/tilos/examples/
Three worked examples, simple to advanced, each with a real (if illustrative) scenario, real numbers, and a chart you can read the same way you’d read one in TILOS.
Example 1 — Simple: single-carriageway resurfacing
Difficulty: Simple · Sector: Highways · Topic: Reading the chart
Covered in full on the What Is Time-Location Scheduling? page — one activity, one crew, a constant rate of 1.25 km/week over an 8-week, 10 km resurfacing job.
Example 2 — Intermediate: highway widening scheme
Difficulty: Intermediate · Sector: Highways · Topic: Sectors, staggered activities, buffers
An 18 km carriageway widening scheme, divided into three sectors for utility diversions and access constraints that differ along the route. Four activities follow one another down the same alignment: earthworks, drainage, pavement construction and surfacing.
| Activity | Start (wk) | Finish (wk) | From (km) | To (km) | Rate (km/wk) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earthworks | 0 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 1.8 |
| Drainage | 2 | 14 | 0 | 18 | 1.5 |
| Pavement | 5 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 1.5 |
| Surfacing | 8 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 1.5 |
Each activity starts later than the one before it — enough of a gap that a short delay to the leading crew doesn’t immediately put the following crew on top of it. Read the chart and the buffer risk becomes obvious: the gap between earthworks and drainage is visibly the narrowest, which is exactly why it’s worth checking first if either activity’s rate slips.
Example 3 — Advanced: multi-discipline rail programme with baseline and progress
Difficulty: Advanced · Sector: Rail · Topic: Baseline, progress update, critical path, interface risk
A 40 km renewal programme with four disciplines following one another down the same alignment — formation, track, overhead line equipment (OLE), and signalling & testing. The baseline was saved at sanction; the chart below also shows actual progress recorded up to a data date of week 24.
| Discipline | Baseline (wk) | Actual to Wk 24 | Rate (km/wk) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formation | 0–22 | On baseline | 1.82 | On track |
| Track | 4–28 | Behind from Wk 16 | 1.46 | Slipping |
| OLE | 9–33 | On baseline | 1.42 | On track |
| Signalling & test | 15–40 | On baseline | 1.60 | On track |
Track has fallen behind its own baseline from week 16 — visible as the line flattening below the dashed baseline. And because Track has slowed while OLE kept to plan, their two actual lines cross at roughly week 21–22 — two crews about to need the same stretch of alignment in the same week, flagged automatically by the chart.
See how to build charts like these on your own project. See corporate TILOS training →