extreme cost overruns due to mismanaged geotechnical risk

What is it about?

The study provides a descriptive snapshot of the practices of the highway agencies in the Niger Delta, which shows that the reality of the situation of project delivery in the region, depicts a far departure from the theory of good practice. The study provides empirical evidence which reinforces the general view that the system of highway project delivery in the Niger Delta is fraught with numerous anomalies. This has impacted on the level of geotechnical risk containment on projects. As the study reveals, poor project governance has led to poor project management and procurement practices, inhibiting the implementation of good management of geotechnical risk necessary to minimize financial risks due to the inherently adverse ground conditions at project sites. The combination of these negative vices has created a propensity for extreme cost overruns on the highway projects, considering the wetland geologic setting of the Niger Delta.

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Photo by TrailRunnersDog on Unsplash

Photo by TrailRunnersDog on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The study demonstrates the relevance of context to the argument on cost overruns, in public infrastructure projects, uncovering a wide array of social constructs, concomitantly at play in the highway project-based organisations which would have been overlooked in typically reductionist positivist studies. The robustness of the study findings has thus illustrated how adding contextual exploration of the cost overrun problem beyond mere statistics can add depth and richness to understanding the complex web of issues driving cost overruns in infrastructure projects. Cost overrun explanations therefore, should take into consideration the process and context-simplistic generalisations from statistical analysis only, would likely not yield a holistic understanding of the problem.

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