Study of Performance Based Road Maintenance Contracting System for Ethiopian Federal Roads
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Date
2015-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Performance Based Road Maintenance Contracting System (PBMCs) is a new way of contracting road maintenance projects used in most developed and some developing countries. The reduction of road maintenance costs and improvement of contracted road assets has been a challenge in Ethiopian road maintenance industry. This research was designed to study performance based road maintenance contracting system for Ethiopian federal roads and to assess the current contractual practice while identifying the status of contracted federal roads. Case studies of contractual practices in the ten road maintenance projects from July 2013 to June 2014, supported by semi structured interview and 10 years of recorded documents were used for the study. The results of case studies conducted on the ten road maintenance districts indicated that out of the 49 routine and periodic road projects investigated, 30 projects (62.5%) suffered cost overrun while 15 projects (30.6%) suffered cost under run in their execution. For these maintenance projects, the average cost overrun was found to be 18% of the contract amount, the actual cost overrun ranging from -100% to 140 %.The results also revealed that the current road maintenance industry is suffering from expenditure uncertainty and poor condition of road assets. Moreover, it was found that the activity unit rates for routine and periodic maintenance projects have not been revised for the last eight years. Thus, road maintenance community in the country could benefit from proper implementation of PBMCs and the revision of activity unit rates.
Key Words: Case Study, Ethiopia, Federal Roads, Road Maintenance
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Keywords
Case Study, Ethiopia, Federal Roads, Road Maintenance