A Closed Queuing Network-Based Stochastic Framework for Capacity Coordination and Bottleneck Analysis in Dam Concrete Transport Systems

In large-scale dam construction, the efficiency of concrete transport operations is fundamentally governed by the coordination between horizontal hauling and vertical hoisting capacities. Traditional experience-based scheduling approaches often fail to capture the stochastic, cyclic, and resource-coupled nature of these transport systems. This study developed a closed queuing network-based stochastic simulation framework to model dam concrete transportation as a finite-population cyclic service system. The process was abstracted into sequential service stages with stochastic service times, and a structured state-space representation combined with time-step simulation was constructed to describe dynamic resource occupation and task transitions under varying truck and cable crane configurations. Application to a real large-scale dam project revealed a characteristic multi-stage performance evolution pattern governed by capacity matching mechanisms. As the truck fleet size increased, system performance transitioned from a transport-limited regime to a capacity-coordination regime and ultimately to a hoisting-saturated regime in which further fleet expansion yielded diminishing returns. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that hoisting capacity imposed an upper bound on system throughput, while adaptive fleet reconfiguration could restore operational equilibrium under constrained equipment availability. The results indicated that dam concrete transport should be treated as a dynamic capacity regulation problem rather than a static allocation task. The proposed framework provides an interpretable and quantitative decision-support tool for equipment configuration, bottleneck identification, and adaptive scheduling in large-scale hydraulic infrastructure projects.

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Publication Details

Journal
Infrastructures
Published
2026-03-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures11030096
Primary Topic
Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

A Closed Queuing Network-Based Stochastic Framework for Capacity Coordination and Bottleneck Analysis in Dam Concrete Transport Systems

Shuaixin Yang, Nan Li, Xiaoguang Zhang, H. Zhou et al.
Infrastructures
Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling
article

A Closed Queuing Network-Based Stochastic Framework for Capacity Coordination and Bottleneck Analysis in Dam Concrete Transport Systems

Shuaixin Yang, Nan Li, Xiaoguang Zhang, H. Zhou, Xinping Li, Hua Li, Jiejun Huang
article en

Abstract

In large-scale dam construction, the efficiency of concrete transport operations is fundamentally governed by the coordination between horizontal hauling and vertical hoisting capacities. Traditional experience-based scheduling approaches often fail to capture the stochastic, cyclic, and resource-coupled nature of these transport systems. This study developed a closed queuing network-based stochastic simulation framework to model dam concrete transportation as a finite-population cyclic service system. The process was abstracted into sequential service stages with stochastic service times, and a structured state-space representation combined with time-step simulation was constructed to describe dynamic resource occupation and task transitions under varying truck and cable crane configurations. Application to a real large-scale dam project revealed a characteristic multi-stage performance evolution pattern governed by capacity matching mechanisms. As the truck fleet size increased, system performance transitioned from a transport-limited regime to a capacity-coordination regime and ultimately to a hoisting-saturated regime in which further fleet expansion yielded diminishing returns. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that hoisting capacity imposed an upper bound on system throughput, while adaptive fleet reconfiguration could restore operational equilibrium under constrained equipment availability. The results indicated that dam concrete transport should be treated as a dynamic capacity regulation problem rather than a static allocation task. The proposed framework provides an interpretable and quantitative decision-support tool for equipment configuration, bottleneck identification, and adaptive scheduling in large-scale hydraulic infrastructure projects.

InfrastructuresVol. 11(3)
Wuhan University of Technology (CN), Gezhouba Group (China) (CN)
Wuhan University, Wuhan University of Technology
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 29%
Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling
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