A construction scheduling system with resource allocation for electric utilities

The general design and the basic characteristics of the individual components of a construction scheduling mechanism for electric utilities, which is currently being implemented at the City Public Service of San Antonio, Texas, are described. The operational-planning portion of this mechanism is comprised of four conventional quantitative-analysis models with the tasks of developing pertinent cost parameters, optimally assigning construction projects to service centers, and routing service crews to project sites. Also described is HAMPS, a developed heuristic program which schedules the projects and performs resource allocation. An example is given to illustrate the operation of HAMPS on which the focus of the discussion is placed. The other portion of the construction scheduling mechanism is a strategic-planning package for estimating, at low cost, future resource requirements as an aid in the daily resource-allocation process.