Optimizationi& Perfomance Of Precast Segmental Construction In Bridge

Abstract

Precast segmental construction of bridges is being adopted across all major Highway and Metro projects in India. Such projects typically have a casting yard to be set up separately which must also have sufficient space to store the casted segments before being sent to site for erection. Currently, there are no systems employed in the precast yard to periodically monitor the performance of the process in place and the planning methodology utilized to make decisions regarding the number of molds required are crude and dependent, experiential approaches. iSuch practices have contributed to poor planning performance which results in having excessive inventory or shortage in inventory. Also, previous studies concluded that production management is fragmented. Hence, integrating erection, production and inventory into a single system to improve managerial practices in planning and forecasting. The objective is to develop an integrated planning model for production managers to make better planning decisions and explore alternative options to suit the predicted demand from time to time. This study makes use of the Arena Simulation tool to develop a model that mimics the precast segmental construction process. The model in the study is developed for a short-line method of casting.