Sustainable Development and Risk Management in Road Construction Industry in Nigeria

Abstract

Civil Engineering projects which include road construction pose a significant amount of risk due to the several activities involved, its coverage over a wide expanse of land and threat from underground conditions. Risk is defined as the chance of something happening that will have an impact on objectives, and this can be either positive or negative. Risk in road construction stem from the conception till usage and has significant effect on any one of the aspects of a project namely cost, quality, time or scope of the project. In addition, sources of risk can be in terms of payment, security deposit and retention, time of commencement and completion, variation, delay and cost of delay and liquidated damages. Size can be one of the major causes of risk; so can changes in political or commercial planning. Early understanding of the risks involved in a project will help project managers to reduce its impacts and complete the project in a sustainable and more efficient manner. This can be achieved through proper Risk Management. Risk Management entails identification, analysis and application of methods to reduce the identified risk. This study focuses on sustainable risk management for road construction projects, taking South east geopolitical zone of Nigeria as case study. The method involved primary data collection using questionnaire survey and data analysis using statistical models. This study establishes that program evaluation review technique is the most effective risk management practice in Nigeria and conforms to sustainable development practices in addition to analytical hierarchy and probability impact methods. The study would help project managers understand anticipated risks in road projects, better estimate risks prior to the commencement of any project and allows them to develop proper mitigation measures at an early stage of a project.