Partnering – a Way to Reach Resource-Efficient and Effective Road Infrastructure Projects through Increased Information and Knowledge Transfer?

• The construction industry is behind other industries when it comes to efficiency, and partnering has been discussed as a way to increase the cooperation in and technical performance of projects. For partnering to be successful several different aspects have to be in place, among them information sharing and trust. The objective is therefore to investigate implications of partnering as a way to reach more resource-efficient and effective road infrastructure projects through increased information and knowledge transfer.The article investigates a road project realized using less time than estimated as well as achieving a lower total cost than budgeted. Partnering resulted in a close collaboration and increased trust among the actors, and the co-location of the actors led to the exchange of information and especially informal communication. Information was easily accessed and transferred between the actors, and the cooperation facilitated knowledge transfer between the different functions. This cut the lead times on information transfer and decision making, especially in the integrated construction and design phase, making the project more efficient. Also, solutions adapted for the site were chosen thanks to the active design approach. Instead of spending time on remaking poorly-adapted designs, time could be spent on other things, making the process more effective as well. The success of the project suggests that partnering could be a way forward in the road infrastructure industry. However, even more resource-efficient solutions could have been chosen if the project had a life-cycle perspective.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Buyer-supplier collaboration

partnering

resource efficiency

road infrastructure

knowledge transfer

information transfer

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)