FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE OF ROAD PROJECT IN DCE: THE CASE OF DICHOTO -GALAFI JUNCTION -BELEHO ROAD PROJECT

Abstract

Infrastructure projects, such as road constructions, are one of the most important projects in Ethiopia. Growth in this sector is critical for growth in national income as it is among the largest sectors that generates employment within the country as well as a key driver for economic development of Ethiopia. Ethiopian Roads Authority has administered many projects at the federal level involving local contractors on the projects. However, projects executed by contractors are facing critical problems with respect to different factors. There are several factors that are contributing to the performance problems of local contractors. Accordingly, this research attempts to identify the major causes or factors affecting the performance of DCE road project, which can serve as the way forward for future work in coping with this performance problem. A thorough literature review and desk study was done, through which a number of performance factors were identified in different construction industry scenarios. To obtain expert opinions from the sector, in total twenty six (26) factors with 04 main groups were identified and made part of the survey questionnaire and the survey was conducted with DCE head office and project staffs. The findings were that all the four factors; skilled manpower, organization structure, client support and timely available of construction resource have influence on performance of road construction in DCE. The conclusion is that skilled manpower, organization structure, client support and timely available of construction resource all had a positive influence on performance of the road construction in DCE. The recommendations is that training and skill up-gradation within construction firms and establishment of more middle level technical colleges in order to improve availability of skilled manpower. Construction firms also need to have a flexible dynamic organizational structure as existence of strong organizational structure was found to be the core from which the successful implementation of road construction projects was founded, client support in form of prompt payments and approvals, involvement of stakeholders, early land acquisition and project coordination are necessary to ensure enhanced performance of road in DCE to ensure timely, cost effective and quality completion of road project