and the demand for tower
cranes increase, planners may experience difficulties in making an appropriate decision about the optimum layout of
tower cranes. A poor decision will have negative effects, which will lead to additional costs and possible delays. The
use of tower cranes during tall building construction is even more challenging because the increasing height adds
problems of visibility, wind load and safety issues for the operator.

3- Scheduling Method
Due to an increasingly competitive environment, construction companies are forced to be more efficient and achieve
competitive operational advantage this encourages them to become specialists in certain types of construction projects.
This specialization requires more focused project planning and controlling techniques that prove to be better for certain
type of projects. The benefits of effective planning, scheduling and control of construction projects are: reduced
construction time, reduced cost overruns and the minimization of disputes [5].

Current Scheduling Methods


The most common scheduling method used in the construction industry is the Gantt chart (Bar Chart) and Critical Path
Method (CPM). Gantt chart (Bar chart) has gained wide acceptance and popularity because of its simplicity and ease of
preparation and understanding. No theory or complicated calculations are involved. CPM network can show logic
dependencies of activities, and estimate and predict the completion date of the project based on mathematical
calculations. But both Gantt chart and CPM are unable to accurately model the repetitive nature of linear construction.

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Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport June, 2017

This includes the inability of CPM to provide work continuity for crews or resources, to plan the large number of
activities necessary to represent a repetitive or linear project and the inability of Gantt chart (Bar chart) and CPM to
indicate rates of progress, and to accurately reflect actual conditions. The consequence of this is that there have been
many attempts to find an effective scheduling technique for linear construction. These include, but not limited to, the
Line of Balance (LOB). This section discusses the popular scheduling methods in construction industry [5].

Critical Path Method (CPM)


One of the major network scheduling methods which have been used in the construction industry is CPM (critical path
method). This method involves the use of a geometric representation of flow chart which depicts the precedence between
activities. The critical path method (CPM) is a duration-driven technique in which the basic inputs are project activities,
their durations, and dependence relationships. Activity durations are functions of the resources required (rather than
available) to complete each activity. The CPM formulation assumes that resources are not restricted in any sense. The
use of network techniques and CPM by construction companies has reached a steady level after the enthusiastic boom of
the early 1960s. Computer programmes eliminate the need to prepare a network, but the network notation provides an
easily understood output format for management personnel.

Advantages of Critical Path Method


When comparing bar charts with networks, three advantages over bar charts.
Network show logic, the relationships among the activities. Bar charts do not
Networks can better represent large and complicated projects.
Networks can estimate, or predict, the completion date of the project, or other dates, on the basis of mathematical
calculations of the CPM

Limitation of Network Scheduling Method


The first problem is the sheer size of the network. In a repetitive project of n units, the network prepared for one unit
has to be repeated n times and linked to the others; this results in a huge network that is difficult to manage. This may
cause difficulties in communication among the members of the construction management team. The second problem is
that the CPM algorithm is designed primarily for optimizing project duration rather than dealing adequately with the
special resource constraints of repetitive projects. The CPM algorithm has no capability that would ensure a smooth
procession of crews from unit to unit with no conflict and no idle time for workers and equipment. This leads to hiring
and procurement problems in the flow of labor and material during construction [5].

Figure 6:- Critical Path Method

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Line Of Balance

The line of balance (LOB) method was originated by the Goodyear Company in the early 1940s and was developed by
the US Navy during the Second World War for the programming and control of both repetitive and non-repetitive
projects. A common characteristic of LOB techniques is the typical unit network. Representative construction projects
that fit into this category are a repetitive housing project or a high-rise building. Typical process production or flow line
curves are depicted in Figure 7. The Figures 7 depicts the balanced production flow line of high rise building and
unbalanced production flow lines. For example, the sequence of processes for a high rise building construction project
may include form erection, steel installation, concrete placement, form removal, curtain wall installation, and glazing.
The production curves for activities are plotted as a function of time. The production rate for a process can be determined
from its slope. The horizontal distance between the production curves for two consecutive activities at given location
indicates the time buffer. The difference between the cumulative number of production quantities delivered and the LOB
quantity at any given time is termed the criticality. The negative criticality indicates the actual progress is less than the
production forecast. The LOB is a quantity-time diagram. It focuses on the required delivery of completed quantities.
Linear construction projects often consist of repetitive processes which have different production rates. This
phenomenon of production rate imbalance has the potential for negatively impacting project performance by causing
work stoppages, inefficient utilization of allocated resources, and excessive costs. Production rate imbalance occurs
when the production curves of leading processes intersect the curves of following process because of different
production rates and insufficient lag between start times of processes. (Fig.8) [5].

Advantages of Line Of Balance


The major benefit of the LOB methodology is that it provides production rate and duration information in the form of
an easily interpreted graphics format. The LOB plot for a linear construction project can be easily constructed, can show
at a glance what is wrong with the progress of project, and can detect potential future bottlenecks.
Also LOB can determine at any time:-
Shortage of delivered materials which may impact production.
Materials which are being delivered in excess which may cause additional material handling or require additional
storage space.
The jobs or processes which are falling behind and the required rate of acceleration to satisfy the required LOB
quantities.
The jobs or processes which are ahead of schedule which may b e placing heavier demands on operating capital than
necessary.
A forecast of partially completed production units by job, work station, or process to support the delivery schedule
of finished units.

Barriers to Implementing LOB


The application of the LOB methodology by the US construction industry had been very limited. Some barriers to
implementation of the LOB methodology include the following:
There is a lack of awareness among practitioners in the US construction industry that the LOB methodology exists.
Owners and contractors began adopting network techniques as planning tools at about the same time that the LOB
methodology was originated and developed. These entities are reluctant to adopt new planning tools which are not
being used by their counterparts or competitors.
Computerized tools employing network techniques are widely available whereas computerized tools employing the
LOB methodology are not currently commercially available.
Due to the popularity of the relatively inexpensive computer in the US construction industry, there is a resistance to
change to a planning method which is currently not supported by computer. However, researchers at several universities
have attempted to computerize the LOB methodology and have working prototypes [5].

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Figure 7:- Balanced LOB production curves

Figure 8:- Unbalanced LOB production curves

Location Based Repetitive Scheduling Method


LBRS varies from LOB in that the amount of time allocated to each work location varies based on the
volume of work required in that location. The objective remains same, synchronizing the progress of
different work crews to optimize the overall project delivery. LBRP are the projects where certain
activities are continuously repeating at each locations of the project. Such as commercial housing
projects, multistoried sky scrapers. Activities that repeat from one location to other location creates a very
important need for a construction schedule that facilitate the uninterrupted work flow including work
crews from one location to next, because it is often this requirement that establishes activity starting times
and determines the overall project duration. Hence uninterrupted work flow becomes an extremely
important issue for the planning and scheduling of high-rise building, hence high-rise building
construction planners need to carefully design a process that ensures a continuous and reliable flow of
resources through different locations in a project. The conventional Critical Path Method and its resource
oriented extension such as time cost trader off, limited resources allocations and resource leveling does

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not consider the waste time during the transformation of work flow from one location to the other.
Location Based Repetitive Scheduling Method (LBRSM) explicitly take care those entire
requirements for repetitive nature projects like high rise buildings. The application of such work flow
continuity during LBRSM leads to maximizing the use of a learning curve and minimizing idle time
of each crew [6].

CONCLUSION
There are some factors that can affect the overall construction duration of high rise buildings. The main factors studied
are 1) Role of formwork type choice in reducing the slab cycle time and choice parameters. 2) Vertical delivery
challenges and the huge role of temporary hoists, concrete pumping system and tower cranes to reduce the wasted time
during the construction phase. 3) The choice of the scheduling method either CPM, LOB or LBRS and how to choose
the suitable method for the project to be executed. By choosing the most suitable choice in each factor at the early
planning stage in the project that can reduce the construction time frame and produce achievable schedule.

RERERENCES
1- Mohammad Rahim Rahnama, Mohammad Hossein, HeraviTorbati, Study of Physical-Spatial Effects of High-Rise Building,
Geography and Urban Planning, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 2014, Iran.

2- Taehoon Kim, Hunhee Cho*, and Kyung-In Kang, FORM WORK MANAGEMENT BASED ON UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING
FOR HIGH-RISE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, School of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Korea
University, Korea.

3- Hisham A. Abou Ibrahim, and Farook R. Hamzeh, ROLE OF FORMWORK SYSTEMS IN HIGH-RISE CONSTRUCTION,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, American University of Beirut, 2015, Lebanon.

4- Yufeng Wei1, Andre Pinheiro, David Pedraza1, Bowen Wu1 and Brenda McCabe, VERTICAL DELIVERY CHALLENGES FOR
HIGH-RISE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, Department of Civil Engineering, Fumec University, 2015, Brazil.

5- T. Subramani, A. Sarkunam, J. Jayalakshmi, PLANNING AND SCHEDULING OF HIGH RISE BUILDING USING
PRIMAVERA, Department of Civil Engineering, VMKV Engg. College, Vinayaka Missions University, 2014, India.

6- Atul R. Kolhe, Dr. J. E. M. Macwan, Dr. K. A. Chauhan, PLANNING FOR HIGH-RISE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION USING
LOCATION BASED REPETITIVE SCHEDULING METHOD (LBRSM), Atul R. Kolhe1, Dr. J. E. M. Macwan2, Dr. K. A.
Chauhan3, 2014, India.

7- Maria Isabel, REDUCING TIME IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIGH RISE BUILDINGS, Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, 2000.

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