Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemAfter the Ribbon Cutting: Governing PPPs in the Medium to Long Term(WILEY, 2017-09)Abstract Much attention has gone towards ‘up‐front’ processes when delivering infrastructure public–private partnerships (PPPs), but less on how to best govern after the ribbon is cut and the infrastructure built. This paper identifies the primary contractual and institutional governance challenges arising in the medium to long term of PPP concession contracts and explores these governance challenges through interviews with high‐level PPP industry insiders. The paper presents new findings on the importance of good public administration for successful PPP operation, and on the interesting evolution of medium‐ to long‐term governance arrangements. It finds that although industry interviewees agreed PPP governance had improved significantly, they had differing views on how capable Australian states were in governing PPP and how well this task was being undertaken. They were also split on the adequacy of transparency; half feeling satisfied with the current contractual arrangements, and the other half favouring greater transparency, because commercial confidentiality had alienated the public.
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ItemImproving design performance by alliance between contractors and designers in international hydropower EPC projects from the perspective of Chinese construction companies(MDPI AG, 2018-04-13)© 2018 by the authors. Extant literature lacks a systematic framework addressing the mechanisms of the alliance functional process and its impacts on management activities together with performance in delivering Engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) projects. This study quantitatively investigates the cause-effect relationships among these themes by building and validating a conceptual model of contractor-designer alliance in international hydropower EPC projects. With the support of data collected from an industry survey, the results reveal the key design problems, application of contractor-designer alliance, design management level and performance, which form a sound basis for design management emphasis in EPC activities, e.g., sufficiently considering sustainability of hydropower projects by incorporating environmental, social, and economic factors into designs. The path analysis indicates that the contractor-designer alliance can not only improve design performance by enhancing design management, but also directly promote design performance. This research has significant contributions to the body of knowledge by building interdisciplinary linkages between the areas of alliance, design management, and performance, theoretically demonstrating the mechanism of how interfirm cooperation functions to achieve superior design outcomes of hydropower EPC projects. Understanding these causal relationships will be crucial for contractors and designers to optimally allocate their complementary resources for seeking better design solutions in dealing with both technical issues and sustainability factors.
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ItemQualitative Analysis of the Occupational Health and Safety Performance of Chinese International Construction Projects(MDPI AG, 2018-11-22)Chinese contractors undertaking international projects are frequently criticized for their poor Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance. It is noticed that people with different occupations may perceive OHS differently. From a qualitative perspective, this study investigates the perceived OHS performances of design managers and construction managers engaged in Chinese overseas construction projects, considering a range of subgroups classified by people’s overseas experience, project size, project industry, project location, and firm size. The analysis was based on an e-questionnaire survey that sampled responses from 52 design managers and 160 construction managers involved in 110 international projects, and face-to-face interviews with 26 managers. The findings indicate that the assessment variation of OHS performance between design managers and construction managers is not only related to their different mental ways, but also can be mediated by their in-progress communication and affected by project and organizational conditions. The varying OHS performance in projects with different sizes or from different regions also suggests that Chinese contractors should be more proactive in OHS management instead of passively responding to external requirements.
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ItemThe impact of technical standards on international project performance: Chinese contractors' experience(ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2017-11)
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ItemThe Risk of Power Imbalance in Project Delivery: A Study of Large Victorian Public Infrastructure Projects(Atlantis Press, 2017)In large public infrastructure projects, political risks due to the power imbalance between central and delivery agencies are often overlooked or underestimated. The primary motive of the delivery agency in distorting information for political gains should be deemed a risk that creates uncertainty for large projects planning the outcome. In this study, seven large infrastructure projects in the state of Victoria, Australia are examined through a workshop involving key stakeholders who had played active roles in these projects. The findings revealed that power asymmetry between central and delivery agencies exist and would lead to optimism bias, which in turn creates uncertainty and risk of overpromising in the business case. Power asymmetry exist in large infrastructure projects because the central agencies usually only have the responsibility but not the skill set needed to measure the robustness of the business case. These types of political risks are difficult to quantify and even detect. This paper recommends a few managerial strategies that have referential values and/or can be used to mitigate and circumvent this risk.
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ItemCAUSES OF CONTRACTORS' CLAIMS IN INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING-PROCUREMENT-CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS(VILNIUS GEDIMINAS TECH UNIV, 2017)Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) method has increasingly been applied in international markets. In this research, the causes of contractors’ claims in international EPC projects are modeled and empirically tested with industry survey, structural equation modeling and case studies from the perspective of Chinese contractors. The established model outlines the causes of contractors’ claims as: external risk (sociopolitical risks, economic risks, and natural hazards), clients’ organizational behavior (untimely payment, change orders, and inefficient processing), and project definition in contract (unclear scope of works, and unclear technical specification). The structural equation modelling validates that these causes have direct influences on claim respectively. Besides, clients’ organizational behavior acts as a partial mediation between external risk and claim, demonstrating that external risk can also exert influence on claim through affecting clients’ organizational behavior. Seven case studies further confirmed and interpreted the substantive meaning of these relationships. This study establishes interdisciplinary linkages among knowledge areas of contracting, risk management, organizational behavior, and international EPC project delivery, which has important primary contributions in both theory and practice. Understanding how the fundamental factors interactively lead to claims can help contracting parties to develop effective claim strategies, proactively mitigate project risks, and ultimately improve EPC project performance.
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ItemEnhancing Trust-Based Interface Management in International Engineering-Procurement-Construction Projects(ASCE-AMER SOC CIVIL ENGINEERS, 2017-09)
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ItemMeasuring pavement maintenance effectiveness using Markov Chains analysis(TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2017)
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ItemMonitoring the Dynamic Behavior of The Merlynston Creek Bridge Using Interferometric Radar Sensors and Finite Element Modeling(WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD, 2017-01)Bridges play an important role in economic development and bring important social benefits. The development of innovative bridge monitoring techniques will enable road authorities to optimize operational and maintenance activities for bridges. However, monitoring the dynamic behavior of a bridge requires a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between the bridge and traffic loading which has not been fully achieved so far. In the present study, an integrated bridge health monitoring framework is developed using advanced 3D Finite Element modeling in conjunction with Weight-in-motion (WIM) technology and interferometric radar sensors (IBIS-S). The realistic traffic loads imposed on the bridge will be obtained through calibration and validation of traffic loading prediction model using real-time bridge dynamic behavior captured by IBIS-S and WIM data. Using the Merlynston Creek Bridge in Melbourne, Australia as a case study, it demonstrated that the proposed bridge monitoring framework can both efficiently and accurately capture the real-time dynamic behavior of the bridge under traffic loading as well as the dynamic characteristics of the bridge. The outcomes from this research could potentially enhance the durability of bridges which is an important component of the sustainability of transport infrastructure.
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ItemComparative performance of PPPs and traditional procurement projects in Indonesia(EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD, 2017)Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the outcomes of Indonesian power projects as representative projects of Asian emerging economies that were procured via public-private partnerships (PPPs) and traditional public sector procurement. Power generation infrastructure delivery in emerging economies frequently seeks private participation via PPPs as one of the key mechanisms to attract private finance. Undertaking a comparative benchmark study of the outcomes of Indonesian power projects provides an opportunity to explore the historic evidence as to whether PPPs deliver better outcomes than traditional public procurement in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a study of the performance of 56 Indonesian power projects procured via either PPPs or traditional procurement. First, it focusses on project time and cost outcomes of power plant facility during construction and commissioning and then extends this comparison to consider the operating availability of power plants during their first two years of operation. Findings The results indicate that PPP projects had superior time and operating availability to those procured traditionally whereas no significant differences were identified in the cost performance between PPPs and traditionally procured projects. These findings highlight the importance of adopting policies that are supported by broader sources of international financiers and high quality power plant developers. Research limitations/implications The quality performance analyses of projects (based on equivalent available factor indices) were limited to the power plants in the Java-Bali region where the majority of projects are large scale power plants. Practical implications This study provides an empirical basis for governments of emerging economies to select the most beneficial procurement strategy for power plant projects. It highlights the importance of selecting experienced providers and to adopt policies that attract high quality international project financiers and power plant developers. This includes the need to ensure the commercial viability of projects and to seriously consider the use of cleaner power technologies. Originality/value This study is the first to compare the outcomes of power projects in Asian emerging economies delivered via PPPs against those delivered by traditional public procurement that includes consideration of the quality of the delivered product.