ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY ADDIS ABABA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Assessment of Potential Causes of Construction Delay in Tunnels; A Case Study at Awash-Weldiya Railway project By: Shambel Meressa Advisor: Girmay Kahssay (Dr.) A Thesis submitted to the school of Civil and Environmental Engineering Presented in Partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Master of Science (Railway Civil Engineering) Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa, Ethiopia October 2017 Assessment of Potential Causes of Construction Delay in Tunnels; A Case Study at Awash-Weldiya Railway project Shambel Meressa A Thesis Submitted to The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Railway Civil Engineering) Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa, Ethiopia October 2017 Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa Institute of Technology School of Civil and Environmental Engineering This is to certify that the thesis prepared by Shambel Meressa, entitled: “Assessment of potential causes of construction delay in tunnels; a case study at Awash-Weldiya railway project” and submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sciences (Railway Civil Engineering) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Approved by the Examining Committee: Internal Examiner ___________________________ Signature ___________ Date ___________ External Examiner _________________________ Signature____________ Date ____________ Advisor __________________________________ Signature ___________ Date ____________ _____________________________________________________ School or Center Chair Person Assessment of Potential Causes of Construction Delay in Tunnels; A Case Study at Awash- Weldiya Railway Project Declaration I declare that this thesis entitled “Assessment of Potential Causes of Construction Delay in Tunnels; A Case Study at Awash-Weldiya Railway Project” is my original work. This thesis has not been presented for any other university and is not concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree, and that all sources of material used for the thesis have been duly acknowledged. Candidate: Name: _______________________________________ Signature: ____________________________________ Msc Thesis By Shambel Meressa, AAU, AAiT, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering i Assessment of Potential Causes of Construction Delay in Tunnels; A Case Study at Awash- Weldiya Railway Project Acknowledgments Prior to all, my thanks to the almighty GOD is endless; similar to my usual day to day activities; he gave me strength, commitment, tolerance, or everything important to me in accomplishment of this thesis. I would like to express heartfelt gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Girmay Kahssay, for his kindness, patience, and valuable guidance throughout the period of this research work. I am grateful to Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC), and Addis Ababa University Institute of Technology; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, for giving me this opportunity and financial support. I am also grateful to the staff members of ERC, Contractor (Yapimerkezi), and Consultant (Systra MD.) of Awash-Weldiya railway project. Special thanks is to the professionals: who participate in filling of the questionnaire, those share me data and those who gave me valuable comments. I would like to delegate my greatest thanks to Engineer Abdulkerim project manager of Awash- Weldiya railway project and Engineer Biruk, for all the facilities and directions on how to get the required data. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, who support me to be on this way. Msc Thesis By Shambel Meressa, AAU, AAiT, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering ii Assessment of Potential Causes of Construction Delay in Tunnels; A Case Study at Awash- Weldiya Railway Project Abstract Extensive investments in transport are currently being carried out in Ethiopia. A substantial part consists of railway projects with some underground/tunnel constructions. This research deals with assessment of potential causes of construction delay in tunnels; a case study at Awash-Weldiya railway project which is a new railway line in Ethiopia. The objectives of the research were to: (1) assess the extent of construction delay at tunnels of Awash – Weldiya railway project, (2) identify the key causes of delay and problems encountered during the construction of the tunnels, and (3) to rate the impact of the causes of delay on the construction time of the tunnels. Questionnaire survey together with desk study was used to collect data on tunnel construction delay. A desk study of 6 completed tunnels on the project were investigated and analyzed using descriptive statistics. From the results it was found that 4 out of the 6 tunnels suffered delay. The rate of delay on the delayed 4 tunnels ranges from a minimum of 12.84% to 119.41% of the scheduled amount for each tunnel. The average delay of phase one tunnels of Awash-Weldiya railway project was 38.8%. From a number of causes of delay in literature, considering the opinion of professionals of the project 47 causes were identified and prepared as a questionnaire. A total of 17 questionnaires from professionals were collected. The findings from the questionnaire shows that Land acquisition costs and right of way problems, Delays in payment from client, Late in approving documents, and Project location were among the top ten causes of delay. The findings also indicate that the main problems were right of way, flooding, quality, and health and safety problems. Based on impact all the 47 causes were grouped in to three zones in a risk matrix: consequently, 14 causes had high impact, 31 causes with moderate impact, and 2 causes had minor impact on the construction time of phase one tunnels of Awash – Weldiya railway project. Key Words: Delay, Risk sources, Tunnel Msc Thesis By Shambel Meressa, AAU, AAiT, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering iii Assessment of Potential Causes of Construction Delay in Tunnels; A Case Study at Awash- Weldiya Railway Project Table of Contents Contents Page No Declaration .............................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................. ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. iv List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................ vi List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................... vii List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................viii Chapter One: Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 General Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Statement ....................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Research Questions ...................................................................................................................... 3 1.5 Scope of Work and Limitation ..................................................................................................... 3 1.6 Structure of the Thesis ................................................................................................................. 4 Chapter Two: Literature Review............................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Project .......................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Project Management..................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Project Time Management ........................................................................................................... 8 2.4 Schedule ....................................................................................................................................... 9 2.5 Delay .......................................................................................................................................... 10 2.6 Types of Delays.......................................................................................................................... 11 2.6.1 Critical and Non critical Delays .......................................................................................... 12 2.6.2 Excusable and Non Excusable Delays ................................................................................ 13 2.6.3