DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

CVS 486:OPERATIONS RESEARCH

EXERCISES-NETWORK ANALYSIS
QUESTION 1
The table below defines the activities within a small project.
Activity Start End Completion time
node node (weeks)
1 1 2 2
2 1 3 3
3 1 4 2
4 2 5 3
5 3 6 7
6 4 6 5
7 5 7 4
8 6 7 9
9 7 8 3
In addition to the above information we have that activity 7 cannot start until activity 5 has been
completed.
• Draw the network diagram.
• Calculate the minimum overall project completion time.
• Calculate the float time for each activity and hence identify the activities which are
critical.
QUESTION 2
The table below defines the activities within a small project.
Activity Start End Completion time
node node (weeks)
1 1 2 2
2 1 3 3
3 3 4 7
4 3 5 6
5 2 7 10
6 4 5 1
7 5 6 3
8 6 7 4
9 4 7 7
10 7 8 3
In addition to the above information we have that activity 7 cannot start until activity 1 has been
completed and activity 10 cannot start until activity 6 has been completed.
• Draw the network diagram.
• Calculate the minimum overall project completion time.
• Calculate the float time for each activity and hence identify the activities which are
critical.
QUESTION 3
The table below defines the various activities within a small project.
Activity Start End Completion time
node node (weeks)
1 1 3 1
2 2 4 5
3 1 2 2
4 2 3 4
5 4 7 7
6 4 5 2
7 5 6 2
8 6 7 3
9 7 8 2
10 4 8 6
11 3 6 5
In addition to the above information we have that activity 11 cannot start until activity 2 has been
completed.
• Draw the network diagram.
• Calculate the minimum overall project completion time.
• Which activities are critical?
Comment on the progress of the project, and the chances of achieving the minimum overall
project completion time as calculated above, if at the end of 11 weeks, the status of the activities
is as follows:
• Finished - 1,2,3,4,6
• Under way - 5 (3 weeks to completion), 10 (2 weeks to completion), 11 (2 weeks to
completion)
Formulate the problem of determining the minimum overall project completion time for the
project defined above as a linear program. Explain why your linear program is a correct
mathematical description of the problem.

QUESTION 4
A project consists of 14 activities (1,2,3,...,14). The duration of each activity and the activities
which must immediately precede it are shown below. Draw a network which represents these
activities and their precedence relationships.
Activity Preceding Duration
Activities (weeks)
1 - 1
2 1 3
3 2 2
4 2 2
5 2 4
6 4 1
7 3,6 4
8 6 2
9 6 1
10 3,5,8,9 8
11 7,10 2
12 11 2
13 7 4
14 12,13 2