Construction and demolition waste management in Hong Kong

Author name used in this publication: J Jian-li HaoAuthor name used in this publication: C N L Fan2005-2006 > Academic research: refereed > Chapter in an edited book (author)Version of RecordPublishe

The Economic Implication of Project Finance Arrangements for BOO/BOT Power Projects in Asia

Financial constraints over the traditional sources of funds, coupled with increasing demand for infrastructure have forced the governments of developing countries to seek Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) development. As such Project Finance (PF) modalities such as BOO/BOT and its variants are found to be the most commonly adopted ones for private Power Projects (PPs). However, a critical look into the economic impact of alternative financing mechanisms for infrastructure is still required, although much has been written on the evaluation of PPI. This paper examines broader economic implications originating from five basic channels associated with PF transactions in private PPs. To achieve this objective, an analytical framework with theoretical foundation is developed to review empirically evidence of BOO/BOT type PPs. While economic cost factors reflect characteristics of PF and have bearing on the direct parties to the transaction, economic benefits of PF for PPs seem largely attributable to the host country. Findings further reveal that domestic financing, institutional support and proper balancing of the implications of PF mechanisms could mitigate the negative impact on the price of private power on many consumers. Limitations in achieving sustainable private power generation are largely attributable to the absence of more effective reforms to facilitate PF transactions in host countries. Read More: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S16099451020002

Effect of social and environmental factors on expressway construction in Sri Lanka

Expressway construction projects are one of the crucial infrastructure projects for a country. Hence, assessment of environmental and social implications prior to initiation of the expressway construction project is vital. Thus, the research aims to analyse effect of social and environmental factors on expressway construction in Sri Lanka. Initially a comprehensive literature review was done to discuss on expressway construction in Sri Lanka and environmental and social implications of expressway construction in global context. The study followed a qualitative approach. Hence, four expert interviews were carried out to explore more on the same context limiting to Sri Lanka. Experts were selected from only on-going expressway project in Sri Lanka, central expressway project. Moreover, collected data were analysed through manual content analysis. The study findings highlighted viaduct construction, land acquisition and rock blasting as the major activities relating to environmental implications of the expressway construction projects. Thus, rational, logical, scientific, and technical selection of the routes is the most effective and efficient mean in minimizing adverse impacts. Hence planning of these activities should be done with due care by authorities only after proper feasibility studies. Further, major factors affecting social implications of the expressway construction have been identified as settlement, livelihood, public infrastructure and health and safety. Hence, resettlement action plans need to be updated to comply with the identified requirements through environmental and social factors

Strategic alliances for the Sri Lankan construction industry - a study of best fit partners

To be sustainable with the fast-moving business environment, currently most of the organisations use strategic alliance as a key strategy. This is indeed essential for the firms in the construction sector that operates in a high-risk and competitive business environment. Simply, strategic alliance is an agreement between the business entities with the purpose of achieving the unreachable benefits/advantages which cannot be attained when they are separate. Selecting the suitable partner for strategic alliance is the extremely important task in the formation of strategic alliances and have significant influence on the success of strategic alliance. However, by far selection of most suitable alliancing parties for the formation of strategic alliance in the construction sector is largely overlooked. Hence, this study is focused on identifying the top most suitable alliancing partners for the Sri Lankan construction projects. To collect required data, structured questionnaires were distributed amongst the key parties of the construction sector on the basis of their level knowledge on the concept of strategic alliance (i.e. engineering consultant, main-contractor, and subcontractor). Findings revealed that the alliancing between the main-contractor and sub-contractor would improve the performance of Sri Lankan construction industry and thus derived as the most suitable strategic alliancing partners

Disputes between main contractor and subcontractor: causes and preventions

Disputes free subcontract is a key to success of modern construction industry which largely depends on subcontracting. Since this effort has to be made on the expense of time and cost, which can be used otherwise to add more value to the project, it is vital to decide an effective mechanism to mitigate subcontract disputes. Considering the need for addressing this fact, this paper aims to investigate causes of subcontract disputes and effective prevention measures. Mixed approach was followed in order to achieve the aim of the study. Thus, a preliminary survey was conducted to validate literature findings and a questionnaire survey was carried out with contractor and subcontractor representatives to identify causes of subcontract disputes and prevention measures. The findings of the preliminary survey were analysed using content analysis technique and data captured through questionnaire survey was evaluated using relative important index and weighted mean. Incompleteness of the contract was identified as the primary reason of disputes in subcontracts. Further, financial issues, risks and uncertainties, collaborative conflicts, opportunistic behaviours of contracting parties and wrong practices also have a significant impact on occurrence of disputes. Proper contract management and proper site management which includes scheduling and effective project management practices were identified as the most effective prevention measures. The contract administrators should identify the things they should necessarily address in the contract and project managers in dispute prevention regards should consider time and cost constraints to prioritize effective prevention measures