Selecting project delivery methods for water treatment plants
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 6 November 2019
Issue publication date: 6 April 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify key project delivery method selection factors to assist water industry decision-makers in selecting the most appropriate delivery method for their water treatment plant projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The selection factors were identified by compiling and validating key project delivery selection factors across various industries through an extensive literature review and two industry expert workshops. This resulted in the development of a web-based decision-support tool to facilitate project delivery method selection within the water industry.
Findings
The research effort led to the identification of 13 key project delivery method selection factors (seven primary factors and six secondary factors) for water treatment plant projects. These factors were utilized to develop EXPRSS-TP, a pioneering web-based project delivery method decision-support tool for the water industry.
Practical implications
A project delivery method selection process is typically an informal process that may range from days to weeks at a time. Based on this work, the assessment can now be completed in about one hour and provides decision-makers with the most favorable delivery method for their project. And with the new tool that encompasses the new knowledge, not only is the decision reached at an accelerated pace, EXPRSS-TP also documents the entire selection process, allowing for a written and retained record of this key decision and its procedure.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the exisiting body of knowledge by identifying key project delivery selection factors across numerous industries, assessing and combining them, and finally incorporating them into one comprehensive process. EXPRSS-TP improves the traditional project delivery method selection process and provides evidence-based project delivery method selection recommendations.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is funded by the Water Research Foundation (WRF) Project No. 4685 “Project Delivery Performance Evaluation and Decision Support Tool for Water and Wastewater Capital Projects.” The authors would also like to thank the Arizona State University Decision Theater for providing their technical support with developing a web-based version of the tool and all industry experts who assisted in testing and reviewing the tool; without their support this work would not have been possible.
Citation
Feghaly, J., El Asmar, M., Ariaratnam, S. and Bearup, W. (2020), "Selecting project delivery methods for water treatment plants", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 936-951. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-06-2019-0308
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited