Temporal logic representation schema for intermediate function

Abstract

There are temporal relationships other than the precedence ones between construction activities. Many of these relationships are related to the perspective of intermediate function requirement. The construction industry still lacks a representation schema for capturing the temporal logics residing in this kind of construction requirement. This study presents a schema for representing these temporal logics from three perspectives, namely the construction life cycle of a single product component, the functional interdependencies between two in-progress components, and the availability conditions of an intermediate functionality. In this way, the concurrency relationships among the construction processes can be identified and evaluated, and the intermediate function analysis can be conducted more efficiently, thus contributing to improvement of the executability of construction schedules. Additionally, the temporal logics have been formulated in the format based on temporal interval algebra, which provides a richer semantic representation compared to the traditional precedence relationship types. Finally, using a four-dimensional simulation prototype, a case study of constructing the deck of a bridge by the balanced cantilever approach is modeled to demonstrate the representation of the three perspectives of intermediate function requirements. © 2007 ASCE.