Analyzing Cost and Schedule Growths of Road Construction Projects, Considering Project Characteristics

• Published in: Sustainability 2021-12, Vol.13 (24), p.13694
• Main Authors: Lee, Kang-Wook, Kim, Kyong-Hoon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Competitiveness; Construction industry; Contractors; Cultural heritage; Design; Employment; Highway construction; Infrastructure; Outdoor air quality; Performance evaluation; Performance management; Project engineering; Project management; Project planning; Road construction; Roads; Roads & highways; Schedules; Sustainability; Transportation planning
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su132413694

The development of road infrastructure is closely related to national competitiveness and presents significant socioeconomic impacts. However, road construction involves a large budget and is vulnerable to political, economic, social, and project-specific risks, which often result in cost overruns and schedule delays. Assessing the gap between the final performance and the planned performance, and providing feedback to similar projects in the future is essential for successful project planning and management. The aim of this study is to empirically analyze the cost and schedule growth of road construction projects, considering project characteristics. Using the national-level project performance data, the primary goal is to answer, “Do project characteristics influence the road project performance? If so, how different is the performance because of the project characteristics?” To this end, this study analyzes the cost and schedule growth of 423 road construction projects, considering five project characteristics: facility type, construction type, bid type, contract type, and project size. Non-parametric tests (the Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis test) are used to analyze the differences between sample groups. The results demonstrate (1) better management of the performance of the highway when compared to the national and provincial roads; (2) higher schedule growth of the expansion and renovation than that of the new construction; (3) lower cost growth of the design-build method (turnkey and alternative) than the design-bid-build methods (qualification examination and lowest price); and (4) relatively larger cost and schedule growth for projects over $50 million than those of smaller projects. These results present empirical references from the Korean construction industry that can help construction-related entities (clients, design consultants, and contractors) to estimate and manage the cost and schedule buffers of future projects by considering different project characteristics. Discussions and suggestions connected with the findings are also provided. Future research will continue to shed light on the critical factors affecting the cost and schedule growth.