Automation in Construction 121 (2021) 103447

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Automation in Construction
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon

An A-Star algorithm for semi-optimization of crane location and

configuration in modular construction
S. Marzieh Bagheri a, Hosein Taghaddos a, *, Ali Mousaei a, Farid Shahnavaz a, Ulrich Hermann b
a
School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box: 11155-4563, Tehran, Iran
b
PCL Industrial Management Inc., Edmonton, AB T6E 3P4, Canada

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Nowadays, the use of heavy mobile cranes in on-site construction of industrial projects has become inevitable.
Mobile cranes Due to the high rental cost of such cranes, an optimized plan is essential for the multiple crane lifts. This plan
A-star reduces the operating costs of the crane by minimizing waste time and lessens the potential of failures and
Module installation plan
accidents. However, developing an efficient lift plan can be challenging and time-consuming, considering the
Lift plan
Operating cost
large number of lift options. This article presents a novel framework based on an informed search algorithm
Optimization called A-star, which provides a semi-optimum lift plan based on a predetermined lifting sequence. This system
Modular construction talks to a comprehensive database to provide initial data. The proposed framework is applied successfully and
validated in an actual modular construction project in Alberta, Canada. The results show a significant reduction
in the total cost compared with the previously used lift planning algorithm.

1. Introduction
Prefabrication and modularization of construction have enhanced
the productivity of projects over the past decades. Modules are pre­
fabricated in a controlled condition with high efficiency, then shipped to
the site for the installation. Thus, modularization has turned into one of
the popular project delivery paradigms for heavy industrial construction
[1]. However, the success of modular projects (i.e., the amount of cost
and time reduction) highly depends on optimizing the on-site con­
struction process.
Mobile crawler cranes are usually employed for performing heavy
lifts in industrial construction sites, particularly in North America
(Fig. 1). However, high rental and operational costs of these cranes and
their multiple tasks in a construction site, intensify the need for a proper
plan for their operations. Therefore, optimizing the use of these cranes
through a lift plan is the key to reach the desired cost and time in the
construction phase. Besides, a well-managed lift plan can improve safety
by reducing the probability of failure and accident. In a word, an opti­
mized plan can save millions of dollars in a mega industrial construction
project [2].
A comprehensive installation plan represents various lifting infor­
mation including types, configurations, locations of cranes for hundreds
of heavy lifts (e.g., module, vessels) as well as the lift schedule. It needs
much time and effort to study and analyze the whole lifts of a large-scale
project, to identify the clash-free locations for each crane’s configura­
tion for each lift, and to generate a lift plan.
Recently, Taghaddos et al. proposed a program called Automated
Crane Planning and Optimization (ACPO) to computerize the lift study
for the whole modules of a project and to identify safe lift options of a
module automatically [3]. This paper is built on the results of ACPO,
focusing on the process of generating an optimized lift plan. The
following section provides a brief overview of the ACPO system.
1.1. Overview of Automated Crane Planning and Optimization (ACPO)
Generating hundreds of lift studies in a large-scale project is a
common but laborious task. Moreover, these lift studies often need to be
revised due to the dynamic nature of industrial projects. A recently
developed program called Automated Crane Planning and Optimization
(ACPO) automates the process of lift study [3]. This program checks the
crane’s capacity, checks the clearance of crane’s components with the
entire existing obstructions, identifies the possible crane locations and
potential logic issues for all objects, and generates a list of lifting
options.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mrz.bagheri@ut.ac.ir (S.M. Bagheri), htaghaddos@ut.ac.ir (H. Taghaddos), a_mousaii@ut.ac.ir (A. Mousaei), faridshahnavaz@alumni.ut.ac.ir
(F. Shahnavaz), rhhermann@pcl.com (U. Hermann).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103447
Received 27 November 2019; Received in revised form 4 October 2020; Accepted 7 October 2020
Available online 12 November 2020
0926-5805/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.