Representing Work Spaces Generically in Construction Method Models

Construction activities require a set of work spaces to be executed safely and productively. The locations and volumes of these spaces change in three dimensions and across time, according to project-specific design and schedule information. Previous research on construction space management requires users to specify the spatio-temporal data necessary to represent each project-specific space needed for construction. Since a construction schedule consists of hundreds of activities requiring multiple types of spaces, this approach is practically infeasible. There is a need for a generic (projectindependent) representation of work spaces, from which the project-specific instances of spaces can be derived automatically based on project-specific design and construction schedule information. This paper formalizes such a generic space description as a computer-interpretable ontology. This ontology is general, reusable and comprehensive. It enables a prototype system that captures the spatial requirements associated with construction methods and automates the generation of project-specific spaces represented in three dimensions and across time. 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 152133890, [email protected] 2 Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and (by courtesy) Computer Science, Director, Center for Integrated Facility Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, [email protected] 3 Senior Research Associate, Center for Integrated Facility Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, [email protected] 4 Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, [email protected]