Major causes of delay in construction of highway projects

Construction projects contribute to economy growth significantly in any country. However, these projects are faced by delays frequently, especially for Highway Sector. The construction industry is one of the main sectors that provide supreme additives for the development of an economy. However, numerous projects exploit extensive delays and there by exceed initial time and cost estimates. Construction delay is considered to be one of the most reoccur problems in the construction industry and it has an unfavorable effect on project success in terms of cost, time, quality, and safety. Highway and Expressway projects in India are affected by cosmic delays. Delays occur in every construction projects, and the importance of these delays differs widely from one project to another. During construction, the delay means exceeding the completion date mentioned in the contract or exceeding the date on which the parties concur to the dispatch of the project. During the last ten years, as a result of fundamental change in the volume and capacity of the highway construction zone, it is very important to detailed analysis about factors of delays and to build up a brief understanding amidst the highway and expressway professionals. Adopting a comprehensive project stakeholders’ analysis namely client, consultant and contractor, the research identified the important factors affecting the delays in Indian highway and expressway construction industry and then establishing the association between factors to develop the prediction models to appraise the impact of these delay factors. Most critical variables causing construction delay were analyzed using factor analysis. These results will significantly contribute in managing the time overwhelm in Indian highway & expressway construction industry. This project delays forms a challenge for developing nations like India, where exponential costs result from difficulty in recognizing and mitigating the project detain factors. Project delays are directly related to the total construction costs. The delays can only be minimized if the cause is identified. Project delays incorporate several reasons such as missing funds, changes in the drawings, lack of effective communication and deficient project management. This topic focuses on prominent factors causing delays in highway & expressway construction sector, and accordingly proposes a suggestive framework to design a construction project in an efficient manner and assisting mitigating of delays.