Analysis of Tower Crane Productivity Based on Cycle Time at the New Satya Terra Bhinneka Building Project

Abstract

Tower cranes play a critical role in vertical material logistics on multi-storey construction projects, yet productivity losses associated with individual cycle-time components are seldom quantified. This study evaluates tower crane productivity through a time–motion analysis of 71 productive lifting cycles collected over 14 working days (09:00–17:00) at the New Satya Terra Bhinneka Building project. The analysis decomposed each lifting cycle into four measurable components: T1 (hooking/rigging), T2 (outbound travel), T3 (unloading/landing), and T4 (return), with particular emphasis on Travel Cycle Time (TCT = T2 + T4). Floors L3 and L4 were selected to represent the masonry stage of construction involving sand buckets and palletized concrete blocks, while L7 represented the structural stage involving reinforcing steel and concrete casting. Recorded times were converted from minute:second (m:ss) format to decimal minutes, non-productive cycles were excluded, and No-Return cases were completed using a hierarchical T4 imputation procedure. Actual productivity ( ) was compared with a theoretical benchmark ( ) derived from crane geometry, rated hoisting, trolleying, and slewing speeds, and an operator factor of  adopted from Lampiran II Surat Edaran Direktur Jenderal Bina Konstruksi Nomor 182/SE/Dk/2025. Performance was evaluated using the Productivity Performance Index (PPI). The results showed that sand bucket transportation achieved the highest average PPI values of 1.03 on Floor L3 and 1.08 on Floor L4, while palletized concrete blocks achieved average PPI values of 0.97 on both floors. Concrete casting materials and reinforcing steel delivered to Floor L7 produced average PPI values of 0.98 and 0.95, respectively, indicating that additional handling and placement activities reduced productivity relative to the theoretical benchmark. Component-level analysis further demonstrated that travel time dominated bulk-material transportation, whereas handling time was the primary contributor to productivity losses for palletized and reinforcement materials. These findings provide practical guidance for optimizing tower crane scheduling, material logistics, and resource allocation, thereby supporting more reliable construction planning and public infrastructure management.