Risk Assessment of Urban Gas Pipeline Based on Different Unknown Measure Functions

Several risk factors threaten the safety of urban gas pipeline. How to effectively identify various risk factors affecting urban gas pipeline and put forward scientific risk assessment method is the focus in the field of urban safety research. To explore the uncertain factors in the process of gas pipeline risk assessment, and propose a practical assessment method, a three-layer index system for the risk assessment of urban gas pipeline was established using unascertained measure theory, which included 5 first-class evaluation factors and 34 second-class evaluation indexes. Four unascertained measure models (linear, parabolic, exponential and sinusoidal) were constructed, and the unascertained measure values of each evaluation index under four unknown measure function models were calculated. The weight of evaluation factors was determined by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and the confidence criterion was used for discriminant evaluation. Results demonstrate that the risk assessment models constructed with different measurement functions can effectively reduce the uncertainty of urban gas pipeline risk assessment, but for the same object, the risk level of the linear measurement model in 4# pipeline is lower than other measurement functions, and the risk level of sinusoidal measurement model in 8# pipeline is higher than other measurement functions. Therefore, considering the evaluation results under different measure functions and focusing on monitoring objects with different results is necessary when using unascertained measure theory for risk assessment. The conclusions obtained from this study clarify the application conditions of unascertained measure theory in urban gas pipeline risk assessment, which helps to reduce the uncertainty in the assessment process and improve the accuracy of the assessment results

Project Delivery Systems, Procurement Practices and Implementation of Building Construction Projects in the Kenyan Judiciary

Kenyan population increased from 20 million in 1985 to approximately 47.6 million in 2019 and with it, demand for justice also increased yet the growth did not come with improved Judiciary infrastructure. This attracted the World Bank through the Judicial Performance Improvement Project (JPIP) to fund 30 major court construction projects while the Kenyan Government also funded another 33 such projects from 2013. However, by January, 2020,only 10 projects had been completed and successfully handed over with all the 63 projects being out of the planned time and with variation on the original scope of works.This gave rise to this study that aimed to evaluate the influence of project delivery systems on implementation of building construction projects in the Kenyan judiciary as moderated with the procurement practices. The study was based on general systems theory. Pragmatism paradigm and convergent parallel mixed research design was adopted and proportionate stratified sampling was used to select a population of 234 consisting of judiciary staff, construction staff  and consultants.Primary data was collected through use of questionnaires, interviews and document  content analysis. Reliability was tested using Cronbach’s Alpha while data was analyzed using descriptive statistics which included measures of central tendency. Qualitative data was subjected to thematic analysis to triangulate results derived from quantitative data. Inferential statistics was analyzed by correlation, simple linear regression and multiple regression analysis. Two hypotheses were tested to establish whether there were significant relationships between project delivery systems and implementation of building construction projects in the Kenyan Judiciary, namely  1.H0:  Project delivery systems have no significant relationship with implementation of construction projects in the Kenyan Judiciary and 2.H0: There is no significant moderating influence of procurement practices on the relationship between project delivery systems  and implementation of construction projects in the Kenyan Judiciary.The findings were that there was a significant influence of project delivery systems on the implementation of construction projects in the Kenyan Judiciary and that procurement practices significantly moderated the relationship between project delivery systems and implementation of building construction projects in the Kenyan Judiciary.The slope coefficient was significant when p ≤0.05. The findings of the study will be beneficial to policy makers, project managers in public and private sectors and scholars regarding project delivery attributes on implementation of building construction projects. Keywords:Project delivery Systems, Procurement Practices and Implementation of Building Construction Projects. DOI: 10.7176/CER/13-6-03 Publication date:September 30th 202

A Review of Construction Program Delivery Attributes: Bibliometric Analysis of Two Decades

In scholarly construction management, “program” denotes terminologies like “mega-project” and “infrastructure project”. Within this framework, the Construction Program Delivery (CPD) system is an indispensable mechanism affecting the entire lifecycle of these complex endeavours. The CPD system harmonises an arrangement of crucial delivery attributes to achieve successful outcomes, rendering the elucidation of these attributes a scholarly imperative. Numerous studies have identified multiple attributes that impact delivery strategies in the construction industry. However, only a limited number of studies have focused explicitly on the CPD attributes. Hence, the study aims to explore the main drivers of CPD methods based on a systematic review, including a bibliometric analysis over the current century in existing literature. It also addresses current research trends and gaps in the delivery context concerning mega projects. The two major-step research methodology involves a bibliometric assessment and determining key delivery attributes. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 639 journal articles focused on CPD. Ultimately, the analysis of the findings and existing knowledge of the CPD literature have revealed that researchers, as well as construction agencies, have emphasised regulatory and technical aspects embedded within a socio-economic context conveying normative and cultural attributes when addressing CPD. These triple aspects of the delivery strategy have been considered by scholars simultaneously for a successful construction program