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Abstract
The site layout is a complex process, requiring the analysis of large amounts of information from several disciplines (such as design, construction planning, estimating, and so on). It involves identifying, allocating and positioning temporary facilities, plant and materials to best suit the needs of the construction process at each stage of construction.
Although several attempts have been made to address this problem with computer-based solutions, they have all considered site planning in isolation, taking into account of inputs from other construction disciplines which bear heavily on the quality and practical usefulness of site plan produced. This study takes an alternative, integrated approach, considering site layout very much in the context of the whole project and its life-cycle.
The developed process and data models provide for the exchange of information with other construction applications and form part of an integrated construction environment, configured to produce site planning information not only at any stage of construction but for any future stage.
Data Flow Diagrams are a major aid to understanding the complex processes involved in a typical site planning task, and support the subsequent detailed data analysis which employs an Object-Objected Analysis methodology (Martin and Odell) to structure the information.
The developed data and process models have been implemented in an object oriented environment as part of single integrated construction environment SPACE (Simultaneous Prototyping for An integrated Construction Environment) in which the main functional module is InteSite (Intelligent Site Layout Planning).
The development of InteSite has resulted in the implementation of a system that embodies the intuitive responses, judgements and experience of experts in the knowledge-base. It automatically generates site planning information and dynamically displays the layout in either a 2D environment (via AutoCAD) or a 3D environment (using virtual reality).