Development of an Equipment Operating System for Effective Earthwork Operations

Abstract

Recently, the construction industry has been pursuing economical construction by introducing improved construction equipment and methods. However, in many cases, the equipment operation according to the intuition of the field manager and in the manner of traditional methods impedes the increase in effectiveness in terms of productivity and economy. The performance of new construction equipment has rapidly improved; however, the maximum effect of mechanized construction cannot be obtained unless the effective management and operation methods are implemented. According to the expert survey, it has been discovered that the problems of conventional construction equipment operation methods can be classified into several categories: allocation of construction equipment that is not suitable for the construction work, the combination of equipment that does not take into consideration real-time field situations, the decline in the skill of the construction equipment drivers, and lack of real-time access to necessary information. This paper proposes a construction equipment management system to solve these problems. The construction equipment management system can provide a method to maximize the work rate of the construction equipment fleet by developing an equipment allocation plan based on field conditions, whenever necessary, and transferring this information to the construction equipment drivers in real time. Ultimately, it is believed that the application of the construction equipment operation system in the field will make it possible to reduce carbon emissions by improving productivity and reducing fuel consumption.