Resource-Constrained Scheduling of Construction Projects Using the Harmony Search Algorithm

During the implementation, construction projects usually encounter situation thatconsiderably affects the project scheduling and cost. This study aims at using an improvedversion of the harmony search algorithm (HSA) to schedule resource constrained constructionprojects. This model is formulated as a global optimization problem. It will determine theduration of each activity to minimize the project total cost. The algorithm tries to find the bestduration for each activity so that it leads to the total consumption of the corresponding resource.This may cause some activities to start simultaneously. The improvements have been made toincrease the convergence rate and to lower the cost and shorten duration of the project. Anumerical example has been proposed to evaluate the efficacy of the algorithm. This algorithmalso addresses issues such as multi-resource, resource combination, and resource limit. Twoscenarios have been considered for the test problem. The former scenario shows the projectscheduled using the minimum duration list and the latter scenario schedules the project using theoptimization algorithm. A comparison between the two scenarios shows the effectiveness of theproposed algorithm in decreasing the total cost and duration of the projects.