The attractiveness of public-private partnership for road projects in India

The objective of this paper was to have a study on the perceptions of stakeholders of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects for factors affecting the attractiveness of road projects in India. A questionnaire survey was conducted among major PPP project participants of Indian PPP road projects. Fifteen attractive factors were shortlisted through a literature survey for designing the questionnaire. Collected data was analyzed with factor analysis and descriptive statistical analysis. The findings resulted in three components: effectiveness of the private sector, effective time and cost management, and the public sector’s economic benefit. Eight factors were identified as highly affecting the attractiveness of PPP in Indian road projects. PPP provides ample diversity of net benefits to both the public and private sectors. During the project development stage, both sectors have to formulate decisions based on appropriate assessment criteria. Therefore, the reflection of attractive factors will assist the public-sector to select PPP in the road sector. It also helps to establish the strategy for road projects using PPP.

“One Belt One Union” : Cooperation of Russia and China, and Mongolia’s Foreign Policy

The “2015 Joint Statement on Cooperation between Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Silk Road Projects” signed by Russia and China opened the bilateral cooperation among “Eurasian Economic Union” which consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, and “One Belt One Union” of China (5+1). “One belt One Union” and “Eurasian Economic Union” separately, are the Political projects of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, acting as a new form of cooperative mechanism, and considered to have great impact on regional economic integration. The world is now watching whether these two nations are partners or rivals. For Mongolia, every action and decision made by the “One Belt One Union” is important as it influences our future development. This article intends to identify the cooperation of the two great nations which has major influence on Mongolia, and Mongolia’s foreign policy towards the cooperation.

Geotechnical Characteristics of Benin Formation, Owerri Imo State, Nigeria

A good road network consists of a constant stretch of asphalt laid down for a smooth ride. The spot in the smooth ride on the pavement is commonly referred to as "pavement failure." Soil type, load bearing capacity of materials, zone of vulnerability, resistance to permeation, compressibility, shrinkage limit, and other details are frequently required in order to construct a very good and solid foundation for the planned bridge site. In Nigeria, numerous factors contribute to the failure of road construction projects. They are primarily insufficient research on subgrade and other pavement materials (sub-base and base courses) prior to the start of road projects; flawed engineering, including a poor drainage system and supervision throughout road construction; and shoddy workmanship that was superimposed with asphaltic concrete to improve strength. Within the Niger Delta basin, the study area is located between latitude 5.485°N and longitude 7.035°E. The Benin Formation underpins the study area. It is composed primarily of friable sands, conglomerates, very coarse sandstone, and isolated gravel units, as well as intercalation of Pliocene to Miocene shale/clay lenses. Natural Moisture Content (NMC), Linear Shrinkage (LS), Particle Size Distribution, and California Bearing Ratio were among the laboratory tests performed on samples collected at failed and stable sections of some selected road segments (CBR). When compared to the stable sections, the NMC along the failed sections was on the high side (ranging from 13.11 percent to 26.89 percent) (ranging from 11.11 percent to 16.40 percent). The majority of the tested soils passed the 0.075mm sieve with a percentage greater than the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing's maximum of 35% for subgrade materials. The maximum dry density (MDD) for the samples at failed and stable sections was 1550 kg/m3 to 1860 kg/m3; 1650 kg/m3 to 1980 kg/m3; and the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) was 8.30% to 20.30%. The soaked CBR values ranged from 2 to 17 percent, while the unsoaked values ranged from 4 to 25 percent.

Causes of road projects' delays: a case of Blantyre, Malawi

PurposeThe study aims to find the causes of road projects implementation delays in Blantyre, one of the four city councils (CCs) in Malawi.Design/methodology/approachThe study followed a qualitative research approach using a Blantyre City Council (BCC) as a case study. This study combined in-depth, face-to-face interviews with councillors, secretariat staff, consultants, and contractors who worked on the city's road projects. Data gathered were analysed using thematic content analysis. Also, some road project documents were examined.FindingsThe findings from the case study revealed the primary cause of road project construction delays as the shortage of engineers in conducting detailed proposed projects surveys resulting in incomplete project scope definition before contractor's procurement. Other identified factors were service providers delaying the removal of existing public utility infrastructure from project sites, client funding issues, scope changes, and client delays in issuing instructions to the contractors during project implementation. Another factor was the shortage of construction equipment and construction materials experienced by some appointed contractors.Research limitations/implicationsOnly road construction projects and stakeholders operating from Blantyre city, Malawi, were contacted for the study; thus, the findings may not be generalizable.Practical implicationsThere is an urgent need to increase technical employees, especially engineers and other critical technical staff such as quantity surveyors in Blantyre. Employees' conditions of service should be conducive to attract qualified people to undertake effective management and assessment of projects before commencement to identify the feasibility of proposed projects to decrease the rate of road construction project delays.Originality/valueThe study has established Blantyre city's core challenges in implementing its road projects seamlessly and has provided mitigation measures for dealing with the shortcomings.

Belt and Road projects in Tajikistan: Opportunities to strengthen the ties between Pakistan and Tajikistan

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Tajikistan are significant due to Tajikistan's geostrategic importance in the region. Tajikistan has channeled its geo-strategic values and established diplomatic and economic relations with regional and extra-regional states. China and Tajikistan's diplomatic relations were started in 1997, which marked another milestone when countries resolved their border disputes bilaterally in 2021. Since China introduced its BRI, its existing diplomatic relations with Tajikistan have changed to close economic ties. Hence, it uplifted the pace of existing economic projects between China and Tajikistan, with the introduction of new projects, some branded as BRI projects, and others are complementing it. In this scenario, China through the BRI provides an opportunity for Pakistan and Tajikistan to enhance and strengthen their economic and diplomatic ties. Both Pakistan and Tajikistan need a great deal of cooperation for further progress of both states in contemporary times. It is important to identify the ongoing process in the region to pinpoint the future policy options for further development. This article analyzes the geostrategic importance of Tajikistan and its relations with regional and extra-regional states. It also focusses on the concluded, ongoing, and planned projects regarding enhancing the geostrategy of the states that are in line with the BRI. Further, it explores the existing Pakistan–Tajikistan relations and new prospects, along with the challenges in future prospects.

Prioritization of Low-Volume Road Projects Considering Project Cost and Network Accessibility: An Incremental Benefit–Cost Analysis Framework

Due to insufficient funds to implement all candidate road infrastructure projects, there is a need to efficiently utilize available funds and select candidate projects that maximize performance criteria decision-makers. This paper proposes an incremental benefit–cost analysis (IBCA) framework to prioritize low-volume road (LVR) projects that maximize road network accessibility considering project cost and network accessibility requirements. The study results show that the accessibility benefits of road projects depend not only on their cost requirements but also on their spatial locations in the network that affect their network-level accessibility benefits per unit cost of investment. Additionally, the number of disrupted LVR links cannot fully determine the degree of change in network accessibility. The framework enables decision-makers to consider project cost requirements and the accessibility-related impacts of LVR projects, maximize economic benefits, and ensure the sustainability of the LVR network performance.

IMPACT OF UTILITY WORKS IN ROAD PROJECTS IN SRI LANKA AND PROPOSED MITIGATION MEASURERS

Road projects are experiencing huge delays in Sri Lanka due to utility relocation, delays in releasing payments, design changes during construction phase, price escalation and land acquisition to accommodate utility relocation. In some instances, contract of utility projects was awarded when road works were nearing completion. There is no sound legislation that exists defining the powers, rights and obligations of Roads and Utility authorities. As a result, Roads Authorities in Sri Lanka are obliged to pay all costs associated with the above impacts, along with extension of time due to such delays from the allocated funds for road works. This has been causing burden to the project scope and impacting the economy of Sri Lanka. As such, it is important to identify suitable remedial measures to mitigate such impacts during the design and construction stages. Qualitative research method was adopted through the inductive process by selecting purposive samples of experts for semi structured in-depth interviews. In addition, more data was collected through documents review. This study revealed that the knowledge gap in the sector to identify and recommended remedial measures for impacts caused by utility works in road projects in Sri Lanka.

Peramalan Penerimaan Karyawan PT. Cipta Persada Infrastruktur Menggunakan Monte Carlo

Forecasting is done at PT. Cipta Persada Infrastructure (CPI) using the Monte Carlo method. The forecasting process refers to the use of employee recruitment data for the last 3 years (2018, 2019 and 2020). Currently the company is concentrating on toll road projects in Riau province including the Permai Toll Road, Pekanbaru – Bangkinang Toll Road and other toll roads in Riau. The simulation will be implemented using PHP programming. The results of this study are the level of prediction accuracy of employee acceptance at PT. Citra Persada Infrastructure using the Monte Carlo method is 80%. The Monte Carlo method is suitable to be used to accurately predict the level of employee acceptance for the following year, so that the results of the research can be used by PT. Citra Persada Infrastruktur (CPI) and other parties in need.

Gap between simplified and detailed calculation of the environmental impacts of road mixtures

In order to reach the COP21 objectives, solutions with low carbon contents must be used in road projects. However, the identification of the best materials to be implemented in the wearing course of roads is a daily problem faced by stakeholders. To overcome this knowledge gap, the present study demonstrates the environmental impacts of 120 mixtures calculated with simplified and detailed hypotheses and input data. Even though the variability of inputs significantly influences the impacts of the mixtures and do not allow for the identification of the best solutions, on average, warm mix asphalt presented lower impacts than hot mix asphalt or concrete.