Mapping the Causes of Time, Cost Overruns and Quality Shortfall in Egyptian Public Highway Projects

Ahmed Yousry Akal

doi:10.11648/j.ebm.20170306.14

Abstract

Transportation infrastructure development specifically public highway projects remains a major tool for achieving the aspirations of the newly introduced economic principles of the Government of Egypt. However, the importance of this industry and its impact on the national economy, concerns are raised frequently on the poor performances of these projects in terms of time, cost, and quality which directly subjected the construction of these projects to schedule delay, cost overrun, and quality shortfall problems. The main objective of the current study is to identify the causal causes of theses overruns in the public highway projects in Egypt. Using a detailed literature review and questionnaire surveys, the results of the study confirmed the prevalence of schedule delay, cost escalation, and quality shortfall in public highway projects in Egypt. Furthermore, the study establishes that contractor’s technical staff is insufficient and ineligible to accomplish the project, lack of communication between the construction parties, and unavailability of experienced staff in the owner’s and contractor’s teams during the project execution are the major factors responsible for causing schedule delay, cost overrun, and quality shortfall respectively. In addition, recommendations for avoiding and overcoming the negative implications of these factors on the performance of the public highway projects in Egypt have been emphasized.

Highlights

It is a well-known fact that investments in economic infrastructure such as bridges and roads are critically important for the long term growth of a country [1]
Al-Battaienh [8] in his study reported that the road projects in Jordan are subjected to extensive delay and cost overrun with average time and cost growth = 60.45% and 12.45% respectively
Bubshait [10] in Saudi Arabia, Kaliba et al [11] in Zambia, and Otim and Alinaitwe [12] in Uganda stated that quality performance of many road projects in their countries are below the desired and the standard levels

Summary

Introduction

It is a well-known fact that investments in economic infrastructure such as bridges and roads are critically important for the long term growth of a country [1]. Budget overrun, and the lower level of quality are very scary problems because of their implications are not limited to cause time overrun, cost escalation, additional maintenance and repair works or lawsuits between owners and contractors, but their effects have an immeasurable cost implication to the society; which in turn limits the growth potential of the economy at large and, frustrates the country development [3,4,5,6,7]. Al-Battaienh [8] in his study reported that the road projects in Jordan are subjected to extensive delay and cost overrun with average time and cost growth = 60.45% and 12.45% respectively. Bubshait [10] in Saudi Arabia, Kaliba et al [11] in Zambia, and Otim and Alinaitwe [12] in Uganda stated that quality performance of many road projects in their countries are below the desired and the standard levels

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion