Technical risk mitigation framework for railway construction project in Malaysia

Abstract

Railway construction projects are exposed to various risks that can cause snowball effects, which also affects the national economy. Preparing a budget for a project during the initial stage is very crucial to substantiate whether its objectives are within the financial capability. The aim of this study is to appraise the project risk mitigation practice that impacts the cost of railway construction projects in Malaysia by four objectives: (1) identifying the impacts of cost overrun, (2) investigating the technical risks throughout the project phases, (3) assessing the technical risk factors that contribute to cost overrun, and (4) developing the technical risk mitigation framework for the railway construction project in Malaysia. This study gathered and analysed data from quantitative and qualitative methods. Research methods, such as the Average Index Method, Data Frequency Analysis, Standard Deviation, and Relative Importance Index (RII), were used in quantitative data analysis involving 200 respondents. For the first objective, this study found that the cost overrun in railway construction projects has also impacted other project elements, such as time and quality, which are grouped into short-term impacts. Meanwhile, the long-term impacts consist of a hike in the fare prices, lower ridership rate, difficulty in collecting maintenance funds, delay in enhancement and upgrading of the railway network, and high dependability on government operating subsidies. The risk assessment was conducted using the Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation method. Results of the objectives two and three have ranked defective design, the additional scope of works, complex design of a system, error in design, and difficult construction of a system integration to be amongst 15 technical risks that are found critical in railway construction projects in Malaysia. Meanwhile, the qualitative data of the structured interview, which involved five (5) subject matter experts, were analysed using Code-Based Analysis. The results found that building information modelling (BIM), pre-fabrication, and the usage of software applications are amongst other risk response strategies in mitigating the technical risks that formed the conceptual framework. Finally, the framework had been developed for the fourth objective, which encompassed 15 critical technical risks of railway construction projects in Malaysia and 18 effective response strategies, which were categorised as to avoid, mitigate and escalate, and validated from three areas, namely acceptability, practicality, and effectiveness. Consequently, this study aligns with the Construction 4.0 Strategic Plan (20212025), Twelfth Malaysia Plan (12MP), and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by United Nations (UN) in promoting resilient infrastructure, sustainable and affordable transportation, and sustainable economic growth.