Bar (Gantt) Charts - Construction Project Scheduling and Control - page 22

After finishing the bar chart, show it to your adviser and get his or her
approval on your sequence of courses. Note that several correct solutions
to this problem may be possible (which is often the case with construction
projects).
5. Draw a bar chart for building a detached shed in your backyard. Break your project
into 10-15 work activities.
6. You are given the task of replacing the worn-out carpet in your office. Draw a
bar chart showing all activities involved for this task (including removing and
reinstalling baseboards; removing and disposing of the old carpet and the pad;
selecting, purchasing, and delivering the new carpet and a new pad; cleaning up
before and after installing the new carpet; and any other relevant activity).
7. Prepare a bar chart for building an in-ground swimming pool. If you do not know
the steps involved, ask a friend or a local contractor.
8. Prepare a bar chart for making a cake (from scratch; don't use a ready mix).
Choose the appropriate time unit (minutes, or 5- or 10-minute intervals).
9. Contact a contractor and ask the contractor whether he or she uses bar charts
(they may be called Gantt charts ). Ask about the main types of bar chart reports.
Which groups of activities are included? Ask if the bar charts are prepared as bar
charts or as an output for a CPM schedule.
10. To demonstrate the concept of summary bars, draw bar charts for building a new
home. Use a few summary activities, such as laying the foundation, putting a slab
on a grade, framing, electrical work, plumbing, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and
air-conditioning), putting on the roof, installing doors and windows, and doing
the finishing. You may need to show some of these activities (e.g., the electrical
work or the plumbing) as discontinuous bars because you will start the activity
(do a rough-in), stop, and then return and finish it. Take the chart to a special-
ized contractor and expand one of the bars. Expanding a summary bar means
breaking it down into a number of activities that make up the summary activity.
For example, you can expand Framing to Installing First-Floor Bottom Plates,
Installing First-Floor Studs, Installing First-Floor Blocking, Installing First-Floor
Top Plates, Installing Second-Floor Joists, and so forth. Note that the total dura-
tion of the summary activity must equal the total duration (not necessarily the
algebraic summation) of the detailed activities within the summary activity.