Project Management Practices and Implementation of Road Construction Projects: a Case of the Southern Bypass, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

This study's primary goal was to examine project management techniques used in the execution of road construction projects using the example of Nairobi, Kenya's southern bypass. The study employed four primary goals, namely: investigating the impact of scope management on the execution of road construction projects, using the southern bypass as a case study; assessing the impact of project time management on the execution of road construction projects, using the southern bypass as a case study; determining the impact of stakeholder participation on the execution of road construction projects, using the southern bypass as a case study; and investigating the impact of risk management on the execution of road construction projects, using the southern bypass as a case study. Three theories served as the foundation for this investigation: the theory of constraints, the resource-based theory, and the theory of project management competency. In this study, a descriptive research design was adopted. This form was selected since it was intended to collect and evaluate data, as well as to detect any historical or present circumstances pertaining to the subject of the study. This study focused on a group of contractors from a construction company owned by China Road and Bridge Corporation. 164 respondents made up the study's population, which included structural, civil, and project managers as well as the project team. Data collection methods refer to the tools that a researcher uses to gather data for a particular topic. The study's findings indicate that standard operating procedures and a defined plan guarantee a project's proper execution. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and project implementation guarantee that the project complies with its intended requirements. The study also discovered that estimating a method for regulating project scope is essential to project implementation and that scope management is a crucial practice in the planning and execution of construction projects. The study also found out that that during the execution of the project, the project team and the stakeholders should address issues arising on implementation of road construction project and that stakeholders are involved in all organization activities and implementation of any upcoming project. The study's conclusions indicate that the project team's competence, the contractor's experience performing similar work, and the supervisor's competence were the most crucial considerations made during the contractor selection process. On project time, the study established that time has been insufficient when it comes to implementation of big construction projects of roads like the southern bypass and finally, the study shows that construction of big projects like the southern and the eastern bypass took an advantage of time given to implement and complete them.