Integrated decision-making for cable crane group dispatch in high arch dams using multi-scale simulation

In high arch dam construction, multiple cable cranes are often deployed to pour multiple blocks simultaneously to accelerate progress. In such scenarios, traditional dispatching methods often overlook the integrated decision-making required between the Match of Blocks and Cranes (MBC) and Pouring Operation Planning (POP), impairing the balance of progress, safety, and quality. This paper proposes a multi-scale simulation framework that integrates Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and Agent-Based Simulation (ABS) to model pouring processes at block and crane scales, enabling unified decision-making of MBC and POP. Agent-based mechanism generated POPs for each MBC by accurately predicting crane efficiency, rationally allocating unloading zones, and coordinating parallel operations under safety and quality constraints. An arch dam construction case demonstrated that the proposed framework reduced the construction period by approximately one month and improved average monthly pouring intensity by 5.56% compared to single-scale simulation, while enhancing task balance over the manual dispatching method. • Integrated decision-making tool for cable crane group dispatch optimizing arch dam progress, safety, and quality. • Multi-scale framework using DES and ABS for scientific cable crane dispatch planning. • Data-driven hybrid prediction model combining probabilistic and Random Forest methods for crane efficiency.