IJSTE - International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering | Volume 3 | Issue 04 | October 2016

ISSN (online): 2349-784X

A Study on Critical Factors Influencing Berth

Construction Projects
B. Sunantha
PG Student
Department of Civil Engineering
College of Engineering, Guindy Anna university, Chennai

B. V. Mudgal
Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
College of Engineering, Guindy Anna university, Chennai

Abstract
Port and harbor projects are one of the infrastructure projects in which berth construction plays an important role. Risk exists in
berth construction are more as compared to other harbor construction projects. Risk management is a process which consists of
identification, analysis and response with suitable methods for handling and control risks. Risk management in berth construction
could help to reduce the possible risk of accidents. The aim of this paper is to identify and prioritize the risk in berth construction
projects. The risk factors have been determined through a structured questionnaire based on the literature study. Based on a
probability of occurrence and severity of impacts on the project objectives, this paper identifies 15 major risk factors. This
research proposes Technique for the Order Preference by Similarity to ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methodology based on Multi
Criteria Decision Making analysis to prioritize and assess the risks.
Keywords: Berth Construction Projects, MCDM analysis, Risks, Severity of impacts, TOPSIS
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I.

INTRODUCTION

Construction projects are facing a number of risks due to involvement of various activities compared to other projects. Berth
construction are exposed to various risks such as legal risks, environmental risks, construction risks, management risks,
organizational risks, disaster risks, socio cultural impacts, technical risks, material risks, political and societal risks [2]. So it has
become a major issue for management of risk in construction of berths and reduce the possibility of accident risk effectively [3].
The aim of this paper is to identify and prioritize the risk in berth construction projects. Due to lot of risk drivers in berth
construction, Multi Criteria Decision Analysis is suitable solution for risk management. In this paper, TOPSIS technique was
used to solve Multi Criteria Decision Making problems to prioritize/rank the project risks in the berth construction projects as
high, medium and low. Weights of critical success factors and find out the importance of alternatives with respect to critical
success factors are determined.
II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Data Collection:
Data was collected through structured questionnaire, site visit and direct interview with experts working under the various
professional related to the berth construction works. A five point Likert scale is adopted in questionnaire survey. One hundred
questionnaires were distributed to organizations and 46 were responded.
Multi- Criteria Decision Making Methodology
Decision making is an important factor to achieve a successful completion of any project. MCDM is concerned with structuring
and planning problems involving multiple criteria. In this paper MCDM works as a part of analysis of complex decisions in berth
construction works which involves some disputes as well as multiple criteria. This methodology can be interrelated with
quantitative analysis as statistical methods.
Study on TOPSIS and its analysis
Literature study proposed that several MCDM approaches like AHP, ELECTRE, VIKOR, GREY to evaluate the complex
decisions. But these methods cannot be used if the ideal alternatives are unknown. Techniques for Order of Preference by
Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method assumes that each criterion has a tendency of increasing or decreasing utility
which leads to a easily define the positive and negative ideal solution [2]. It is a simple mathematical approach and try to achieve
the closer to the ideal solution. The positive ideal solution is the solutions that lower the risks and better the performance and the
negative ideal solution is that with higher risks and low. Steps involved in TOPSIS as follows:
Step 1: Find out the normalized value
Convert a decision matrix into dimensionless matrix

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A Study on Critical Factors Influencing Berth Construction Projects

(IJSTE/ Volume 3 / Issue 04 / 012)

Rij = xij / ni=1 X ij2

i= 1,.n
Step 2: Obtain a weighted normalized value
Wij = rij * weightage
Step 3: determine best performance and worst performance
S+ = {higher 1, 2, 3, 4,5} higher the worse
S- = {lower 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} lower the better
Step 4: determine positive and negative ideal solution
Dij+ = ni=1(S + weighted normalized)2
Dij- = ni=1(S weighted normalized)2
Step 5: Closeness Coefficient Value
Cci = Dij- / ( Dij+ + Dij- )
Step 6: Rank the alternatives in descending order with closeness coefficient value.
III. EVALUATION OF RISKS
Identification of risks
From the literature study 200 risks has been developed to frame the questionnaire. Questionnaire has been surveyed through site
visit and direct interview with experts working under the port and harbor projects. Through the questionnaire survey 63 risks
have been sort out. Finally top 20 risks were analyzed by using relative importance index and table 1 shows the identified risks.
S.No
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8
R9
R10
R11
R12
R13
R14
R15
R16
R17
R18
R19
R20

Table 1
Identified Risks
Risk drivers
Shortage of materials
Delayed deliveries
Accidents such as fire, collision
Poor communication with other parties
Windstorm
Poor use of advance design software
Formation of slum
Change in law and regulation
Technology changes
Requirements for permit and their approval
Project delay
Subsurface condition and ground water
Funding
Environmental issues
Change in material specifications
Regulations (safety/ labour law)
Insolvency of contractor
Relocation of villages
Exchange rate fluctuation
Contractual relations

Risk factor
0.0832
0.0818
0.0805
0.0775
0.0756
0.0741
0.0719
0.0707
0.0696
0.0685
0.0687
0.0684
0.0667
0.0659
0.0643
0.0639
0.0614
0.0609
0.06
0.0596

Selection of criteria
As per Simos procedure in TOPSIS approach criteria and subset were identified. In this paper there are five respondents taken as
criteria. Selected criteria were arranged in ascending order depend upon their position as follows:
S.No
1
2
3
4
5

Subset
Students
Contractor
Safety Manager
Site Manager
Project Manager

Table 2
Simos Procedure
No. of criteria Position
1
1
1
2
1
3
1
4
1
5

Non- normalized weight

1/15 = 0.067
2/15 = 0.133
3/15 = 0.2
4/15 = 0.267
5/15 = 0.33

Evaluation of risk by TOPSIS

Identified risks were analysed and evaluated using mathematical steps involved in TOPSIS. This analysis helps to determine
positive ideal solution, negative ideal solution and closeness coefficient values. Using closeness coefficient values, risks were
prioritized.

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A Study on Critical Factors Influencing Berth Construction Projects

(IJSTE/ Volume 3 / Issue 04 / 012)

Table 3
Closeness Coefficient Values and Ranking of Critical Success Factors
Risk drivers
D+ij
D-ij
Cci
Ranking
R1
0.0661 0.0477 0.4188
15
R2
0.0612 0.0471 0.4348
14
R3
0.0576 0.0532 0.4799
8
R4
0.0861 0.0408 0.3214
20
R5
0.0722 0.0505 0.4113
16
R6
0.0608 0.0470 0.4359
12
R7
0.0748 0.0402 0.3495
18
R8
0.0563 0.0442 0.4398
13
R9
0.0566 0.0915 0.6179
6
R10
0.0665 0.0591 0.4704
9
R11
0.0391 0.0786 0.6676
2
R12
0.0446 0.0670 0.6005
7
R13
0.0670 0.0552 0.4515
11
R14
0.0505 0.0350 0.4093
17
R15
0.0332 0.0706 0.6798
1
R16
0.0352 0.0704 0.6664
3
R17
0.0429 0.0743 0.6336
5
R18
0.0442 0.0384 0.3257
19
R19
0.0915 0.0484 0.4577
10
R20
0.0591 0.0718 0.6399
4

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Closeness coefficient describes the positive ideal solution and negative ideal solution. In this paper by TOPSIS approach (R15)
change in material specifications has the first ranking which leads to more risk in berth construction projects and (R4) poor
communication with other parties has the least place in which lowest risk.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper aimed at risk analysis using TOPSIS method is the best suitable method as compared to other MCDM methods. The
result shows that the risks in berth construction are prioritized into high and low.The results are shown in fig 1

Fig 1: Closeness coefficient values with respondents

REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]

Jahanshahloo, G.R., Lotfi, F.H. and Izadikhah, M., Extension of the TOPSIS method for decision-making problems with fuzzy data, Applied Mathematics
and Computation, 181(2),(2006), pp.1544-1551.
Sohrabinejad, Azadeh, and Mehdi Rahimi , Risk Determination, Prioritization, and Classifying in Construction Project Case Study: Gharb Tehran
Commercial-Administrative Complex, Journal of Construction Engineering2015 (2015).
Saeidi, Nasser, Ali Askari, and Hassan Jafari , Application of a Fuzzy TOPSIS Approach Based on Subjective and Objective Weights in the Container
Terminals Risks Assessment, Applied mathematics in Engineering, Management and Technology 1.4 (2013).

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