Schedule Delay Assessmentson Ethiopia Awash-Kombolcha-Haragebeya Railway Construction Project

Project delay is known to be the most encountered problem in many construction projects in Ethiopia;project delays incur huge costs and increase complexity that affects project success.Project owners and contractors alike,all acknowledge the crosscutting importance of schedule management.Thus,it stands out as a source of disputes and claims that eventually lead to lawsuits.These arguments focus on the extent of each contracting party’s responsibility for the delayed projects and extra cost incurred.Consequently,it is critical to understand the causes of schedule delays in construction projects in order to reduce the probability of its occurrence.This research was aimed at investigating the causes of project delay by considering the case of Ethiopia’s Awash-Kombolcha-Haragebeya railway project construction,in order to develop a framework for improving delay analysis.The methodology adopted in undertaking this research was the mixed methods approach involving an in depth review of the relevant literature followed by questionnaire survey and interviews to research the variables identified in more depth.A statistical approach was used to analyze the data collected using questionnaires.Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS)and Microsoft-excel were used in this analysis.The research has revealed that the Awash-Kombolcha-Haragebeya(Diop,#117)railway construction project underway is exposed to delay.This project is delayed because of the following factors.Site handover and right of way,lack of coordination among stakeholders,delayed external work due to public agencies and poor economic conditions were the key ones.The delay resulted in time and price overrun and a number of claim requests.In the literature it is acknowledged that methodologies for analyzing delays are different and indicate different ways of delay analysis.This study recommends best practices for avoiding the causes of delays and a model for assisting the analyst in selecting an appropriate delay analysis methodology for any claim situation.