The Effects of COVID-19 and Disasters on Scheduling Function in Mega-Projects

Mega-projects are crucial as they strive to provide infrastructural development and support growth and sustainability of a country's economy. Scheduling is an integral part of mega-projects, and special attention needs to be given to the planning of this activity. It is important that an experienced person in the project team be responsible for scheduling activities for the mega-project. In 2020, COVID-19 appeared and had devastating consequences on the world and all sectors of society including business, industry, and the economy. Mega-projects were also affected by COVID-19, a deadly pandemic that has caused a loss of millions of lives worldwide. The scheduling of mega-projects during lock-down proved problematic, causing major delays, backlogs, and additional cost and rescheduling of activities in the project. Disasters are also another factor that can hinder project performance. This chapter will unpack scheduling in mega-projects and how it is affected by COVID-19 and other disasters.

An evaluation of the role of engineering and infrastructure in national development

The clamour for engineering and infrastructure in national development in all spheres of development is more in the developed nations but the responsibility is no less for the developing economies/nations. A lot of effort has been made in sustaining engineering and infrastructural development in Nigeria; still there are more deficiencies in the formalization. Therefore this paper contributes to effort of formalizing the role it play in the national development. The sources of data were mainly on secondary source which rely on much of literature review and the analysis was analytical. The finding reveals the role of engineering and infrastructure in national development and its sustainability. It also state that institution should be established to set a clear plans and rule for service provision, regulate and monitor service quality, coordinate engineering and infrastructural project efficiently and equitably in maintenance of the existing infrastructure. The paper concludes that the government is encouraged to show more commitment to engineering and infrastructure development than ever. It also states that good quality engineering and infrastructure is necessary to avoid bottlenecks and services disruption and to support a range of importance activities in the economy. It was recommended that government should ensure that the standard and policies relating to infrastructural development are addressed and handled holistically. And that effective evaluation of contracts, consulting and construction services of the required professionals should be put in place for proper implementation.

The socio-economic importance of Calabar Carnival on the economic development of Cross River State

The study investigates the socio-economic importance of the Calabar Carnival on the economic development of Cross River State, Nigeria. To establish the relationship between the festival and the development of Cross Rivers State, hypotheses were formulated based on the identified major independent variables namely: employment creation, income generation, and infrastructural development while the dependent variable is the Calabar Carnival Festival. Literatures related to the major variables of the study were reviewed. To generate data for hypotheses testing, questionnaire was used; survey research design was adopted for study while utilizing the convenience sampling technique to select the respondents (300) for study. The generated data were statistically tested at a 0.05 level of significance using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient analysis. The analysis showed that the Calabar carnival has significant relationship with job creation, income generation, and infrastructural development in Cross River State. Based on the result of the findings, the study recommended the need for tourism industry be fortified with security and as well be privatized. Also, the study recommends that youth development should be a cardinal point in the carnival as a promotional strategy in other to accelerate the state's socio-economic development.

Promoting the Solar Industry in Ghana through Effective Public-Private Partnership (PPP): Some Lessons from South Africa and Morocco

Over the past decades, solar energy has gained much attention in Ghana, especially after the 2012–2016 power crisis. The government through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) has attempted to increase the shares of solar generation to augment its efforts in reducing the energy deficit of the country, especially in remote and off-grid communities. However, the extent to which PPP has been utilized as a viable tool for solar sector development in Ghana is questionable. This study discusses the current state of PPPs in Ghana’s solar industry and compares how it has been efficiently used as a tool to promote the solar industry in South Africa and Morocco. Fundamental theories such as Altruism, Game, Principal-agent, and Pareto Optimality (PO) were used as analytical tools to examine how PPPs are handled in the selected cases. The study ascertains that the Game and PO are applicable theories that have guided SA and Morocco’s solar infrastructural development. This study discovered that PPP has been efficiently used in SA and Morocco to push its solar industry to be among the best in the world and Ghana can perfectly emulate it. The study further reveals that the Principal-agent analogy and altruistic intent of the Ghanaian government tend to discourage Private sector participation in the solar industry. It further suggests the Pareto Optimality, Game approach, and a win-win transparent attitude towards PPPs. This study recommends a well-developed PPP structure and law for Ghana. It encourages transparency and discourages partisan preferentialism to increase PPPs in Ghana’s solar industry.

Capital Flight and Unemployment Rate in Nigeria

This study examined Capital Flight and unemployment rate in Nigeria. Capital flight was proxied by foreign direct investment abroad, external debt servicing, external reserves and capital and financial account deficits. Based on study objectives, relevant literatures were reviewed and evaluated. Relevant data were extracted from the annual Statistical Bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Bureau of Statistics. Unit root test was conducted using Augmented Dickey Fuller method which revealed that the variables were integrated at level and first difference necessitating the use of autoregressive distributive lag/bond test to explore the long run relationship existing among the variables in the model and the result showed that the variables in the model were co-integrated thus we proceeded in evaluating the long run as well as the co-integrating form in the model. From the result of the various tests, it was revealed capital flight did not actually increase unemployment rate in Nigeria within the periods studied by the researchers. Based on the findings from the analysis, the study recommended amongst others, that external debt acquired should be judiciously used for infrastructural development that would encourage investments which would ultimately bring about economic growth as well as enhance human development in Nigeria.

Joint Participation of the State and Community Based Organizations (CBOS) In Poverty Alleviation: An Impact Study

The study was undertaken to examine the joint contributions of the state and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in poverty alleviation and the impact thereof in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The study adopted survey research methodology. The hypothesis of the study was set up to test the relationship between joint participation of the state and community based organizations (CBOs) in social infrastructural development and poverty alleviation. Simple random sampling and multi stage cluster sampling techniques were used to select the sample size for the study. The instrument for data collection was a 20 item, well validated questionnaire. The data analysis revealed that joint participation strategy of the state and CBOs has significant and positive relationship with poverty alleviation through the provision of social infrastructure such as water and electricity supply, skill acquisition, educational and health facilities in local communities of Akwa Ibom State. The study also revealed that the provision of such social infrastructure in the local communities through joint participation of state and CBOs enhanced establishment and spread of small scale business enterprises which in turn increased job opportunities and income earnings of the members of the communities under study. Based on the finding, the study recommends that the state should develop policies that would involve and integrate the people and their CBOs in the development of rural communities in Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria at large particularly in social infrastructural development for purposes of poverty alleviation in the state and the country as well.

A Shore Thing - Flipping the Coast

<p>A Shore Thing explores an alternative approach to the way future development can occur within New Zealand’s coastal hinterland regions. As global cities continue to expand in size and population, the desire and necessity to move ‘away’ is becoming increasingly prevalent. Wellington is a city that is densifying, yet due to its natural topography, it cannot expand. Townships within the Greater Wellington region are already growing and developing with a lack of developmental strategies to deal with more ermanent residents. As part of this growth, Transmission Gully motorway is a major infrastructural development occurring within the region to improve the connection between the Kapiti Coast and Wellington. Questions are raised…How will this infrastructure affect the townships? Can they withstand an influx of residents? What will happen to the natural process within this landscape? The main intention of this thesis is to develop a scheme for how people could settle within hinterland regions, specifically Paekakariki on the Kapiti Coast. The implementation of Transmission Gully stimulates Kapiti’s potential as a satellite region to Wellington city. This thesis will explore how infrastructure and landscape urbanism can be employed within a rural landscape to achieve a considered strategy that mitigates future pressures on a growing region. The role of landscape architecture plays an important role when exploring and understanding the varying scales within the scheme to ensure a legible framework is generated that integrates ecology, infrastructure, housing and public life.</p>

A Shore Thing - Flipping the Coast

<p>A Shore Thing explores an alternative approach to the way future development can occur within New Zealand’s coastal hinterland regions. As global cities continue to expand in size and population, the desire and necessity to move ‘away’ is becoming increasingly prevalent. Wellington is a city that is densifying, yet due to its natural topography, it cannot expand. Townships within the Greater Wellington region are already growing and developing with a lack of developmental strategies to deal with more ermanent residents. As part of this growth, Transmission Gully motorway is a major infrastructural development occurring within the region to improve the connection between the Kapiti Coast and Wellington. Questions are raised…How will this infrastructure affect the townships? Can they withstand an influx of residents? What will happen to the natural process within this landscape? The main intention of this thesis is to develop a scheme for how people could settle within hinterland regions, specifically Paekakariki on the Kapiti Coast. The implementation of Transmission Gully stimulates Kapiti’s potential as a satellite region to Wellington city. This thesis will explore how infrastructure and landscape urbanism can be employed within a rural landscape to achieve a considered strategy that mitigates future pressures on a growing region. The role of landscape architecture plays an important role when exploring and understanding the varying scales within the scheme to ensure a legible framework is generated that integrates ecology, infrastructure, housing and public life.</p>

Numerical Analysis of Soil Reinforcement using Geocell infilled with Quarry Dust Powder

Massive urbanisation and infrastructural development caused by the growing population have taken place during the last decades. This means that in a rapidly expanding world economy we are running out of land. This problem has led to the use of ground improvement techniques to enhance the usability of land masses that were once not considered suitable for the development of infrastructure. Geocell is an innovative soil stabilisation product for civil engineering and development of infrastructures. They are cell containment systems which have been produced as an easy and durable material to stabilise and protect the compaction of the soil. The environmental concern regarding the disposability of quarry dust powder (QDP), produced from production units of M-sand (Manufactured sand), is of concern to the environment. The statement that is “waste of one industry should become the raw material for another” and that drawback can be addressed effectively by using it to improve the geotechnical characteristics of the weak soil. The purpose of this study is to find the optimal geocell-layer geometry and optimum combination of QDP infills to produce less settlement at a particular load using PLAXIS 2D software. The characteristics that have been varied are quarry dust powder in infill, geocell material and frequency of loading. These parameters were used for simulations to study the response of load vs settlements and the FOS of the slope. The FOS on the slope on the terrain was found to be 4.5, a steady slope. An optimised reinforcing mattress was ultimately found out.