Integrated BIM-based simulation for automated time-space conflict management in construction projects

The time-space conflicts may have severe negative impacts on the productivity and safety level in a construction site. However, little attention is paid to propose an automated, integrated system for managing potential time space conflicts, considering the site space system's dynamic nature. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing a novel integrated approach to manage time-space conflicts automatically. The proposed hybrid approach is based on Discrete Event Simulation (DES), Building Information Modeling (BIM), and Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) path planning. All types of time-space conflicts during the entire project timeline are automatically detected, evaluated, and resolved based on predefined if-then rules. The proposed approach is applied successfully in a real case study to estimate the project duration considering site space limitations. The results indicate that the proposed system can considerably prevent the negative impacts of time space conflicts, particularly in congested construction sites.