Assessment of Critical Project Success Factors for Management of Pavement Construction Using the Delphi Approach

Abstract

Construction project management is typically adopted in modern civil landscapes. Owing to the significant global increase in infrastructure investments, it is crucial to analyze the success and timely completion of such public projects, among which the pavement construction project is a representative example. The aim of this study is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that enable the success of pavement construction. Additionally, a CSF framework is developed in this study that can be used by project management teams to monitor and control the progress of pavement construction projects effectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that acquires all pavement management-related factors to develop a framework. To ensure that all pavement management-related factors were identified and considered, the authors of this study conducted an exhaustive preliminary literature review until 2022. Based on an extensive literature review, 61 multidisciplinary factors are developed and validated in a Delphi study. A questionnaire is developed, and pilot tested through interviews. A total of 27 experts were recruited to participate in two rounds of the Delphi study, which included factors related to operations, contractor expertise, logistics, human resources, communication, finances, and bureaucracy. Reliability tests, correlations, and validations are performed, and weighted averages are obtained. The reliability and accuracy of the factors are successfully defined and tested. The findings of the study suggest focusing on the following functional areas to complete a pavement construction project successfully: (1) financial factors; (2) bureaucracy- and governance-related factors; and (3) communication-related factors. According to the experts interviewed in the Delphi study, these factors contribute the most significantly to the success of the project. This study focused on addressing the research gap in analyzing pavement construction projects from the angle of CSFs. These factors were first developed using literature, validated through a Delphi study of two rounds across panelists. The findings of the Delphi enabled the researchers to identify what factors are more relevant than others when compared to general construction and enabled the research to establish a preliminary framework on a pavement project’s lifecycle and stages during the entire project tenure. The findings of this study can help project managers and engineers to uniquely approach a pavement construction project and give it its due importance. From an academic perspective, this study has opened the doors to further testing of the proposed framework and the CSF that it has developed with respect to pavement construction. The outcome of this paper would help pavement construction professionals and researchers in the areas of project planning, resource allocation, risk mitigation, project execution, quality assurance, stakeholder communication, and continuous improvement.