Steep Staircase
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Hashim,
What I have seen in the actual scenario for high rise buildings .... the structural prortion requires more manpower and resanobaly lessor duration, where as towards the end of the project where internal finishes will be in full swing, the duration required will be much more even if the manpower anticipated for individual trades is less, and hence they can be overlapped ( happen simultaneous) to make a sensible schedule which generates a uniform S curve...and unlike what you stated where, internal fnishes consumes more manpower(yes, ofcourse- overlapping makes excess manpower, and structural portion lessor manpower...),
Thanx,
Francis
Moutaz,
it will be good if they are spread all over the schedule, anyway i knew this expression "steep staircase" just recently but what i think its a negative term.
Dana
Dear Dana,
Thanks a lot for your explanation, I now understand well what it means Steep Staircase.
But if the manpower is enough, I think shcedule the activities to be done at the same time is good to crash the schedule.
Best Regards,
Moutaz
Check out this site:
http://www.pinnacleone.com/e-newsletter/wwmpf/2005_01.html
and in particular this:
Is the Contractors Schedule a "Steep Staircase" Schedule?
Does the Contractors schedule show a large number of work activities scheduled to be done at the same time? In particular, look out for "stacking" during the last half or third of the project time frame. This may indicate an unbalanced schedule with too much time provided for the structure and building shell and not enough time for interior finish work and completion activities, such as start-up and commissioning. A steep staircase schedule may also result from inadequate consideration of manpower when work activities slip on projects with delays. This is sometimes referred to as "schedule compression."
On most projects, a well planned schedule, whether it is a baseline schedule or a schedule update, will have an even distribution of activity bars in time rather than a steep staircase of work activities. Too many activities shown going on at the same time is usually not realistic and schedules like these are often not achievable. To assess this situation, think about the manpower or number of crews that would be required to start and finish 25 or 30 activities (or more) in a month, and think about the manpower likely to be provided by the subcontractors. Will there be adequate manpower?