Applying Magnetic Charged System Search Algorithm to Construction Project Planning Problems

Abstract

This paper presents Magnetic Charged System Search Algorithm (MCSS) of a new Meta-Heuristic Algorithm (MHA) to solve complex, Time-Cost-Optimization (TCO) problems in construction project planning. Project planners face complicated multivariate TCO problems that require time-cost tradeoff analysis to make models closer to the actual projects. Our approach is applied to solve one optimization problem, which is found in the construction project planning literature. It is shown that our proposed approach is superior than existing optimization algorithms in finding better project schedule solutions with less total project cost and shorter total project duration. The results also show that comparing to other existing methods, the presented approach provides more accurate and complete Pareto front for TCO problems in construction project planning.