Simulation versus constraint-based graphical modeling of construction processes

Abstract

The paper introduces a new constraint-based graphical approach to modeling construction processes, Foresight, designed to combine the versatility of discrete-event simulation, the ease-of-use of the Critical Path Method, and the visual insight of linear scheduling. The usability of Foresight is compared with Stroboscope (a construction-specific simulation system) in a case study of the classic earthmoving problem. The Foresight model is shown, first, to be visually more insightful than its Stroboscope equivalent, and second, to require a fraction of the number of modeling terms and modeling concepts in its definition.