Project Management

Project Management
Chapter 10
Project Crashing
Professor Ayman Abdallah
Project Crashing
 It is common to face the following

situations:
► The project is behind schedule
► The completion time has been moved
forward
Shortening the duration of the project

is called project crashing
Crashing
 Project crashing: is the process of reducing the duration of a
project by expending additional resources (funds)
 Crashing the project requires additional resources such as using

overtime, working weekends, hiring extra workers, or using
extra equipment.
 Reasons for crashing a project may include:

 The initial schedule may be too aggressive.
 Market needs change and the project is in demand earlier than
anticipated
 The project has slipped considerably behind schedule
 The contractual situation provides even more incentive to avoid
schedule slippage
Crashing
 Options for accelerating (crashing) projects:
 Improve the productivity of existing project resources
 Change the working method employed for the activity
 Compromise quality and/or reduce project scope
 Fast-track the project (Fast-tracking a project refers to looking for ways
to rearrange the project schedule in order to move more of the critical
path activities from sequential to parallel (concurrent) relationships).
 Use overtime
 Add resources to the project team
 The last method (adding additional resources to the project) is

the most common and realistic method, and crashing in this
chapter is based on it.
Crashing
 Project crashing: is the process of reducing the duration of a
project by expending additional resources (funds)
 Crashing the project requires additional resources such as using

overtime, working weekends, hiring extra workers, or using
extra equipment.
 Reasons for crashing a project may include:

 The initial schedule may be too aggressive.
 Market needs change and the project is in demand earlier than
anticipated
 The project has slipped considerably behind schedule
 The contractual situation provides even more incentive to avoid
schedule slippage
Steps in Project Crashing
1. Compute the crash cost per week (or other time

period) for all activities in the network using the
formula:
Crash cost (Crash cost – Normal cost)

per period =
(Normal time – Crash time)
2. Using normal activity times, find the critical path

and identify the critical activities
3. If there is only one critical path, then select the

activity on this critical path that (a) can still be
crashed, and (b) has the smallest crash cost per
period.
 If there is more than one critical path, then select
one activity from each critical path such that (a)
each selected activity can still be crashed, and (b)
the total crash cost of all selected activities is the
smallest. Note that the same activity may be
common to more than one critical path.
4. Check to be sure that the critical path you were

crashing is still critical. If the critical path is still
the longest path through the network, return to
step 3. If not, find the new critical path and
return to step 2.
Project crashing/ Example 1
The activities necessary for the completion of one project

are listed in the table below. The table reports normal time
and normal cost for each activity. Crashed time and cost for
each activity are also reported (time in this example is in
weeks).
Crash the project by 4 weeks with minimum increase in total
cost. Each time show the critical path, activity/ies crashed,
and total cost of the project.
Project crashing/ Example 1/ Solution
1. Compute the crash cost per week for each
activity
Crash cost (Crash cost – Normal cost)

per period =
(Normal time – Crash time)
Activity A:
Normal time is 3 weeks. With additional resources, it
can be reduced to 4 weeks. This means maximum
crash time for activity A is 1 week. The cost of
crashing this activity by 1 week is 20 JD.
Crash cost/week (70– 50)

= = 20 JD per week
A (5– 3)
1. Compute the crash cost per week for each activity
Activity B:
Normal time is 6 weeks. With additional resources, it
can be reduced to 4 weeks. This means maximum
crash time for activity B is 2 weeks. To crash this
activity by 2 weeks, the cost will increase by 80 JD
(will become 160 instead of 80). Thus, crash cost per
week for activity B is 40 JD. Or:
Crash cost/week (160– 80)

= = 40 JD per week
B (6– 4)
1. Compute the crash cost per week for each activity
Crash (90– 60)
= = 30 JD per week
cost/week C (10– 9)
Crash (150– 50)
= = 25 JD per week
cost/week D (11– 7)
Crash (160– 100)
= = 30 JD per week
cost/week E (8– 6)
Crash (70– 40)

= = 30 JD per week
cost/week F (5– 4)
Crash (70– 70)
= = zero
cost/week G (6– 6)
Note that activity G can’t be crashed (some activities

can’t be crashed even with additional resources)
Maximum crash time for any activity = normal time –

crashed time
Add two columns to the table: crash cost per week and
maximum crash time (see the table in the next slide)
Path 1: A-B-E-G
3+6+8+6 = 23 weeks
Path 2: A-C-F-G
3+10+5+6 = 24 weeks
Path 3: A-D-F-G
3+11+5+6 = 25 weeks
Path 3 is the critical path

3. Crash the project by 1 week
 Reduce the duration of the project

by 1 week.
o Critical path is A-D-F-G
Cost of crashing A: 20 JD
Cost of crashing D: 25 JD
Cost of crashing F: 30 JD
Activity G can’t be crashed
 So, activity A should be crashed
because it has the minimum
crashing cost
 New T.C = 450 + 20 = 470 JD
o Note that activity A can’t be crashed
anymore (maximum crash time is 1 week). x
is used to help you remember.
 Note that duration of Activity A is now 2
weeks
 After each crash, check the critical path:
Path 1: A-B-E-G
2+6+8+6 = 22 weeks
Path 2: A-C-F-G
2+10+5+6 = 23 weeks
Path 3: A-D-F-G
2+11+5+6 = 24 weeks
 A-D-F-G is still the critical path
4. Crash the project by 1 additional week
 Reduce the duration of the

project by 1 additional week.
o Critical path is A-D-F-G
Activity A can’t be crashed
Cost of crashing F: 30 JD
Activity G can’t be crashed
 So, activity D should be crashed
crashing cost
 New T.C = 470 + 25 = 495 JD
 Note that duration of Activity D is now 10

weeks
Path 1: A-B-E-G
2+6+8+6 = 22 weeks
Path 2: A-C-F-G
2+10+5+6 = 23 weeks
Path 3: A-D-F-G
2+10+5+6 = 23 weeks
 We have two critical paths now:
A-C-F-G
A-D-F-G

 Two critical paths:

o A-D-F-G (23 weeks)
o A-C-F-G (23 weeks)
o All the options should be checked, and the least cost option
should be selected.
 Activities A and G can’t be crashed
 We have two options:
Option 1: crash F (common activity)
Option 2: crash D for the first critical path
crash C from the second critical path
The cost of the first option is 30 JD
The cost of the second option = 25 + 30 = 55 JD
So, the first option should be selected (crash activity F by 1
week)
 Note that activity F can’t be crashed any more (maximum
crash time is 1 week)
 New T.C = 495 + 30 = 525 JD
 Note that duration of Activity F is now 4

weeks
Path 1: A-B-E-G
2+6+8+6 = 22 weeks
Path 2: A-C-F-G
2+10+4+6 = 22 weeks
Path 3: A-D-F-G
2+10+4+6 = 22 weeks
 We have three critical paths now:
A-B-E-G
A-C-F-G
A-D-F-G

 Now, we have three critical

paths:
 A-B-E-G (22 weeks)
o A-D-F-G (22 weeks)
o A-C-F-G (22 weeks)
should be selected.
 Activities A, G, and F can’t be crashed
 There is no common activities, so one activity from each
path should be crashed
Critical path 1: two options: crash B or crash E (cost to crash B
is 40 JD, and cost to crash E is 30 JD, so activity E should be
crashed)
Critical path 2: only one option to crash activity C
Critical path 3: only one option to crash activity D
 So, in order to crash the project by 1 additional week,

activities E, C, and D should be crashed
 New T.C = 525 + 30 + 30 +25 = 610 JD
 check the critical path:

Path 1: A-B-E-G
2+6+7+6 = 21 weeks
Path 2: A-C-F-G
2+9+4+6 = 21 weeks
Path 3: A-D-F-G
2+9+4+6 = 21 weeks
 The project has been crashed by 4

weeks with minimum increase in
total cost
The activities necessary for the completion of one project

are listed in the table below. The table reports normal time
and normal cost for each activity. Crashed time and cost for
each activity are also reported (time in this example is in
weeks).
Crash the project by 5 weeks with minimum increase in total
cost. Each time show the critical path, activity/ies crashed,
and total cost of the project.
Note that activity A and E can’t be crashed
Maximum crash time for any activity = normal time –

crashed time
Add two columns to the table: crash cost per week and
maximum crash time (see the table in the next slide)
1. Compute the crash cost per week for each
activity
Path 1: A-B-F-G-I
3+4+3+2+2 = 14 weeks
Path 2: A-B-D-H-I
3+4+4+4+2 = 17 weeks
Path 3: A-C-E-H-I
3+3+2+4+2 = 14 weeks
Path 2 is the critical path

3. Crash the project by 1 week
 Reduce the duration of the project

by 1 week.
Critical path is A-B-D-H-I
Activity A can’t be crashed
Cost of crashing B: 100 JD
Cost of crashing H: 60 JD
Cost of crashing I: 200 JD
 So, activity D should be crashed
crashing cost
 New T.C = 2000 + 40 = 2040 JD
o Note that activity D can’t be crashed
anymore (maximum crash time is 1 week).
x is used to help you remember.
 Note that duration of Activity D is now 3
weeks
Path 1: A-B-F-G-I
3+4+3+2+2 = 14 weeks
Path 2: A-B-D-H-I
3+4+3+4+2 = 16 weeks
Path 3: A-C-E-H-I
3+3+2+4+2 = 14 weeks
 A-B-D-H-I is still the critical path

o Critical path is A-B-D-H-I
Activities A and D can’t be
crashed
 So, activity H should be crashed
crashing cost
 New T.C = 2040 + 60 = 2100 JD
 Note that duration of Activity H is now 3

weeks
Path 1: A-B-F-G-I
3+4+3+2+2 = 14 weeks
Path 2: A-B-D-H-I
3+4+3+3+2 = 15 weeks
Path 3: A-C-E-H-I
3+3+2+3+2 = 13 weeks
 A-B-D-H-I is still the critical path


o Critical path is A-B-D-H-I
Activities A and D can’t be
crashed
 So, activity H should be crashed
crashing cost
 New T.C = 2100 + 60 = 2160 JD
 Note that activity H can’t be crashed
anymore (maximum crash time is 2
weeks). x is used to help you remember.
 Note that duration of Activity H is now 2
weeks
Path 1: A-B-F-G-I
3+4+3+2+2 = 14 weeks
Path 2: A-B-D-H-I
3+4+3+2+2 = 14 weeks
Path 3: A-C-E-H-I
3+3+2+2+2 = 12 weeks
A-B-F-G-I
A-B-D-H-I


A-B-F-G-I (14 weeks)
A-B-D-H-I (14 weeks)
should be selected.
 Activities A, D, and H can’t be crashed
 We have two options:
Option 1: crash B (common activity)
Option 2: crash I (common activity)
The cost of the first option is 100 JD
The cost of the second option is 200 JD
So, the first option should be selected (crash activity B by 1
week)
 Note that activity B can’t be crashed any more (maximum
 New T.C = 2160 + 100 = 2260 JD
 Note that duration of Activity B is now 3
weeks
Path 1: A-B-F-G-I
3+3+3+2+2 = 13 weeks
Path 2: A-B-D-H-I
3+3+3+2+2 = 13 weeks
Path 3: A-C-E-H-I
3+3+2+2+2 = 12 weeks
A-B-F-G-I
A-B-D-H-I


A-B-F-G-I (13 weeks)
A-B-D-H-I (13 weeks)
should be selected.
 Activities A, B, D, and H can’t be crashed
 We have only one option to crash activity I (common
activity)
The cost of crashing activity I is 200 JD
 Note that activity I can’t be crashed any more (maximum

 New T.C = 2260 + 200 = 2460 JD
 Note that duration of Activity I is now 1
week
Path 1: A-B-F-G-I
3+3+3+2+1 = 12 weeks
Path 2: A-B-D-H-I
3+3+3+2+1 = 12 weeks
Path 3: A-C-E-H-I
3+3+2+2+1 = 11 weeks
 The project has been crashed by 5

weeks with minimum increase in
total cost

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 It is common to face the following

Shortening the duration of the project

 Crashing the project requires additional resources such as using

 Reasons for crashing a project may include:

 The last method (adding additional resources to the project) is

 Crashing the project requires additional resources such as using

 Reasons for crashing a project may include:

1. Compute the crash cost per week (or other time

Crash cost (Crash cost – Normal cost)

2. Using normal activity times, find the critical path

3. If there is only one critical path, then select the

4. Check to be sure that the critical path you were

The activities necessary for the completion of one project

Crash cost (Crash cost – Normal cost)

Crash cost/week (70– 50)

Crash cost/week (160– 80)

Crash (70– 40)

Note that activity G can’t be crashed (some activities

Maximum crash time for any activity = normal time –

Path 3 is the critical path

 Reduce the duration of the project

 Reduce the duration of the

 Note that duration of Activity D is now 10

 Reduce the duration of the

 Two critical paths:

 Note that duration of Activity F is now 4

 Reduce the duration of the

 Now, we have three critical

 So, in order to crash the project by 1 additional week,

 check the critical path:

 The project has been crashed by 4

The activities necessary for the completion of one project

Note that activity A and E can’t be crashed

Maximum crash time for any activity = normal time –

Path 2 is the critical path

 Reduce the duration of the project

 Reduce the duration of the

 Note that duration of Activity H is now 3

 A-B-D-H-I is still the critical path

 Reduce the duration of the

 Reduce the duration of the

 Two critical paths:

 Reduce the duration of the

 Two critical paths:

 Note that activity I can’t be crashed any more (maximum

 The project has been crashed by 5

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