A STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECT : THE CASE OF SOUTH WEST ETHIOPIA REGION

Abstract

Construction is a business sector that relies primarily on high utilization of construction equipment. Construction equipments are one of the major resources involved in the construction process for construction companies through the mechanized construction of road projects. Equipment management is a management of system that is required in planning and controlling the quality and quantity of the equipment placement, good price and the right quantity as required. Construction equipment planning and management practice lack the necessary policy to meet the standard. As result, many road projects in Ethiopia experienced time overrun, cost overrun and low quality. The costs of Equipment in a project varies from 10 % to 30 % of total cost of the project. Because of this, this particular project had tried to identify the problems in construction equipment planning and management, its root causes and negative impacts in road construction projects. The project mainly focuses on construction equipment planning and management policies, including construction equipment selection, acquisition, operation, maintenance and disposal or replacement; leading construction equipment management in general and equipment productivity in particular. This project aims to evaluate the root causes of construction equipment planning and management issues in road construction projects in Ethiopia's southwest region, as well as give recommendations to stake holders to address these issues.. The study used different literature review to identify various factors from the perspective of different scholars, as well as a quantitative survey research method in which a structured questionnaire was administered on a sample of construction equipment planning and management problems in road construction projects in Southwest Region of Ethiopia. The Relative Importance Index (RII), ranking, and simple percentages was used to assess the data. The value of variables and categories in road construction projects was proved by a ranking of factors and categories. The study used Microsoft Excel for data analysis. Finally, the study result indicated and identified that the most significant contributing variables and categories , as well as recommendations for minimizing and controlling construction equipment planning and management issues in road construction projects.