Samiullah Sohu

Utilization of sugarcane bagasse ash in concrete as partial replacement of cement

This research addresses the suitability of sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) in concrete used as partial cement replacement. Two grades of concrete M15 and M20 were used for the experimental analysis. The cement was partially replaced by SCBA at 0%, 5%, and 10%, by weight in normal strength concrete (NSC). The innovative part of this study is to consider two grades of concrete mixes to evaluate the performance of concrete while cement is replaced by sugarcane bagasse ash. The cylindrical specimens having size 150 mm × 300 mm were used and tested after curing period of 7, 14 and 28 days. It was observed through the experimental work that the compressive strength increases with incorporating SCBA in concrete. Results indicated that the use of SCBA in concrete (M20) at 5% increased the average amount of compressive strength by 12% as compared to the normal strength concrete. The outcome of this work indicates that maximum strength of concrete could be attained at 5% replacement of cement with SCBA. Furthermore, the SCBA also gives compatible slump values which increase the workability of concrete.

Categorization of potential project cost overrun factors in construction industry

Cost overrun has been severely hit down the economy and reputations for many construction industry around the world. Many project management tools developed to control the budget of a project. However, the cost management is still considered poor as there are many cost overrun issues occurred in the construction industry. Thus, this paper aims to identify and cluster the potential construction project cost overrun factors according to their originating groups using the thematic approach. Basically, through literature review, all the potential factors that may cause cost overrun were screened thoroughly before they were clustered into seven (7) groups of the originating factors, namely project, contract, client, contractor, consultant, labour and external. Each potential factor was explained clearly with some examples based on the Malaysian case studies to illustrate the cost overrun scenario. These findings may aid in the future to highlight on how to mitigate the critical potential factors of cost overrun to reduce or overcome its impact on all the stakeholders involved.

Contractors perspective for critical factors of cost overrun in highway projects of Sindh, Pakistan

Construction industry of Pakistan is creating a number of opportunities in employment as well as plays a role model for economy development of the country. This construction industry has a serious issue of cost overrun in all construction projects especially in construction of highway projects. Cost overrun is a serious and critical issue in construction of highway projects which gives negative impact to construction practitioners because it is not only cross the approved budget but also approved time of the project. The main objective of this study is to find out critical factors causing cost overrun in highway projects of Sindh according to contractors’ perspectives. Deep literature review was carried out and a total of 64 factors of cost overrun were identified. To achieve the objective, a questionnaire was designed and distributed among 16 selected respondents who have more than 20 years of experience in construction of highway projects. The results from analysis found that most critical factors of cost overrun in the order of importance include financial and cash flow difficulties faced by contractor, frequent changes in design, changes in price of materials, poor planning by client, change in scope of project, change in specification of materials and delay in taking decisions. This study will assist contractors to narrow down some of the critical factors that would lead to cost overrun, and therefore be prepared with the ways to mitigate these problems in construction of highway projects of Sindh province.