Latent geotechnical pathogens inducing cost overruns in highway projects

Amadi, AI and Higham, AP 2017, 'Latent geotechnical pathogens inducing cost overruns in highway projects' , Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, 22 (3) , pp. 269-285.

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Abstract

Purpose:
This paper investigates the statistical validity of geotechnical risk factors in accounting for cost overruns in highway projects. The study hypothesizes that ‘Latent Pathogens’ due to mismanaged geotechnical risk, which lay dormant in the organisational practises of highway agencies, trigger cost overruns.
Design/methodology/approach:
To test this hypothesis, cost and geotechnical data gathered for 61 completed highway projects, executed in the Niger Delta, recording unusually high cost overruns, along with qualitative data from 16 interviews with the project commissioners, were comprehensively analysed via regression modelling, to statistically explain recorded cost variance.
Findings:
The results provide empirical evidence supporting a cause-effect relationship between the extent of cost overrun and key geotechnical factors. It is suggested that positive changes made in the geotechnical practises of the highway agencies will produce an expected exponential decrease in the level of cost overruns recorded in highway projects.
Research Limitations/Implications:
The study is limited to explaining the propagation of unusually high cost overruns in the geologic setting of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. As such there is need to test the generalisability of the theory presented.
Practical Implications:
The emergent view of geotechnical practice, calls for further research, necessary to align geotechnical best practice into highway project delivery in the Niger Delta region.

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > School of the Built Environment > Centre for Urban Processes, Resilient Infrastructures & Sustainable Environments (UPRISE)
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN:	1366-4387
Related URLs:	Publication
Depositing User:	AP Higham
Date Deposited:	13 Jun 2017 08:49
Last Modified:	14 Mar 2018 15:43
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/42435

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