The trickle-down effect of psycho-social constructs and knowledge deficiencies as organizational barriers to cost performance on highway projects

Purpose The study proffers a theoretical narrative explaining the poor financial performance of public highway agencies in Nigeria. This study critically spotlights seminal works in the literature offering theoretical narratives on the poor financial performance of public infrastructure projects, to discuss whether they adequately capture the relationship between psychological factors, project governance/leadership issues, and knowledge/skill deficiencies related to the cost performance of infrastructure projects in the developing world. The evaluation reveals the predominant contextual exclusivity of these theoretical narratives to the developed world, which tend to under-represent developing countries, such as those on the African continent. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study research strategy, longitudinal documentary/archival data for 61 highway projects were analyzed. Sixteen interviews were also conducted with highway officials from the three highway agencies responsible for the execution of the projects. A two-stage deductive-inductive thematic analysis of the collated data was carried out to identify barriers to the financial management of public highway projects, the result of which is cognitively mapped out. Findings The study showcases empirical insight on cost overruns experienced in Nigerian public projects, due to the trickle-down effect of human and organizational environment, as well as due to workers’ knowledge/skill deficiencies. Research limitations/implications The developed theory is contextual to Nigeria, as such there is scope for testing its generalisability to other developing nations. Originality/value The in-depth trajectory provided, uncovers an intricate web of technical and psycho-social, organizational and institutional issues, which have not been identified and explained by previous theoretical narratives

Measurements on Stationary Source Emissions and Assessing Impact on Ambient Air Quality around Two Indian Refineries

Emissions of particulate matter (PM), SO2 and NO2 from stationary sources and their concentration along with benzene and CO in ambient air around two Indian refineries were studied. Prediction of ground level concentration (GLC) of SO2, NO2 and PM was made by dispersion modeling. In Refinery 1, highest SO2 emission (646 mg Nm-3) were detected in Sulphur Recovery Unit while NOx emissions ranged from 57.8 to 445.0 mg Nm-3, respectively from various units. In Refinery 2, highest SO2 emission (935 mg Nm-3) was observed from Utility Boiler while NO2 emissions ranged from 13 to 235 mg Nm-3. Above emissions were within the stipulated emission standards prescribed by Central Pollution Control Board of India. Further, ambient concentrations of the above in the vicinity of these refineries were below their prescribed national ambient air quality standards. Air quality in terms of air quality index (AQI) was moderate or good at the study sites. Dispersion modelling exercise indicated that the observed GLC of SO2 and NO2 could be reasonably predicted by ISC-AERMOD model for both refineries while there was moderate to substantial difference between observed and modeled PM values due to presence of several sources of particulate emissions in the region that could not be considered in the model