Capital University of Science and Technology,

Islamabad

CE-5823
Advanced Project Management for
Construction Projects
Week No. 10

Dr. Syed Shujaa Safdar Gardezi

Department of Civil Engineering

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 Introduction to Networks - Terminology :

• Event
– The result of completing one or more activities. An identifiable end
state occurring at a particular time. Events use no resources.

• Network
• The combination of all activities and events define the project and the
activity precedence relationships

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 Introduction to Networks - Terminology :

• Critical

– Activities, events, or paths which, if delayed, will delay the completion

of the project.

– A project’s critical path is understood to mean that sequence of critical

(slowest) activities that connect the project’s start event to its finish
event

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 Introduction to Networks - Terminology :

• Path

• The series of connected activities (or intermediate events)

between any two events in a network

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 Introduction to Networks - Terminology :

• An activity can be in any of these conditions:

– It may have a successor(s) but no predecessor(s) - starts a network
– It may have a predecessor(s) but no successor(s) - ends a network
– It may have both predecessor(s) and successor(s) - in the middle of a
network

• The interconnections depend on the technological relationships

described in the action plan

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 Introduction to Networks - Terminology :

• Drawing Networks :

– Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) networks use arrows to represent activities

while nodes stand for events

– Activity-on-Node (AON) networks use nodes to represent activities with

arrows to show precedence relationships

• The choice between AOA and AON representation is largely a matter of

personal preference.

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Activity on Arrow

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Activity on Node

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 Introduction to Networks - Terminology :

• Dummy Activities:

– Dummy activity is an activity which does not consume resources but is

introduced in the network to give logic to the network
– Dummy is used to maintain a unique numbering of activities

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Activity on Arrow

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Drawing Project Network - Activity On Arrow (AOA) :

– Method of Network
• The arrow represents activities while the nodes represent the start
and the end of an activity.
• The length of the arrow has no significance
• Each activity has a definite beginning and end represented by nodes
(commonly called events)
• Each activity mush have a unique i-j reference numbers

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Drawing Project Network - Activity On Arrow (AOA) :

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Drawing Project Network - Activity On Arrow (AOA) :

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Network Scheduling: Critical Path Method (CPM):

1. Forward Pass :
A forward pass to determine activities early start times.

2. Backward Pass :
A backward pass to determine activities late finish times.

3. Float calculations.

4. Identifying critical activities and critical path.

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Network Scheduling: Critical Path Method (CPM):

1. Forward Pass :
EF = ES + Duration
2. Backward Pass :
LS = LF - Duration

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Network Scheduling: Critical Path Method (CPM):

3. Float:
Number of days that an activity, event, or lag can be delayed or
extended without impacting the overall completion of the project
Float = LF - EF

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Network Scheduling: Critical Path Method (CPM):

4. Critical Path :
Critical path is the longest path in a network which determines the
minimum completion time for a project

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 Introduction to Networks :
• Example – Draw Activity on Arrow Diagram

Activity Predecessor Duration

A - 5

B A 3

C B 4

D - 5

E D 7

F E 2

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Step No. 01 Drawing Project Network - Activity On Arrow (AOA)

• Step No. 02 - CPM Calculations

– Forward Pass
– Backward Pass
– Float Calculations

• Step No. 03 – Trace Critical Activities and Critical Path

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Step No. 01 Drawing Project Network - Activity On Arrow (AOA) :

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Step No. 02 - CPM Calculations:

– Forward Pass
5 8
5
8

3
0 12
5 4
0 14

5 12
5 5 12 2

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Step No. 02 - CPM Calculations:

– Backward Pass
5 8
5
8

7 3 10
7 10
0 12
5 4
2 14
0 14

0 14
5 12
5 5 12 2
5 12
5 7 12

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 Introduction to Networks :
• Step No. 02 - CPM Calculations:
– Float Calculations
2
2
5 8
5
8
2
7 3 10
7 10
0 12
5 4
2 14
0 14
0
0 0 14 0
5 12
5 5 12 2
5 12
5 7 12

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Step No. 03 – Trace Critical Activities and Critical Path:

5 8
5
8

7 3 10
7 10
0 12
5 4
2 14
0 14

0 14
5 12
5 5 12 2
5 12
5 7 12

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 Introduction to Networks :
• Example – Draw Activity on Arrow Diagram
Activity Predecessor Duration
A - 5
B A 3
C B 4
D - 5
E D 7
F E 2
G C,F 5
H G 4
I G 5
J H,I 3
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 Introduction to Networks :

• Drawing Project Network - Activity On Node (AON) :

– Method of Network
• Precedence diagram method
• An activity is represented by a name and a corresponding number
enclosed in a symbol

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Step No. 01 Drawing Project Network - Activity On Node

(AON) :

A B C

START END

D E F

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 Introduction to Networks :
• Step No. 02 - CPM Calculations:
– Forward Pass

0 5 5 8 8 12
A (5) B (3) C (4)

0 0 14 14
START END

0 5 5 12 12 14
D (5) E (7) F (2)

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 Introduction to Networks :
• Step No. 02 - CPM Calculations:
– Back Word Pass

0 5 5 8 8 12
A (5) B (3) C (4)
2 7 7 10 10 14
0 0 14 14
START END
0 0 14 14
0 5 5 12 12 14
D (5) E (7) F (2)
0 5 5 12 12 14

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 Introduction to Networks :
• Step No. 02 - CPM Calculations:
– Float 2 2 2

0 5 5 8 8 12
A (5) B (3) C (4)
2 7 7 10 10 14
0 0 14 14
START END
0 0
0 0 0 14 14
0 5 5 12 12 14
D (5) E (7) F (2)
0 5 5 12 12 14

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 Introduction to Networks :
• Step No. 03 – Trace Critical Activities and Critical Path:

0 5 5 8 8 12
A (5) B (3) C (4)
2 7 7 10 10 14
0 0 14 14
START END
0 0 14 14
0 5 5 12 12 14
D (5) E (7) F (2)
0 5 5 12 12 14

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 Introduction to Networks :

• Activity on Node

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 Introduction to Networks : Activity Time Preceding
(days) Activity
A 6 --
B 2 --
Example : C 2 --
D 3 --
1. Draw Network Diagrams (AOA + AON) E 8 A
F 5 B, E
2. Determine Critical Path (Forward + Backward G 9 C, F, D
Pass) H 3 --
3. Calculate float of activities (if any) I 2 P, H
J 3 B, E
K 10 G
L 1 D
M 10 I, J, K
N 3 L, Q
O 5 M, N
P 4 A
Q 5 G

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