The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 2012–2016
Strabag's earthworks optimizer cut construction logistics costs 10%
A linear-programming DSS told Strabag what to excavate, recycle, buy and haul on Autostrada Pedemontana — cutting logistics costs 10%.
Strabag AG
The solution
Earthmoving on large construction projects involves cutting, filling, hauling, recycling and dumping material across a whole site network; Strabag AG managed these decisions piecemeal, which was slow and expensive.
Working with OR researchers, Strabag built a two-phase linear-programming DSS: an aggregate model establishes whether the project plan is feasible, and a detailed model decides how much material to move, purchase, recycle or dump in each period and along which paths, with visualization to make the solutions legible to managers.
Applied to the Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda highway, the system significantly improved the speed of decision making and reduced logistics costs by 10%. It is now used in several Strabag construction projects.
Why it worked
- Two phases separate feasibility from detailed execution, matching how projects are planned.
- Optimizing paths, not just quantities, exploits cheaper recycling and shorter hauls.
- Graphical output made model solutions legible enough for managers to act on.
- The DSS is easy to replicate, so it spread across other projects.
What can be applied
In construction logistics the decision is a network, not a pile: when cut, fill, recycle, haul and dump are optimized together, moving earth cheaper beats moving less of it.
Aftermath
The DSS stayed in use on multiple Strabag construction projects and was published in Interfaces (2016) as a replicable template for construction logistics optimization.
Sources
- A Decision Support System for Highway Construction: The Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda
- A Decision Support System for Highway Construction: The Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda
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