CST Schedule Compression & Acceleration Techniques 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When crashing a schedule to minimize cost, which activities should be crashed first?
- Activities with the most total float
- Critical path activities with the lowest crash cost slope (Correct answer)
- Activities with the largest resource allocation
- Non-critical activities with the longest duration
Correct answer: Critical path activities with the lowest crash cost slope
Crashing critical path activities with the lowest crash cost slope first maximizes time reduction per additional dollar spent.
Question 2: What happens to a near-critical path when fast-tracking consumes all of its available float?
- It becomes a new critical path, creating multiple critical paths (Correct answer)
- The project duration automatically increases
- Float increases on all other network paths
- The original critical path is automatically eliminated
Correct answer: It becomes a new critical path, creating multiple critical paths
When fast-tracking consumes all float on a near-critical path, that path becomes critical, potentially creating multiple concurrent critical paths.
Question 3: Which document formally authorizes schedule recovery actions on a construction project?
- The original project charter
- A schedule recovery plan or recovery baseline approved through change control (Correct answer)
- The original project schedule baseline
- The resource-loaded histogram
Correct answer: A schedule recovery plan or recovery baseline approved through change control
A schedule recovery plan documents the approved recovery actions, revised logic, and any new baseline submitted through the formal change control process.
Question 4: In schedule compression, 'what-if' scenario analysis is primarily used to:
- Determine the actual cost of work completed to date
- Evaluate the impact of potential schedule changes before implementing them (Correct answer)
- Calculate the earned value of in-progress activities
- Establish the original project baseline for contract purposes
Correct answer: Evaluate the impact of potential schedule changes before implementing them
What-if scenario analysis allows schedulers to model and evaluate different compression strategies and their impacts before committing to irreversible changes.
Question 5: Which of the following is NOT a recognized schedule acceleration technique?
- Authorizing overtime for critical path crews
- Expanding the scope of work to add buffer activities (Correct answer)
- Resequencing activities to allow parallel execution
- Accelerating material procurement to reduce lead time
Correct answer: Expanding the scope of work to add buffer activities
Expanding scope adds more work to be completed and would extend rather than compress the overall project schedule.
Question 6: When multiple critical paths exist after schedule compression, the scheduler must:
- Monitor only the original critical path identified at baseline
- Monitor and actively manage all critical paths to protect project completion (Correct answer)
- Remove constraints from the least important critical path
- Reduce resources on near-critical paths to simplify monitoring
Correct answer: Monitor and actively manage all critical paths to protect project completion
When multiple critical paths exist, delay on any one of them will delay the project end date, so all must be actively monitored.
Question 7: The 'time-cost tradeoff curve' in schedule optimization illustrates that:
- Cost always decreases linearly as duration is reduced
- After optimal compression points, additional crashing yields diminishing returns and becomes cost-prohibitive (Correct answer)
- Resource leveling and crashing produce identical cost outcomes
- Earned value always improves when schedule compression is applied
Correct answer: After optimal compression points, additional crashing yields diminishing returns and becomes cost-prohibitive
The time-cost tradeoff curve shows that beyond optimal compression points, further duration reduction requires disproportionately large cost increases.
CST Schedule Compression & Acceleration Techniques 2
When crashing a schedule to minimize cost, which activities should be crashed first?