Identifying Causes for Delay in Highway Construction Projects

The goal of this paper is to analyze the factors that influence contract duration for highway construction. Also of interest is the relationship between delay and cost increase, so a regression model was developed showing that relationship. Using the results of this analysis, a comparison between regions of Florida representing urban and rural areas, and a comparison between contract types (unit cost, lump sum, and others) were made so that parameters could be set for establishing more reasonable schedules for future projects depending on project regions and contract types. Finally the most prevalent causes for delay in highway construction projects are identified. Project delay is affected by contract type. Innovative contract methods resulted in a significant savings in project time. The average increase in contract days using innovative contracts was 14.8% whereas the increase in construction time for conventional unit price low bid contract was 30.0%. Among innovative contracting methods, the bonus contracts performed best, averaging only 1.8% time overruns. In terms of cost, the lump sum contract showed the best result, showing only a 0.9% cost increase while conventional unit price contracts increased an average of 8.3% over the original project cost.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Ahn, Junyong
  • Minchin Jr, Robert Edward
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2007-1-21 to 2007-1-25
• Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 86th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers CD-ROM

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Contract administration; Contractors; Contracts; Delays; Innovation; Project management; Road construction; Traffic delays; Unit costs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Construction delays; Contract delays
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Highways; I52: Construction of Pavements and Surfacings;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01045159
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 07-2513
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 8 2007 7:12PM