Optimization of Earthwork Operation for Energy-saving using Discrete Event Simulation

considerate operation is a major issue in the equipment-intensive operation. Identifying an optimal equipment combination is important to achieve low-energy operations. An Earthwork operation planning system, which measures the energy consumption of construction operations by taking into account construction equipments' engineering attributes (e.g., weight, capacity, energy consumption rate, etc.) and operation conditions (e.g., road condition, attributes of materials to be moved, geometric information, etc.), is essential to achieve the low-energy consumption. This study develops an automated computerized system which identifies an optimal earthmoving equipment fleet minimizing the energy consumption. The system imports a standard template of earthmoving operation model and compares numerous scenarios using alternative equipment allocation plans. It finds the fleet that minimizes the energy consumption by enumerating all cases using sensitivity analysis. A case study is presented to verify the validity of the system.