Crew Formation and Evaluation of their Output for Sub-base Activity in ERA Asphalt Concrete Road Project; Case Study in “Shashemene – Wondogenet - Gemeto Asphalt Road Project”

Abstract

Construction productivity, which is measured by output per unit of resource, plays a key roll in the success of a construction project. High productivity leads to a lower cost to carryout a task or operation (YUN-YI SU; 2010). However, analyzing construction productivity is a challenging task because of the nature of construction field condition which contains complex resource flow that lacks the organized production lines of a manufacturing facility in a controlled and weather protected environment. Moreover, the wide variety of site condition has made the analysis difficult. Estimating actual output of resources from daily execution data can provide construction engineer with insightful information for productivity of resources on site. Estimating actual productivity is a key element in estimating the time and cost required to complete construction operations (Oglesby et al. 2002). The primary purpose of this study is to conduct site observation to estimate actual out put of equipments and develop optimal crew formation for sub-base activity in road construction projects. This case study is conducted on shashemene-Wondogenet-Gemeto road up grading projects which is one of the Ethiopian Road Authority projects. The study is conducted on the road section from Km22+300.00 – Km23+300 for a total of 1km. Data is collected for actual out of equipments utilized in the operation. The actual output of equipments on site is used in composition the resources for optimal crew formation .The equipments utilized in this activity includes dozer, loader, grader, dump truck, water truck and pump. The day to day activities and the output of each equipment is registered by data collector and checked by the immediate foreman and site engineer. Data analysis is made for composition of equipments to eliminate idle hour or redundancy of equipments. Based on the analysis optimal and improved combination of these equipments is made and their combined out put is determined which is the standard crew output of sub-base activity. According to the study and from the result of the analysis, the optimal crew formation for 1km of sub-base activity is one dozer, one loader, one grader, one loader five dump truck, one water truck and one pump. The combined out of the crew is 2,750m3 It is recommended that combination of equipments should be made by collecting and analyzing actual output of equipments on site and developing standard crew formation.