Optimización de las Operaciones de Movimiento de Tierras en Obras de Caminos mediante Técnicas de Investigación Operativa

Abstract

This Project aims to provide a solution to the problem of earth moving in road construction. The objective is the development of a linear programming model that resolves the problem of machinery assignation and soil compensation among sections in highway construction. The model optimizes the cost associated to the works, that is, maximizes the profit generated. This method of earthwork planning will be tasted in a set of simple problems of road construction and in a real project. We will contrast its results with those obtained with that application of the Mass Diagram, the most used planning tool in the sector nowadays. The model parts from an already designed trace of the road and the data provided by the engineering department in relation to availability of equipment, its mechanical characteristics, the type of soils and the volumes of material available or needed in every section consider along the road. It considers borrow pits and disposal sites for the surplus or shortfall of usable material in the excavation, respectively. It does not calculate the size of the fleet necessary to execute the works. The model does not consider the cost of every earthmoving operation, it just estimates excavation of material and transport works, leaving aside the cost of levelling and compacting the soil. It does not consider the cost of soil stabilization either. The model provides the duration of the works, which is a consequence of the assignation made based on the cost, that is, the duration is not optimized.