Simulation of delay factors in dam construction projects with a system dynamics approach

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

2 Ph.D. Candidate of Engineering and Construction Management, Department of Civil Engineering, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran,

Abstract

Delays are among the causes for financial loss in construction projects. Extensive research has thus been carried out on how to confront it, or reduce its consequences. The effect on dam construction projects is highly pronounced as a consequence of their high operation magnitude, and long initial execution duration. Numerous papers have thus far studied the causes of delay in projects from a dynamic systems’ approach, in such sectors as construction, railways and highways. However, a simple comprehensive exploration of literature on the study of construction delay through the dynamic systems method reveals a gap of research around dam construction. As this is the largest class of projects in the nation, numerous factors are involved in project delays. To investigate the causes of delay in these projects the Vensim software package has proven useful and imperative in carrying out dynamic system analyses. The present paper, involves a case study of the Marvak dam in Lorestan province. Based on previous studies and former practical experience in construction, a set of 10 common causes of delay was compiled into a questionnaire, for 20 dam construction experts who were asked to rate the causes from 1 to 10, depending on how much each factor actually causes delay in the project, with a rating of 1 and 10, signifying the highest, and lowest weight. Among the factors, the effect of four variables, namely human resources, machinery and equipment, financial resources of the contractor, and deficiency in technical blueprints, were selected as the most effective factors. The Vensim software package was then used to simulate the model based on project specifications. Results involved the project’s “overall predictable delay” with the share of each factor specified in a breakdown.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] supervisory report of construction projects (research and supervision of the Islamic Parliament), (in persian).
[2] Project scheduling management authored by R Amani, (in persian).
[3] N. Alamri, O. Amoudi, G. Njie, Analysis of construction delay causes in Dams projects in Oman, European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 6(2) (2017) 19-42.
[4] H. Kamalan, A. Abedin Maghanaki, Root Cause Analysis of Delays in Dam Construction (Case Studies: Karun-3, Marun, Shafaroud and Jamishan Dams), Journal of Hydraulic Structures, 6(3) (2020) 45-58.
[5] S.A. Assaf, S. Al-Hejji, Causes of delay in large construction projects, International journal of project management, 24(4) (2006) 349-357.
[6] S. Li, A generic model of project management with Vensim, Universitetet i Agder/Agder University, 2008.
[7] S.H. Han, S. Yun, H. Kim, Y.H. Kwak, H.K. Park, S.H. Lee, Analyzing schedule delay of mega project: Lessons learned from Korea train express, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 56(2) (2009) 243-256.
[8] N. Hamzah, M.A. Khoiry, I. Arshad, N.M. Tawil, A.C. Ani, Cause of construction Delay-Theoretical framework, Procedia engineering, 20 (2011) 490-495.
[9] Owolabi James, D., Amusan Lekan, M., Oloke, C., Olusanya, O., Tunji-Olayeni, P., & Owolabi Dele, P. (2014). Causes and effect of delay on project construction delivery time. International journal of education and research, 2(4), 197-208.
[10] M.H. Hagigat, A. Gorbani, (2018), Modeling the delays of construction projects based on neural network to determine the contribution of effective factors in the occurrence of delays in building construction projects in Tehran, (in persian).
[11] A. El Rahif, M. Ghale Navi, Investigating and prioritizing delay factors in construction projects by hierarchical method, according to Qahtan Ghalib Project Management Standard, (2018) ( in persian).
[12] H. Anysz, B. Buczkowski, The association analysis for risk evaluation of significant delay occurrence in the completion date of construction project, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 16(9) (2019) 5369-5374.
[13] A. Monirabbasi, A. Ramezani Khansari, L. Majidi, Simulation of Delay Factors in Sewage Projects with the Dynamic System Approach, Industrial Engineering and Strategic Management, 1(1) (2021) 15-30.
[14] M. Welde, I. Bukkestein, Over time or on time? A study of delays in large government projects. Procedia Computer Science,196, (2022) 772-781.
[15] J. E.  Park, Schedule delays of major projects: what should we do about it? Transport Reviews, 41(6), (2022) 814-832.
[16] G. A. Niazai, K. Gidado, Causes of project delay in the construction industry in Afghanistan. Proceedings of the EPPM, (2022).
[17] M. Akbari, D. Akbari, F. Najibi, V. Hajizadeh, Knowledge management in a project-oriented organization and its impact on reducing delays of Road Construction Projects in Southern Khorasan, Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering, 9(2) (2022).
[18]  E.J. Abu Namous, INVESTIGATING THE FACTORS THAT CAUSE COST AND TIME OVERRUN IN THE RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN THE UAE: PROJECT MANAGERS PERSPECTIVE, (2021).
[19] G. Siva Subramani, S. Manikanda Prabhu, R. Gowtham, & S. Dey, S,Identification of the Mitigation Methods to Be Adopted that Prevents Time Overrun in Construction Projects. In Advances in Construction Management, (2022) 403-411.
[20] M.A. Raoof, M. Rojhani, M. Rahmati, Causes of Delays in Iranian Building Construction Projects, Aut Journal of Civil Engineering, (proof) (2022).
 [21] Introduction to the book Systemic Thinking (Basics, Tools and Methods), Dr. Qasim Mokhtari, (in persian).
[22] Sterman′s business dynamics book, translated by Korosh Brarpour and Parisa Mousavi, (in persian).
[23] Taken from Chapter 5 of John D. Sterman's Dynamics book, (in persian).
Amirkabir Journal of Civil Engineering
Volume 55, Issue 2
May 2023
Pages 431-454

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics