Figure 1.

0: Arrow Diagram for a Small Garage Project

Layout Cast Floor Erect Place Hang Paint

. Slab Frame Sliding Door

Shingle Roof

Precedence Diagram ( Activity on Node )

Unlike the Arrow Diagram method, the Precedence Diagram , activity is placed on the node
instead of on arrow. Here, the line in the network indicate events in arrows indicating the
dependencies and the circles representing activities. Figure2 shows how the similar small garage
project in Figure 1 is expressed in Precedence Diagram Method.

Figure 1.1: Precedence Diagram for a Small Garage Project

Place
Siding

Cast
Layout Floor Erect
Slab Frame
Hang Paint
Door

Shingle
roof
1.9 Scheduling Phase

This phase follows the planning phase and concerns with the time estimates of individual
activities and of the project as a whole. These time estimates represents normal durations which
would be expected to result if work was done at lowest direct cost for the activities. No
unexpected delays or contingencies like fires, floods, strikes, etc, are considered while making
these estimates. Due to the deterministic nature of the work it is reasonable to assume that these
time estimates are made with exactness. The next step is to assign the activity times to the arrow
diagram and make computation for the earliest and latest start and finish time of each activity.

The earliest completion of the last activity of the network gives the shortest completion time of
the whole project. This time can be determined by identifying the longest path or chain of
activities through the network from its start node to the finish node. This path is called the
CRITICAL PATH and the timely completion of the project depends upon the time completion of
each of the activities lying on this path. These activities are CRITICAL ACTIVITIES.

Any delay in scheduled completion of a critical activity must result in delaying the completion of
the project on schedule. An identification of the critical activities helps management to pay due
attention to the timely completion of these activities so that the project is completed in time. The
non critical activities of the project have some built-in margin of reserves in completion time.
This margin is called ‘float’. An activity which has some float may be delayed up to an extent
represented by the float without delaying the scheduled start of other activities or without
delaying completion of the project as a whole. The scheduling phase also determines the float of
non-critical activities. The critical path has a float of zero or the smallest amount in the entire
network. The corresponding margin of reserve in the occurrence of events is called ‘slack‘.

Computational procedures are available for the scheduling phase to determine the start and finish
time of the activities and their floats, and the total project duration. These include : the Forward
Pass and Backward Pass performed on the network, The Tableau Method and the Matrix
Method. Computer programmes are available for making these computations for large networks.
A knowledge of floats enables identification of the critical activities or of the critical path.
At this stage a time-grid diagram can be developed in which the network is drawn on a time
scale. The lengths of the arrows now indicate the durations of the activities. The arrows are all
drawn horizontally with the tail of an arrow starting at the head of the arrow of immediately
preceding activity. The floats of activities are now represented as horizontal broken lines. This
enables determination of the margin of reserve in an activity readily, almost at a glance; and
helps in resource scheduling and in making studies of alternatives plans. Also, it is possible to
show calender dates for the activities if the starting date and holiday dates are known. This
information is very helpful in day to day control of the progress of construction. Figure 1.2
shows the interpretation of float and events time.