Schedule Compression and Time-Cost Trade-Off - Construction Project Scheduling and Control - page 244

As discussed earlier in this chapter, even though we tend to like completing
projects with the least duration and least cost, the user has to set the project's
priorities: time versus cost. Then the scheduler can optimize the schedule using one
criterion (time or cost) as the primary objective function and the other criterion as
the secondary objective function.
CHAPTER 8 EXERCISES
1. What does the term accelerating a project mean?
2. Why would a contractor accelerate a project?
3. Why would an owner accelerate a project?
4. An owner finds that the 18 months that are needed to complete her proposed
shopping center project is not acceptable, so she decides to scale it down by 20%,
which allows the contractor to finish it in 15 months. Is this considered project
acceleration? Explain your answer?
5. A project manager may shorten the duration of a project in many ways. Men-
tion six of these ways. Discuss each one of them briefly, mentioning its pros and
cons.
6. The decision to accelerate a project may be made early, before the project starts,
or in the middle of it. The timing may limit your options for accelerating the
schedule. Discuss this statement. Mention any example that comes to mind.
7. Discuss the pros and cons of fast-tracking construction projects and using this
concept as a means for accelerating projects.
8. Explain how accelerating a project works.
9. Would you advocate using overtime always, sometimes, or never? Explain your
answer.
10. Give an example of accelerating a project by improving the communication
among the parties involved in the construction activities.
11. Your critical path is 128 days long. The next longest path is 122 days long.
a. If you extend the longest path by 5 days, the entire project duration will
increase by 5 days. True or false?
b. If you reduce the longest path by 5 days, the entire project duration will
decrease by 5 days. True or false?
c. If you reduce the longest path by 10 days, the entire project duration will
decrease by 10 days. True or false?
12. You are the project manager of a construction project. Your project is falling
behind schedule. You meet with your team (including the scheduler) and discover
that accelerating the schedule to bring it back on track will cost you an additional
$20,000. Would you do it? ( Hint : You do not know enough to give a definite
answer.)