4D-based automation of heavy lift planning in industrial construction projects

In northern Canada, due to the harsh weather and high labor cost, contractors prefer to using modular construction approach to complete heavy industrial projects, where mobile crane are used for onsite module installations. In current practice, module lifts are often planned manually by rigging engineers. With a large number of heavy lifts to be analyzed per project, the planning process is tedious and error prone. This paper represents a data-driven crane management system with three features: (1) identification of design errors in lifting planning; (2) responses to design changes; and (3) dynamic 3D trajectory-based lifting visualization. It covers two types of crane operations: pick from a fixed location, and pick and walking operation. This developed system helps reduce lifting time and improves safety and quality, where various lifting scenarios need to be analyzed. The system has been implemented at a collaborator company for demonstration and validation.