Time-Profit Trade-Off Analysis for Construction Projects

This paper presents a multiobjective optimization model that provides new and unique capabilities including generating and evaluating optimal/near-optimal construction resource utilization and scheduling plans that simultaneously minimize the time and maximize the profit of construction projects. The computations in the present model are organized in three major modules: (1) a scheduling module that develops practical schedules for construction projects; (2) a profit module that computes the project profit; and (3) a multiobjective module that searches for and identifies optimal/near optimal trade-offs between project time and profit. A large-scale construction project is analyzed to illustrate the use of the model and to demonstrate its capabilities in generating and visualizing optimal trade-offs between construction time and profit.