The production cycle of open-cast coal mines generally in eludes drilling, blasting, loading, hauling and coal preparation activities. Individual optimization of these activities does not mean that the whole system is...The production cycle of open-cast coal mines generally in eludes drilling, blasting, loading, hauling and coal preparation activities. Individual optimization of these activities does not mean that the whole system is optimized. This paper proposes a cost model considering all activities in mining cycle and system-wide approach to minimize the total mining cost of bench production. Since the fragmentation size and blast-hole diameter are linked to all activities of mining system, they are considered as decision variables in the problem form ul at io n. The operatio n costs are then minimized by using the evolutionary algorithm. Moreover, the impact of the change in the explosive price, and the hourly unit cost of equipment on total mining cost is quantified by sensitivity analysis. A case study is implemented to demonstrate the developed model.展开更多
The publication of ISO 15686-5 is significant for studies related to the life-cycle costs of buildings. Among the many economic evaluation methods, the NPV method is recommended for use by this standard. This stu...The publication of ISO 15686-5 is significant for studies related to the life-cycle costs of buildings. Among the many economic evaluation methods, the NPV method is recommended for use by this standard. This study explains the concept and method of PV, and then provides an explanation of the concept and method of NPV, and points out the limitations in the practical application of the method.展开更多
The complexity of the IH-635 Managed Lanes Project, located in Dallas County, Texas, posed several technical and constructive challenges, leading to the adoption of solutions different from the traditional. Two altern...The complexity of the IH-635 Managed Lanes Project, located in Dallas County, Texas, posed several technical and constructive challenges, leading to the adoption of solutions different from the traditional. Two alternative solutions for the pier cap on one of the bridge crossings over IH-35E in the IH-635 project were analyzed in this case study, a cast-in-place post-tensioned concrete cap and an innovative prefabricated steel-concrete com- posite cap. The approach was to use an estimation of direct costs for material and labor and consideration of con- struction time schedules. A supplementary numerical modeling confirmed that both alternatives behave elasti- cally under imposed loads. The direct cost of material and labor for the two alternatives were close. However, the composite alternative required 13 days less construction time, resulting in substantial cost savings from traffic closing in the very busy traffic corridor. Traffic closing costs were substantially higher than the direct costs, especially for the post-tensioned cap. The quantification of the benefits allows more confidence in the utilization of the composites caps, leading to faster completion of bridge projects and substantial economic savings.展开更多
文摘The production cycle of open-cast coal mines generally in eludes drilling, blasting, loading, hauling and coal preparation activities. Individual optimization of these activities does not mean that the whole system is optimized. This paper proposes a cost model considering all activities in mining cycle and system-wide approach to minimize the total mining cost of bench production. Since the fragmentation size and blast-hole diameter are linked to all activities of mining system, they are considered as decision variables in the problem form ul at io n. The operatio n costs are then minimized by using the evolutionary algorithm. Moreover, the impact of the change in the explosive price, and the hourly unit cost of equipment on total mining cost is quantified by sensitivity analysis. A case study is implemented to demonstrate the developed model.
文摘The publication of ISO 15686-5 is significant for studies related to the life-cycle costs of buildings. Among the many economic evaluation methods, the NPV method is recommended for use by this standard. This study explains the concept and method of PV, and then provides an explanation of the concept and method of NPV, and points out the limitations in the practical application of the method.
基金herein for allowing the use of various data from the LBJ Project in the development of this paper
文摘The complexity of the IH-635 Managed Lanes Project, located in Dallas County, Texas, posed several technical and constructive challenges, leading to the adoption of solutions different from the traditional. Two alternative solutions for the pier cap on one of the bridge crossings over IH-35E in the IH-635 project were analyzed in this case study, a cast-in-place post-tensioned concrete cap and an innovative prefabricated steel-concrete com- posite cap. The approach was to use an estimation of direct costs for material and labor and consideration of con- struction time schedules. A supplementary numerical modeling confirmed that both alternatives behave elasti- cally under imposed loads. The direct cost of material and labor for the two alternatives were close. However, the composite alternative required 13 days less construction time, resulting in substantial cost savings from traffic closing in the very busy traffic corridor. Traffic closing costs were substantially higher than the direct costs, especially for the post-tensioned cap. The quantification of the benefits allows more confidence in the utilization of the composites caps, leading to faster completion of bridge projects and substantial economic savings.
