Estimating Hazard Exposure in Tower Crane Lift Operations Using BIM and Path Planning Algorithm

Tower cranes play an essential role in the execution of most construction projects. Unfortunately, they are also a major source of fatalities and injuries in the industry, owing to their great mass and large footprint on the site. Aiming to proactively identify and mitigate safety hazards in the design and planning stage, Prevention through Design (PtD) has been proven effective in various construction scenarios. The advent of Building Information Modeling (BIM) further strengthens the power of PtD by providing early access to comprehensive and accurate project data. This study proposes a conceptual framework aiming to automatically identify and quantitatively estimate the exposure of hazards associated with the operation of tower cranes. A literature review on crane lift safety is first carried out to identify major hazards related to tower cranes. Based on the results from path planning algorithms, a quantitative approach is presented to estimate hazard exposure during the operation of tower cranes in any given period during the construction. Thirdly, BIM entities and attributes necessary to describe tower-crane-related hazards are defined. Lastly, an application scenario is discussed to demonstrate the potentials of the proposed method. Findings in this study are expected to expand the application of PtD in more dynamic and complex construction scenarios and facilitate its integration with emerging automation and information technologies.