Abstract
M.Phil. (Engineering Management)
Risk management is an essential part of infrastructure projects. Seaports and
harbours are facilities that serve over 80% of world trade. The complex nature of these
projects presents the inevitable wide range of risks and uncertainties. 65% of global
projects are considered as either a failure, delayed or over budget. Attributed to this is
poor risk management and appropriate planning for risk mitigation.
This negative statistic on project outcomes motivated an inquiry into risk management
techniques and their implementation challenges in harbour and seaports construction
projects. Beyond the year 2020, additional seaport facilities and rehabilitation of
existing ones will be required in Africa. This requirement could potentially be met if
seaport and harbour projects are executed with effective risk management
frameworks.
A systematic literature review was employed on articles that reported on risk
management techniques and their implementation limitations. Different risk
identification, assessment and treatment methods were identified. Amongst the
techniques identified were Analytical hierarchy-based techniques (AHP), Enterprise
risk management (ERM), Construction risk management system (CRMS), Major
infrastructure assessment framework (MIRAF), Dynamic risk management and
Innovative risk management. Impediments in the implementation of risk management
plans were found to be political influence, technical complications, environmental
constraints and lack of adequately skilled personnel.
These identified risks and challenges have the potential to broaden and improve the
risk management frameworks developed by the managers. Project risks and their
sources were researched, identified and documented in this research.