Browsing by Author "Wijekoon, SB"

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Identification of Significant Factors Influencing Performance of Road Construction Industry Using Factor Analysis
(2016-01-05) Wijekoon, SB
This study is aimed at identifying the significant factors affecting the performance of road construction projects in Sri Lanka using factor analysis. Data collected using a questionnaire distributed among thirty engineers working in the road construction industry in Sri Lanka who represent the engineer and the contractor organizations. A list of 130 factors influencing performance of road construction industry have been identified & included in the questionnaire and all thirty engineers responded and returned the questionnaire. Participants were requested to allocate marks from 1-5 (1-very poor influence; 2-poor influence; 3-average influence; 4-high influence; 5-very high influence) to each factor according to their knowledge. Factors influencing performance of the road construction contracts have been ranked based on average score initially. Significant factors influencing the performance have been identified using factor analysis and they were: conducting progress review meetings and site inspections at appropriate intervals; previous experience of the construction team working on similar project; effective monitoring and feedback by the construction manager; availability of skilled construction labour; engineer's ability to analyze contractor's claims fair and reasonable manner; making payment for Interim Payment Certificates within reasonable time (2 weeks); quick response by the contractor to employers and engineer's requests and instructions; certification of the Interim Payment Certificates by the engineer within a reasonable time (2 weeks) and timely submission of the Interim Payment Certificates by the contractor.
item: Conference-Full-text
Study on the cost overruns in road construction projects in Sri Lanka
(2013-11-11) Wijekoon, SB; Attanayake, AMCTK
Cost is among the major considerations throughout the project life cycle. The gap between the cost at completion and that originally estimated known as cost overrun can be regarded as one of the most important parameters reflecting the success of projects. Despite its proven importance, it is common to see construction projects failing to complete within the originally estimated cost. Cost overrun is a frequent phenomenon and is associated with most of the projects in the construction industry in Sri Lanka. This trend is seen in the other developing countries where these overruns sometimes exceed 100% of the original cost of the project. The objective of this study are: to identify various factors influencing cost overrun at pre-construction and construction phases of road projects; to rank the factors identified based on their significance and identify the critical factors contributing to cost overruns and to make recommendations to overcome critical identified factors in future road projects Factors influencing cost overruns in road projects were identified during the literature survey and the information gathering sessions and a questionnaire was prepared considering those factors. A survey was carried out to identify significant factors influencing cost overruns in Road Projects. Delays in making payment, delays due to utility relocation, design changes during construction phase, cost escalation and land acquisition related issues have been identified as critical factors influencing cost overruns in road projects. Conclusions and recommendations are made to overcome the critical factors influencing cost overruns in the future road construction projects.
item: Conference-Full-text
Study on the factors influencing performance of road construction industry
(2013-11-27) Wijekoon, SB
Road development is an important component of the economic development in Sri Lanka. Although respective governments have recognized the importance of improving the road network in the country, expenditure in areas such as defense, multipurpose development projects and decentralized administration has taken priority, resulting in only scanty investment in road development, especially in rural areas. Today, the present government is planning to improve, rehabilitate and develop existing road network by giving equal weightage to both urban and rural areas within a reasonable period of time aiming to facilitate the rapid economic growth which is the top priority of the government. Accordingly, number of road improvement projects has been planned and some of them are in progress. However, it is learned that the majority of these road projects do not perform as expected especially within time, cost and quality standards due to various factors. The study is aimed at identifying the factors affecting the performance of the road construction projects in progress and to suggest practical and appropriate solutions to overcome the prevailing deficiencies in order to improve their performance. Thirty engineers have been selected from the Road Construction Industry to represent the Employer, the Engineer and the Contractor organizations for the study. Individual discussions and focus group discussion have been conducted to gather information. In addition, a well-designed questionnaire has been administered to collect primary data. All thirty engineers responded and completed the questionnaire with additional comments. Number of significant factors influencing the performance of the Road Construction Contracts has been identified. The most significant factors have been well recorded and conclusions were made including the practical solutions to resolve them.