Time and Cost Analysis for Highway Road Construction Project Using Artificial Neural Networks

Success of the construction companies is based on the successful completion of projects within the agreed cost and time limits. Artificial neural networks (ANN) have recently attracted much attention because of their ability to solve the qualitative and quantitative problems faced in the construction industry. For the estimation of cost and duration different ANN models were developed. The database consists of data collected from completed projects. The same data is normalised and used as inputs and targets for developing ANN models. The models are trained, tested and validated using MATLAB R2013a Software. The results obtained are the ANN predicted outputs which are compared with the actual data, from which deviation is calculated. For this purpose, two successfully completed highway road projects are considered. The Nftool (Neural network fitting tool) and Nntool (Neural network/ Data Manager) approaches are used in this study. Using Nftool with trainlm as training function and Nntool with trainbr as the training function, both the Projects A and B have been carried out. Statistical analysis is carried out for the developed models. The application of neural networks when forming a preliminary estimate, would reduce the time and cost of data processing. It helps the contractor to take the decision much easier.