Getu Tilahun

ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
(CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT STREAM)
APPLICATION OF WEB BASED

CONSTRUCTION COMMUNICATION
IN ETHIOPIAN FEDERAL ROAD PROJECTS
By
Getu Tilahun
Advisor: Professor Abebe Dinku (Dr.Ing.)
June, 2014
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
APPLICATIONS OF WEB BASED
CONSTRUCTION COMMUNICATION
IN ETHIOPIAN FEDERAL ROAD PROJECTS
By Getu Tilahun
Advisor: Professor Abebe Dinku (Dr.Ing.)
A Thesis submitted to School of Graduate Studies of Addis Ababa University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Science
in Civil Engineering
(Construction Technology and Management Major)
June, 2014
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Application of Web Based Construction Communication in Ethiopian Federal Road Projects
2014
Acknowledgements
My special thanks is reserved f or my a dvisor Professor, D r.Ing A bebe Dinku for his guidance t o
construction p ractice in t he g lobal scope an d t hroughout the s tudy o f t he t hesis. H e h as been
patiently guiding and shaping all the way through the steps of this research project.
I would also like to express my appreciation to Ethiopian Roads Authority Research Team for their
instant response on the request for input for research study.
My g reat thanks a lso g oes t o Ethiopian R oads Authority for s ponsorship gr anted o n my s tudy o f
master of science w ith e xtended t hanks t o Addis Ababa U niversity I nstitute of Technology for t he
joint effort in my achievement.
Last b ut not the least is to f orward my d eep th anks to m y family w ho p atiently a nd d iligently
supported in my study.
MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun i

2014
Abstract
Due t o f ragmented n ature of co nstruction, r eal t ime co mmunication is r arely p ossible requiring
more efficiency and effectiveness in information exchange and decision making. Since a n integral
component o f a co nstruction process is acco mpanied by set o f decisions, delay in r esponse would
lead t o an integral co mponent o f d elays in p roject ex ecution accu mulated o ver p roject life t o an
overall project cost and time overrun with possible loss in desired quality.
Study ap plication o f Web Based C onstruction Communication a imed at as sisting e videnced r eal
time c ommunication a nd d ecision making, information s torage, r etrieval, manipulation a nd
transmission among project participants parallel to the paper based project communication scheme
has been co nducted using simple a nd user friendly w eb s ite designed t o operate on locally used
common browsers.
Project information is co llected from E thiopia R oads Authority a nd imported to the d atabase a nd
file system d esigned for data storage and r etrieval. T he functionality o f t he website is t hen t ested
and found effective to enhance evidenced real time communication.
Apart f rom s erving as d ocumentation a nd r etrieval o f p roject information, t he w ebsite i ncludes

online d iscussions t ools similar t o f orum t ype a imed for ge neral d iscussion a nd R FI c omment
exchange. Project daily act ivity p hotographs a nd d aily s ite r ecords ar e uploaded t o the s ite for
display and comment by the parties.
Therefore, the web based construction communication developed can help to have an evidenced real
time communication for decision delivery and document management system to contribute to a way
out of project overruns with competitive advantage in the complex construction industry.
Keywords: construction pr oject information management, real t ime c ommunication, web b ased
construction communication
MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun ii

2014
ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS
RAI : Rural Access I ndex measures t he number o f r ural po pulation who l ive
within 2 k m from a n a ll w eather r oad a s a p roportion o f t otal r ural
population.
WBC2FRP : Web based construction communication in Federal Road Project
RFI : Request for inspection
GTP : Growth and transformation plan
PASDEP : Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
RSDP : Road Sector Development Program
ERA : Ethiopian Roads Authority
ERIMS : Ethiopian Road Information Management System
GIS : Geospatial information systems
ERAMS : Web Based Ethiopian Roads Authority Management System
PAT : Performance Assessment Tool
KPIs : Key Performance Indicators
PFI : Private Finance Initiative
IT : Information Technology
ICT : Information Communication Technology
HTML : Hypertex Markup Language
XHTML : Extensible Hypertex Markup Language
CSS : Cascading style sheet
HTTP : Hypertext Transfer Protocol
ECTP : European Construction Technology Platform
ASP : Application Server Provider
SSL : Secure Socket Layer
TLS : Transport Layer Security
WAMP : Windows, Apache, MySQL and PHP
SQL : Structured query language
PHP : Hypertext preprocessor
MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun iii

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………i
Abstract………..……………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………ii
Abbreviation/acronyms…….…………….……………………………………………..……………………………….…….…….iii
Table of contents…..………….…………………………….……………….…………………...……………………….……………iv
List of tables…….……………….……………………………..……………….…………………...………………………………..…vii
List of figures…….….………….……………………….………………….…………………...…………………….……………….viii
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the problem...................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Objective .............................................................................................................................. 8
1.3.1 General objective ................................................................................................................. 8
1.3.2 Specific objectives ............................................................................................................... 9
1.4 Research questions ............................................................................................................... 9
1.5 Scope of the study ................................................................................................................ 9
1.6 The research organization ................................................................................................... 10
1.7 Research methodology ....................................................................................................... 10
1.8 Contribution of the research ............................................................................................... 11
2 Literature review.................................................................................................................... 12
2.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 12
2.1.1 Modernization in Ethiopian Roads Authority, ERA ............................................................ 12
2.1.1.1 Design management ........................................................................................................ 13
2.1.1.2 Contract management ..................................................................................................... 14
2.1.1.3 Road asset management .................................................................................................. 15
2.1.1.4 Quality and performance management ............................................................................ 15
2.2 Introduction to project management ................................................................................... 16
2.2.1 Challenges in project management ..................................................................................... 17
2.3 An overview of construction information and communication management ....................... 18
2.3.1 Definition ........................................................................................................................... 18
MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun iv

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2.3.2 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 18
2.3.3 Construction project communication management .............................................................. 19
2.3.4 Constructability information and clash detection ................................................................ 21
2.3.5 An overview of the paper based construction communication ............................................. 23
2.3.5.1 Limitations in information communication ..................................................................... 23
2.3.5.2 Limitations during claim analysis.................................................................................... 24
2.3.5.3 Mmerits of digital information exchange over paper based communications ..................... 24
2.4 Introduction to information communication technology...................................................... 25
2.4.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 25
2.4.2 Mediums of information transfer on construction ............................................................... 26
2.4.3 Web site in general ............................................................................................................. 26
2.5 Web based construction communications ........................................................................... 27
2.5.1 Web based communication in various stages of construction .............................................. 29
2.5.1.1 Design stage ................................................................................................................... 29
2.5.1.2 Tendering and award stage.............................................................................................. 29
2.5.1.3 Construction stage .......................................................................................................... 29
2.5.1.4 Implementation of the web based communication ........................................................... 30
2.5.2 Legal and security issues .................................................................................................... 30
2.6 Summary of Literature Review ........................................................................................... 31
3 Research design and methodology ......................................................................................... 32

3.1 General .............................................................................................................................. 32
3.2 Research design.................................................................................................................. 32
3.3 Obtaining project information for the research.................................................................... 33
3.4 Design of the website ......................................................................................................... 33
3.4.1 Administration of the website ............................................................................................. 33
3.4.2 System database/system file ............................................................................................... 34
3.4.3 Registration ........................................................................................................................ 34
3.4.4 System architecture ............................................................................................................ 34
4 Results and discussions .......................................................................................................... 35

4.1 Structural composition of the website ................................................................................. 35
4.1.1 Home page ......................................................................................................................... 35
4.1.2 Contract overview .............................................................................................................. 37
MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun v

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4.1.3 Program of works ............................................................................................................... 37
4.1.3.1 Method statement ........................................................................................................... 38
4.1.3.2 Barchart .......................................................................................................................... 38
4.1.3.3 Cash flow estimates/cost control ..................................................................................... 38
4.1.3.4 Plan S-curve....................................................................................................................... 39
4.1.3.5 Resource requirement ..................................................................................................... 39
4.1.4 Reporting ........................................................................................................................... 40
4.1.4.1 Narrative report .............................................................................................................. 40
4.1.4.2 Project status summary ................................................................................................... 40
4.1.4.3 Project physical progress ................................................................................................ 40
4.1.4.4 Financial status ............................................................................................................... 40
4.1.4.5 Plan S-curve....................................................................................................................... 41
4.1.5 Payment certificates ........................................................................................................... 41
4.1.6 Requisition(RFI) ................................................................................................................ 41
4.1.7 Reference documents ......................................................................................................... 42
4.1.8 Letter ................................................................................................................................. 44
4.1.9 Variation orders.................................................................................................................. 45
4.1.10 Site diary ........................................................................................................................ 45
4.1.11 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 45
4.1.12 Slideshow ....................................................................................................................... 46
4.1.13 Working drawings .......................................................................................................... 46
4.1.14 Upload photo report ........................................................................................................ 46
5 Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................ 47

5.1 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 47
5.2 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 48
References .................................................................................................................................... 49
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List of Tables
Table 1: Country Profile of Ethiopia ............................................................................................... 1
Table 2: Design management gaps ................................................................................................. 5
Table 3: Contract management gaps ................................................................................................ 5
Table 4: Physical and Financial Accomplishment of some Federal Road Projects ........................... 6
Table 5: Problems related to communications and documentation ................................................... 7
Table 6: Improving design management gaps ................................................................................ 14
Table 7: Improving contract management gaps ............................................................................. 15
MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun vii

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Regional States and Administrative Cities in Ethiopia .......................................... 2
Figure 2: Research design.................................................................................................. 11
Figure 3: Presentation of home page .................................................................................. 36
Figure 4: Plan S-Curve ...................................................................................................... 39
Figure 5: Plan Vs Actual S-Curve ...................................................................................... 41
Figure 6: Presentation of reference page ............................................................................ 43
Figure 7: Presentation of Correspondence web page .......................................................... 44
MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun viii

Application of Web Based Construction Communication in Ethiopia Federal Road Projects
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
Ethiopia is located in t he ce ntre o f t he H orn of Africa. It c overs a n ar ea o f 1 .14 million square
Kilometers ( 944,000 s quare m iles). Ethiopia's ce ntral p lateau varies in height b etween 2 ,000 an d
3,000 metres. In the north and centre of the country there are some 25 mountains whose peaks rise
over 4,000 m etres (13,200ft), the hi ghest b eing R as D ashen at 4,543 m etres (14,538ft) and t he
lowest point is 125m below sea level. The population according to the 2007 Census was 73,918,505
and t he current p opulation estimate is now 8 6 m illion. Approximately 17% o f t he po pulation is
estimated to live in urban areas [1].
General profile information about Ethiopia is shown in Table 1 below

Table 1: Country Profile of Ethiopia [1]
Official Name Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Population: 86 million
Capital: Addis Ababa
Area: 1.14 million square Kilometers (944,000 square miles)
Major languages: Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali
Major religions: Christianity, Islam
Life expectancy at birth
59/62
m/f (years, 2011)
Main exports: Coffee, hides, oilseeds, beeswax, sugarcane, flower
Gross national income per
$1,110 ((PPP international $, 2012, WHO)
capita:
Ethiopia is composed of nine regions: Tigray, Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Benishangul-Gumuz,
Southern Nations Nationalities and People Region (SNNPR), Gambella and Harari Regional States;
and t wo C hartered C ities - Addis Ababa an d Dire D awa. The r egional s tates o f E thiopia ar e
indicated on the country map shown below.
MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 1

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Figure 1: Regional States and Administrative Cities in Ethiopia
The g overnment’s long-term eco nomic d evelopment s trategy – Agricultural-Development-Led-

Industrialization (ADLI) – is geared t o the transformation o f t he eco nomic structure. The strategy
involves an export-led external sector, and internal emphasis on agriculture to supply commodities
for e xports, d omestic food s upply a nd industrial o utput, a nd e xpand markets f or do mestic
manufacturing [1].
The current Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), finalized in November 2010, was built on the
implementation of previous poverty reduction strategies, the Sustainable Development and Poverty
Reduction Program for 2002/03−2004/5 and the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development
to End Poverty for 2005/06−2009/10 (PASDEP) which laid out the directions to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and the basis for Ethiopia to reach ‘middle-income’ status
by 2020−25. In M arch 2012, the I MF s aid E thiopia w ould a chieve t his e arlier if its r apid gr owth
continued [1].
Linked t o the a chievement o f t he G TP, R oad S ector D evelopment P rogram, RSDP-IV f orms a
strategic pillar of Government’s Growth and Transformation Plan and in terms of its physical and
financial plans it is the largest ever program undertaken in the sector [2].

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Infrastructure expansion constitutes part of Millennium D evelopment Goals t o transform E thiopia
to a Middle Level Income Economy. In view of that recognizing the importance of road transport in
supporting social and economic growth and its role as a catalyst to meet poverty reduction targets,
the Government of Ethiopia has placed increased emphasis on improvement of the quality and size
of road infrastructure in the country [3].
In the context of Ethiopia’s geography, pattern of settlement and economic activity, transport plays
a vital role in facilitating economic development as 95% of the movement of people, and goods is
still carried out by road transport. In particular, it is road transport that provides the means for the
movement o f p eoples a nd ag ricultural p roducts from r ural areas t o u rban ar eas a nd movement o f
industrial go ods, m odern ag ricultural inputs an d p eoples from u rban ar eas t o r ural ar eas. R oad
transport al so p rovides a means for t he u tilization o f land a nd natural r esources, i mproved
agricultural pr oduction and marketing, a ccess t o social s ervices, a nd o pportunities for s ustainable
growth [3].
To address constraints in the road sector, mainly low road coverage and poor condition of the road
network, the Government formulated the Road Sector Development Program (RSDP) in 1997. Over
the Sixteen years of the RSDP, physical works have been undertaken on a total of 81, 629km out of
92,828km expectations levering to 88% accomplishment [3].
In order to bring the RAI from its level of 27% (2010) to 50% and 100%, the total road network of
the c ountry w ill need t o i ncrease from its 48,793 k m (2010) to 83,604 km a nd 167, 207 k m
respectively. T his w ill r equire c onstruction o f a n additional 36, 152 k m a nd 118, 430 k m o f all-
weather road to ach ieve t he RAI t argets o f 5 0 and 1 00% r espectively. Moreover, t o m eet t he
Millennium Development Goals of Middle Level Income Economy the country’s road network has
to escalate to 286,000km indicating a gap of 204,371km [3].
However, given t he co untry’s r oad infrastructure needs, t he r oad s ector is e xpected t o implement
massive h ighway investments in ye ars to come a nd t hen to consistently maintain t he road network
at a h igh standard. However, Ethiopia’s current road sector will unlikely have the capacity to scale
up a nd de liver upo n s uch e xpectations w ithout e xtensively modernizing its business pr ocess a nd
organization performance [3].
Besides, t he e ffort o f d eveloping t he c ountry’s r oad ne twork to the level o f Middle I ncome
Countries c alls for s ystematic ap proach w here s trategic p lanning will b e v ery i mportant. That is
why m odernization in itiative is developed and p ublished u nder t he t itle Modernization and
Transformation Initiative (Volume I – Main Report), August 2013.
One o f t he modernization initiatives w hich is t he E thiopian Road I nformation M anagement

System(ERIMS) is a fully w eb based G IS-enabled ap plication de veloped us ing industry leading
technologies like Microsoft A SP.NET an d A rcGIS s erver ( web G IS ap plication for . NET
framework) [3].

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With t he initiative ERA p lans to ha ve a n overall improvement attempt to increase transparency o f
procurement p rocess t hrough a d igitized a nd web based communications w ith s takeholders,
improve t he q uality o f p rocurement p rocess through s tandardization o f d ocuments and e xpediting
the procurement process by utilization of database system. With the existing practice, for instance,
70% of t he p rocurement p rocess o f C onsulting Services t enders ar e r equiring more t han t he bid
validity of 90 da ys. The new target with modernization puts completion of all (100%) procurement
process of a project well ahead of specified bid validity date [3].
It is inferred that in order to scale up the capacity of road sector to Ethiopia’s current expectations
to come to Middle Level Economy, modernizing business process and organization performance is
crucial. Accordingly, E RA is upgr ading its o rganizational performance t o w orld class ag ency
backed with web based technology.
Consistently, r esearches a nd literatures mutually explain t hat c ommunication a nd t he t ransfer o f

information o n construction p rojects ar e becoming i ncreasingly co mplicated. Projects ar e
incorporating more p articipants an d t hese p articipants ar e o ften q uite g eographically d iverse.
Shrinking project durations, complex details, and innovative contracting methods are also requiring
project participants to effectively and efficiently communicate and share project information [4].
The growing concern for business efficiency and effectiveness in other industries has made back up
the u se o f information t echnology infrastructures. C omputerized manufacturing, e lectronic
tendering, e-Banking and marketing can be sited as typical examples. This has made other sectors to
grow faster than the construction industry.
To the co ntrary, d ue t o f ragmented n ature o f co nstruction, r eal t ime co mmunication is r arely

possible. C ountries w hich a re u nder transformation w here co nstruction o f infrastructures su ch a s
railways and highways are under way lead to inefficiencies in existing transportation. Construction
of remote projects from construction parties also face problem of real time decision making which
is common in road construction.
Such fragmentation r equires co nstruction industry to be more ef fective a nd e fficient in d elivering

real t ime co mmunication a s co mpared t o other business s ectors. But, t he t raditional w ay o f paper
based c ommunication has gained momentum w ith inefficiencies with r egard t o locally b ound
information.
To counteract this problem, web based project construction co mmunication ca n t herefore assist in
improving r eal t ime information flow a nd d ecision making w herever t he a ctor is o r whatever t he
time may be. I nformation o r decision seeking party ca n post the message o n t he web w here upon
arrival the actor is able to reply an evidenced information or decision. The actor can then respond as
long as he is in access of network and computing facility.
The WC2FRP system is d eveloped t o al low c ommunication am ong cl ient, c onsultant a nd

contractors which can be extended for use within an organization.

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1.2 Statement of the problem
During the previous phases o f Road Sector Development Program, considerable overruns in terms
of t ime, cost and qua lity has been r ecorded i n c onstructions u ndertaken both b y local an d
international firms under Federal Road Projects [3].
The f ollowing table is extracted f rom E thiopian R oads Authority Road S ector D evelopment
Program 16 Years Performance Assessment Report for design management.
Table 2: Design management gaps [3]
Areas of Improvement Existing (Baseline value)

Quality of Design Service Contract >40 % time overrun of the Consultancy
Document contract
Quality of construction cost Engineers' Cost estimate ± 15% from the
estimation contract document
Variation 8% cost and 22% time overrun
from the Contract amount
Change in Quantity 7 % cost and 22% time
Quality Design outcome observed
overrun from
during the construction stage
the contract amount
Claims and disputes 2 % cost overrun from
the Contract amount
Similarly, Table 3 is extracted from the report for contract management.

Table 3: Contract management gaps [3]
Indicator Baseline (June 2013)
Construction costs:
construction wastes which includes Baseline not
rework, idle labor, wastage of usable specified
materials
Construction Time Gap:
Time gap from Original Engineer's 63%
Estimate to practical completion
Defects:
>100 no. of
number of defects on substantial
defective works
completion and final handing-over
Research findings of Getachew Tsegaye (2009) and Becker and Behailu (2006) also confirm similar
discrepancy as tabulated below for 12 asphalt concrete surfacing Federal Road Projects [5].

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Table 4: Physical and Financial Accomplishment of some Federal Road Projects [5)
Physical Financial (million Completion
Total Length (km)

%
Surfacing/work
(length-km) Br) time(month)
Projects
Type of
No
Fin Disb
Budget
Accom
Accom
Comp
Time
Disb
Plan
Plan
Phy
Acco
1 A.A-Jimma 342 AC 342 342 405.9 650.1 36 73 100 160.16 203
A.A-Modjo-
2 263 AC 263 263 310.1 386.1 36 49 100 125.00 136
Awassa
Modjo-
3 160 AC 160 160 227.4 375.4 36 68 100 165.00 188
Awash Arba
Gewane-
4 146 AC 146 146 249.0 357.6 40 51 100 143.61 128
Mille
5 Awash-Hirna 141 AC 141 141 256.5 297.4 36 62 100 115.94 172
6 Hirna-Kulubi 91 AC 91 91 188.1 225 30 64 100 119.62 213
Kulubi-
DengegoDire
7 -Dawa & 80 AC 80 80 162.2 220.5 36 63 100 135.94 210
Dengego-
Harar
Tarmaber- 100
8 187 AC 187 187 289.8 383.2 36 60 132.22 166
Kombolcha
Woldia- 100
9 78 AC 78 78 150.3 230.9 36 62 153.63 172
Alamata
Betemariam- 100
10 117 AC 117 117 203.4 240.5 36 67 118.24 186
Wukro
Debremarkos 100
11 220 AC 220 220 327 575.8 36 39 176.09 108
-Merawi
Awash-Arba 100
12 136 AC 136 136 192 192.0 30 38 100 131
Gewane
Total 2,961.7 4,135.5 424 696 100 139.60 164
From study by the researchers, Ethiopian Roads Authority during its previous three phases of Road
Sector D evelopment P rograms, has e ncountered considerable o verruns in t erms o f t ime, cost and
resulted in undesired quality in constructions undertaken both by local and international firms.
Even though there may be various reasons for the problems, construction communication problems
are pointed out as an integral part of the causes for overruns.
Table 5 indicates problem po ints identified related to construction communication, documentation

and other problems while study by the researchers.

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Table 5: Problems related to communications and documentation
Author Problem Relation to this research

Getachew
Communication risks Directly related to research problem
Tsegaye[5]
Problems communicated to parties
Simply a lack of knowledge and
Turkey early will close knowledge gap on
communication causes risk management
Wakjira[6] site with good communication
failures.
channel.
Trilateral communication scheme
Poor communication between members of
will allow interaction among
the project team and the project sponsor
project management and client.
Findings suggest that 22% of all
constructability problems are related to
Project information commented and
ineffective communication of engineering
approved found online is expected
information, plans, and specifications,
to solve the problem.
especially inadequacies in project
specifications.
Up-to-date information shall be
Lack of proper communication and
communicated to all stakeholders
coordination
from common source.
Poor project (site) management/ Poor cost Online management/cost control
control shall be made by the parties.
Timely response of parties shall be
Lack of prompt decision making (quick
tracked by trilateral project
response) by client
monitoring and evaluation.
Monitor contract administration
Poor Contract administration
online.
lack of understanding of the contract
Abera Monitor contract administration
conditions and the law under which the
Bekele[7] online.
contract is being administered,
lack of proper record keeping by the
Documents shall be available online
contractor when required for evidence by
in common database.
the client
ambitious project scheduling by the Evaluate, comment and approve
contractor schedule online by all parties.
Inadequate effort in the control of
Daily site record and photograph
compliance of qualities, dimensions, etc,
help to monitor expectations
vis-à-vis to those set out in the contract
against executions.
document, and quality requirement,
competence of professionals assigned by the
Evaluate performance early online.
consultant

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Author Problem Relation to this research
Track decisions and information
not understanding or neglecting the
delivery online for early solution to
conditions of contract by the consultant
the problem.
not approving payment on time, not
responding and deciding timely on Track response rate online for
variations, decisions, drawings, prompt decision and solution.
clarifications and instructions required,
Moreover, ERA Modernization Initiative Report also addresses the existence of the problem setting
a w ay forward t owards m odernization a mong w hich is Web B ased E thiopian R oads Authority
Management S ystem –ERAMS which is de signed t o e nsure qua lity a nd monitor the pr ogress
achieved in implementation of the road delivery and management core process.
Since construction project overruns are beyond tolerable limit to achieve the targets set in the road
sector d evelopment p rogram, an overall s ystem i mprovement i n hu man resource development,
construction technology and process is very important to bring those overruns to a reasonable limit.
Capacity de velopment pr ograms u ndertaken by Ethiopian R oads Authority in human r esource
development is one of such measures in incapacitating the system. Training of human resources in
various levels will bring technology transfer and improvement in quality output.
An integral component o f a co nstruction p rocess is accompanied by set o f d ecisions a nd

requirements to a ttain qua lity pr oduct c onsistent w ith t he r equirement o f e nd r esult in t ime a nd
within t he limited co st. An ef ficient a nd ef fective d elivery o f r eal t ime d ecision an d ex ecution
principles to an integral part of the process can contribute to a way out of overall project overruns.
Identifying such gaps in the industry, this research is therefore, focused in delivering an evidenced
real t ime d ecision d elivery s ystem an d information t ransfer among cl ient, c onsultants an d
contractors or within a single firm based on a web site developed for this purpose.
1.3 Objective
The objectives of a research delineate the ends or aim which the inquirer seeks to bring about as a
result of completing the research undertaken. The objectives o f a r esearch project summaries what
is to be achieved by the study [29]. The objective of the research is then set and itemized below.
1.3.1 General objective
The o bjective o f Application of We b B ased Construction C ommunication in E thiopian Federal

Road Projects is t o assist in a n evidenced real t ime communication, information storage, retrieval,

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manipulation a nd t ransmission among p roject p articipants p arallel t o the p aper b ased p roject
communication scheme.
To improve project co mmunications and d ocumentation, this study p resents a w ebsite based
construction co mmunication. T he study demonstrates WBC2FRP system improves p roject
management for project teams in a construction project environment.
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
Specifically the objective of the research is to;
• Develop a simple a nd user friendly w eb s ite o riented at improving project communication,

information storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission and decision making.
• Enable parties to update data from anywhere and immediately upload data to the system to
share real-time p roject-related i nformation s uch that they can m ake effective d ecisions
regarding the project.
• Test t he functionality o f t he w eb site u sing local s erver installed o n w indows op erating
system.
1.4 Research Questions
• Can w eb-based construction co llaboration as sist in d ynamic a nd r eal t ime information

exchange?
• How can information ex changed in a n e lectronic media b e legally acc epted i n t he local
construction industry?
1.5 Scope of the study
The s cope o f t he r esearch is d evelopment o f Federal R oad P roject s pecific w ebsite accessible t o
client, co nsultant a nd co ntractor ai med at facilitating t rilateral r eal t ime communication parallel
with t he t raditional pa per a nd ot her means of c ommunication in E thiopia. S ample project
information is co llected from Ethiopian R oads A uthority F ederal R oad P roject to test the
functionality of the website.

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1.6 The Research Organization
The skeletal design of the thesis is framed from five chapters and an Appendix.
• Chapter 1 is an introductory overview to the research composed of eight sub-sections mainly

background, statement o f the problem, objectives, research q uestions, scope of t he s tudy,
structure of the thesis, research methodology, and contributions of the research.
• Chapter 2 is a bout s urvey o f literatures fo r body of kn owledge on ERA m odernization
initiative, p roject management, p roject co mmunication management, information
technology, i nformation co mmunication t echnology a nd w eb based co nstruction
communication.
• Chapter 3 presents the research design and methodology in detail.
• Chapter 4 focuses o n t he a nalysis o f r esults a nd d iscussions. It d iscusses o n r eports on
output of th e s ystem which includes home p age, co ntract overview, p rogram o f w orks,
reporting, p ayment, r equisitions ( RFI), r eference documents, r equest for r esources, letters,
variation orders, site diary, discussion, slideshow, drawings and photographic reports
• Chapter 5 forwards conclusions and recommendations of the research.
1.7 Research methodology
The research is an explanatory research exploring the existing construction practice and describing
applications of web based communication in Ethiopia Federal Road Projects to real time evidenced
communication and have better d ocumentation. Better d ocumentation o r f acilitating co nstruction
progress w ill be t he effect o f having r eal t ime communication w hich is favored b y w eb based
communication.
The following four methodologies are applied to achieve the objective of this research.
1. Establishing the basis of the research:

• Literatures reviews o n better co mmunication o f co nstruction act ivity have been
undertaken.
• Various r esearches conducted in various r elated t opics have been br owsed through
internet.
• Study of website design suitable for construction communication has been conducted
• Road construction under Federal Road P roject has been t aken a s r eference for full
presentation of project information on the site.
2. Research Study: The research is conducted on the basis of the following basic procedures;
• Obtaining information on communication problems.
• Obtaining pr actical project information from E thiopian R oads Authority t o b e
incorporated on the website design.
3. Designing the website incorporating the actual project communications

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4. Conclusion a nd r ecommendation: Recommendations ar e p roposed an d co nclusions ar e
drawn based on the findings of the research.
Figure 2 virtually traces the approach to the research finding.
Figure 2 Research design
1.8 Contribution of the research
Real t ime co mmunication is far better than d elayed co mmunications later t han o ccurrence o f a n
event. W eb based co mmunication implies r eal t ime co mmunication a iding in t he facilitation o f
decision making and solving shortage of senior professionals at project level.
Moreover, i n w eb based co nstruction co mmunication, p roject i nformation is s tored i n a co mmon

database where ease of retrieval and future reference aids in dispute resolution mechanism.

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2 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
It has been explained in the Background section that to meet the Millennium Development Goals of
Middle Level Income Economy the country’s road network has to escalate to 286,000km indicating
a gap of 204,371km [3].
ERA states that, “the effort of developing the country’s road network to the level of Middle Income
Countries calls for s ystematic approach w here s trategic p lanning w ill be very important.” T hat is
why modernization initiative is de veloped and publ ished u nder t he t itle M odernization a nd
Transformation Initiative (Volume I – Main Report), August 2013.
2.1.1 Modernization in Ethiopian Roads Authority, ERA
With Ethiopia’s economic growth set to accelerate, the demand for modernization in road sector is
enormous. G iven t he country’s road infrastructure needs, the road sector is expected to implement
massive highway investments in years t o come a nd t hen to consistently maintain t he road network
at a h igh standard. However, Ethiopia’s current road sector will unlikely have the capacity to scale
up a nd de liver upo n s uch e xpectations w ithout e xtensively modernizing its business pr ocess and
The major o bjective o f t he modernization and t ransformation initiative is t o u pgrade E RA t o a

world class r oad a gency, characterized by o rganizational excellence, g rowth t hrough e ngineering
research and innovation, responsiveness, and most of all by customer-driven and oriented services.
The underlying assumption in t he overall modernization initiative is t o focus on modernizing t he

core road d elivery p rocess w ithout d isregarding en ablers a nd r outines. T his w ill have t wo-fold
implications: one thing it builds good image; second and most importantly the final outcome of the
modernization initiative w ill be t ransforming t he Authority in a w ay t hat it c an s ignificantly
improve its performance and deliver services in civilized way [3].
Benchmarking t he network of o ther c ountries indicate t hat, i n o rder to b e co mpetitive e nough t o

have a middle income eco nomy, t he co untry needs to h ave r oad de nsity o f 0. 26km/Sq. K m
(260km/1000sq.km) in which case a road network of 286,000km would be required [3].
The effort of developing the country’s road network to the level o f Middle I ncome Countries calls
for systematic approach where strategic planning w ill be very important. This also requires strong
and credible database. The Ethiopian Road Information Management System(ERIMS) is part of the
initiative t o fill t his g ap. T he E thiopian R oad I nformation M anagement S ystem(ERIMS) is a fully

2014
web based G IS-enabled a pplication de veloped us ing industry leading t echnologies like M icrosoft
ASP.NET and ArcGIS server (web GIS application for .NET framework [3].
The o verall improvement w ill at tempt t o increase t ransparency o f p rocurement p rocess t hrough a
digitized a nd w eb based communications w ith s takeholders, improve t he qua lity o f pr ocurement
process through standardization of documents and expediting the procurement process by utilization
of d atabase s ystem. With t he e xisting p ractice, for i nstance, 70% o f t he p rocurement p rocess o f
Consulting Services tenders are requiring more than the bid validity of 90 days. The new target with
modernization p uts c ompletion o f a ll ( 100%) p rocurement p rocess o f a p roject w ell a head of
specified bid validity date [3].
One of the modernization initiations targeted by ERA is in design management is based on a focus
of achieving 90% accuracy for the coming five years on design projects leading designers to look
into their way to cope with such accuracy.
2.1.1.1 Design Management
Ethiopian R oads Authority in its pu blication in O ctober 2013, o n Road S ector D evelopment
Program16 Years Performance Assessment, says that the extent of all the prominent failures related
with design problems has reached to unacceptable level. In order to lead the sector towards the state
of the art and quality design delivery, ERA as a major E mployer, has taken the initiation to assess
and t ackle t he p roblems emanated f rom ERA’s in -house p rocesses a nd t he practice in t he r oad
sector [3].
ERA ad ds t hat it is w orth t o l ook i nto the a ccumulated k nowledge in d esigning o f s imple t o
complex road projects in best performing countries. Currently developed countries made significant
improvements b ased o n lessons learnt from t heir p revious p ractices a nd t hey are in a p romising
level ge tting sustainable pr ojects ( like U S a nd Japan). A ssessing t hese practices a nd a dapting t he
applicable once that fit into Ethiopian situation will significantly assist to secure radical change in
the r oad s ector. T he modernization o f design management has u sed t he d esign management
practices in developed countries to share experiences and setting a b enchmark for ERA’s strategic
orientation towards design quality improvement in the road sector [3].
ERA p resented major areas o f d esign improvement, e xisting ga ps, be st pr actices, a nd go als
associated with design management as tabulated hereunder.

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Table 6: Improving design management gaps [3]
Areas of Existing Objectively

Improvem (Baseline Benchmarking Best Practices Verifiable Goal
ent value) Indicators
Introducing clear job description for each
Quality of >40 % time
Professional and its input. to reach to
Design overrun of Less ambiguity, Well
Preparation of project specific TOR. Quality control 90% of
Service the prepared contract
and assurance within the firm and the Client. original
Contract Consultancy doc.
introducing risk management during procurement & contract time
Document contract
implementation
Engineers'
Cost Accuracy of input to reach ±5%
Quality of Introducing standard CMS for the sector.
estimate data of the unit
construction Establishing index for construction works.
± 15% from by weighting each rate
cost Introducing quantity surveyor in the design
the Possible Best validation of
estimation team.
contract Practices ERAMS
document
Adequate design period. Introducing design manager 1. Technical errors
Variation as a team leader (well experienced professional both 2. Lack of sufficient
to reach to
8% cost and in design and construction). Strictly applying the stakeholders’
5 % of cost
22% time design manuals. Introduction and strict use of consultations
and 10% of
overrun from guidelines for the design. Experience sharing. 3. Lack of sufficient
time
the Contract Consultation and working closely with stakeholders. projection of the
overrun
amount Introducing quality controlling mechanism within the traffic
firm and ERA. 4. Omissions
Change in
Including quantity surveyor in the design team. Use
Quantity to reach to 4
of advanced software. Use of experienced Errors in quantity
7 % cost and % of cost
professional. Quantity estimation to be done in detail estimation of every
Quality 22% time and 10% of
(for each town section, every 5km cut fill balance…). bill
Design overrun from time
Strong quality control and verification by the firm item
outcome the contract overrun
and staff.
observed amount
during the 1. Ambiguity
construction (discrepancy and
stage inconsistency)
Introducing clear job description for each 2. Omissions of bill
Claims and professional and its input in contract document items or
disputes preparation. Use of Guideline for particular specifications
2 % cost specification and contract document preparation. 3. Inconsistency to reach to
overrun from Clear and accepted justification for departure. among 1 % of cost
the Contract Use of experienced professional. Specifications,
amount Strong quality control and verification by the firm Drawings, BoQ etc
and staff. document
4. Time related cost
due
to design related VOs
2.1.1.2 Contract Management
ERA s tates t hat dramatic p erformance improvements may be brought a bout i n t he c onstruction
supervision s ervices should t he s upervision firms set c lear measurable o bjectives, t argets,
milestones a nd p erformance indicators b ased o n ERA’s o bjectives. Based o n t he experiences o f
leading c lients e lsewhere in t he w orld, Key S uccess F actors an d O bjectives are identified a nd

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proposed on t his r egard. Moreover, Performance Assessment Tool (PAT) is also recommended to
Measuring E RA’s S atisfaction o n C onstruction Supervision Services a nd o n t he o verall p roject
delivery [3].
Key Performance I ndicators, KPIs ar e selected based o n t he current best practices a nd norms t hat
leading clients a ll over t he world ar e u sing in o rder to achieve a cer tain level o f s atisfaction with
respect to supervision and works contracts [3].
The following t able g ives an insight o n w hat is p lanned in modernizing t he c ontract management
(supervision) process.
Table 7: Improving contract management gaps [3]

Baseline
Improvement Current Performance of Leading clients and construction
Indicator (June
per year companies
2013)
Construction costs: In the last five years, leading clients in the world have achieved
construction wastes which cost reductions up to 14% per year and on average 10%
Reduce by
includes rework, idle reductions are registered. Value management alone is believed
15%
labor, wastage of usable to have reduced the construction costs by 10% in leading firms
materials in the world.
Leading clients in the UK are achieving reductions in
Construction Time Gap: construction time overrun, for example, by 20% per year.
Time gap from Original Reduce by Florida Department of Transport (FDOT) - average Time
63%
Engineer's Estimate to 15% overrun is only about 7.1% of the original Engineer's Estimate
practical completion in 1997/8. Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) –
Time Overrun between 1996 and 2001 was 4.5%.
Leading clients achieve zero defects upon handing-over of
Defects: number of defects >100 no. of
Reduce by projects. Evidences suggest that the goal of zero defects is
on substantial completion defective
15% achievable within 5 years. UK Construction Task Force has
and final handing-over works
recommended to reduce defects by 20% annually.
2.1.1.3 Road Asset Management
ERA modernization includes: development of road asset management policies and strategies, Road
Information D ata B ase, R oad Asset M anagement S ystem, R oad A sset Management P lan, R oad
Safety Improvement and Management Capacity Building [3].
2.1.1.4 Quality and Performance Management
It is stated that ERA has developed Web Based Ethiopian Roads Authority Management System –
ERAMS which is designed to ensure quality and monitor the progress achieved in implementation
of the road delivery and management core process. ERAMS is a tool mounted on a computer server
in ERA Data Centre and accessed either of the Intranet or Internet over a s ecure website. ERAMS
provides c entrally c onnected da ta s torage de signed t o a llow additional s ystems t o lin k w ith d ata
already stored [3].

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The “once o nly” d ata-entry concept provides c onsistency i n nu mbering a nd n aming of such
elements as projects, contracts road numbers, descriptions and standards throughout the Authority.
This s ystem p rovides E RA w ith t he facility t o manage Contracts o f Road Design, Works a nd
Maintenance Contracts from Planning through to final Completion. The system contains a database
of c ontracts l inked t ogether t hrough projects, f irms, D irectorates, an d individuals t o en able
consistent naming and accountable reporting. The facilities include Validations of Estimates, tender
procedures, a nd W orks Monitoring t o Works C ompletion. I n a ddition it holds E RA P erformance
Appraisal System for C onsultancies, C ontractors, E RA T eams an d S enior S taff. T he q uality
assurance t ask a lso goes be yond implementing E RAMS a nd for these t here ar e different manuals
developed [3].
Due t o s uch c lient s ophistication, demand for higher qua lity e nd pr oducts a nd s ervices a t lower
price demands better p roject management p ractices t o en force t ighter co ntrol on t he p rojects
activities. On the other side, projects today are far more complicated than ever before. They involve
larger cap ital investments, embraces s everal d isciplines, w idely d ispersed p roject participants,
tighter s chedules, s tringent q uality standards, etc [9]. Such multilateral p ressure o n construction
project seeks for modern project management practice to be competitive in the industry.
2.2 Introduction to Project Management
According t o A G uide t o P roject M anagement B ody of Knowledge, p roject management is t he

application o f k nowledge, s kills, t ools, an d t echniques t o p roject act ivities in o rder to m eet o r
exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project. Meeting or exceeding stakeholder needs
and expectations i nvariably i nvolves ba lancing c ompeting de mands among s cope, t ime, cost a nd
quality [10].
Achievement o f balance am ong t he t riple c onstraints of co nstruction p rojects i.e co st, time and
quality is an integrated management of the nine knowledge areas set by PMBOK® Guide which is
typical of almost all projects. The nine knowledge areas include;
1. Project integration management.

2. Project scope management.
3. Project time management.
4. Project cost management.
5. Project quality management.
6. Project human resource management.
7. Project communications management.
8. Project risk management.
9. Project procurement management.
The p rocess o f integrating t he nine project management areas then r equires ap plications o f u p t o
date knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to compete in the competitive construction industry.

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2.2.1 Challenges in project management
Due t o ch allenges in c onstruction industry t o i mprove quality, competitiveness a nd profitability,

culture o f cooperation, t eamwork and continuous improvement in t he p erformance o f t he industry
need to be secured [9].
It is stated that the changing construction environment is also influenced by other factors, which are
interrelated and interdependent. Examples of such factors are [9];
 Globalization of the m arketplace; m any i ndustries are f acing a lot of p ressure d ue to t his
factor. Tariff barriers are virtually falling and labour has become more mobile. Further, due
to productivity improvements and advantages in economies of scale, some foreign firms are
capable of competing with local firms on price, quality and delivery.
 The economical forces; t his factor m ay s ignificantly affect the cl ient o rganisation an d
subsequently can impact the initial objectives of their projects.
 Increases in project complexity; p roject c omplexity has increased d ue t o ex tent o f s cope
and fr agmented parties a round t he w orld having to c ommunicate with o ne a nother f or
efficient project execution. The complexity o f the projects is reflected by the large number
of specialists who contribute to the decision-making process.
 The need to achieve faster results with the given resources; this factor places severe t ime
pressures on the entire project team.
 Rapid changes to project scope to expand benefits; some s cope ch anges t ake p lace very
rapidly before even realising the benefits of the changes.
 New procurement practices; the emergence of new procurement practices changes the way
the team members ar e interrelated. F or ex ample, procurement s chemes such a s P rivate
Finance Initiative ( PFI) an d p artnering h ave impacted construction pr oject m anagement.
Such schemes bring t he g overnment a nd t he p rivate sector f irms t ogether in large-scale
infrastructure projects in which very high quality standards, tight schedules and cost targets
are a imed at . Wi th the g overnment’s g reater involvement in standardizing contractual
procedures for PFI schemes, the commitments of all parties have become clearer and more
visible.
 Client sophistication; this h as b ecome a m ajor driver f or productivity i mprovements i n
construction. Clients de mand higher qua lity end products and services at lower price. T his
has created buyers market whereby firms co mpete for projects at lower margins and hence
demand better p roject management p ractices t o en force t ighter co ntrol o n the p rojects
activities.
Due t o s uch ch allenges in p roject m anagement, streamlining t he p rocess o f p roject management

then requires applications o f up t o date knowledge, skills, t ools and t echniques w hich pressurizes
project management practice to look for information communication technology.

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2.3 An Overview of Construction Information and Communication

Management
2.3.1 Definition
McCreadie a nd Rice identified and cat egorized a r ange o f information d efinitions: information a s
commodity o r r esource, i nformation as d ata, i nformation a s r epresentation o f k nowledge, a nd
information as part of the communication process [11].
Wikipedia Free E ncyclopedia d efines Construction C ommunication, w ithin a n o rganizational

context, as it is to convey an instruction to influence the actions/behaviors of others, or may involve
an exchange of, or request for information during a construction project [12].
Communication is also defined as a p rocess in which the participants create and share information
with one another in order to reach mutual understanding [13].
2.3.2 Overview
As pe r t he findings o f Yuan C hen a nd J ohn Kamara construction s ites are i nformation i ntensive
environments from d esign o ffices t o project construction s ites. V arious c onstruction p ersonnel in
the f ield n eed la rge amounts of in formation r anging from p roject d esign d rawings t o p ersonal
diaries t o s upport their o ngoing w orks. B ecause o f t he intensity a nd d iversity o f c onstruction
information, t he e fficiency o f information management is crucial to the construction industry and
has been recognized as an important competitive advantage to construction companies [14].
Dainty, Moore and Murray stated that communication w ithin project-based environments presents
special challenges. This is especially true within the construction industry, where interaction tends
to b e c haracterized by u nfamiliar gr oups o f pe ople c oming t ogether for s hort pe riods before
disbanding to work on other endeavors [15].
Research co nducted o n t he p roblem o f c ommunication i n co nstructions h as also stated th at

efficiency a nd effectiveness o f t he c onstruction p rocess strongly d epend o n t he q uality o f
communication. Four reasons are mentioned why improvements in communication are needed [16].
• The first r eason is t hat a n improvement in t he c ommunication w ithin t he bu ilding t eam, in

project teams and between project manager and contractors, could reduce failure.
• Second, m ore o pen co mmunication at a ll levels co uld lead t o i nnovations a nd better
technical solutions.
• Third, communication improvements in early p hases o f projects would positively influence
the quality as perceived by all stakeholders involved.

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• Finally, improved communication during the briefing might lead to better decision making,
for example less haste in moving to solutions and better ways of looking at the requirements
first.
The research also found that even more than in other industries, human factors seem to determine
most whether co nstruction projects develop in a good way o r not: there needs t o be some k ind o f
“chemistry” between the individuals involved to make the process go well.
2.3.3 Construction Project Communication Management
As de fined by McCreadie a nd Rice, information is co mmodity o r r esource an d t here s hould be

careful planning and management from feasibility to commissioning stage as is the case with other
resource planning.
PMBOK explains “ project co mmunication management includes t he p rocess r equired t o en sure

timely a nd ap propriate g eneration, co llection, d issemination, s torage an d u ltimate d isposition o f
project information.” It adds “perhaps no process is more important in the design and construction
of a p roject because of the number and diversity of the key players, and because it is vital to the
success of the project that the communication of information be timely and accurate. Consequently,
considerable thought and planning is required to provide a system that meets the two criteria.”
According to PMBOK communication process includes;
• Communications planning(is d etermining t he information a nd co mmunication needs o f

stakeholders)
• Information distribution(involves making information needed a vailable t o p roject
stakeholders in a timely manner)
• Performance reporting(involves c ollecting a nd d isseminating p erformance information t o
stakeholders w ith information a bout h ow r esources ar e being u sed t o ach ieve p roject
objectives)
• Administrative closure (consists of documenting project results to formalize acceptance of
the project by the sponsor, or customer. It includes collecting project records; ensuring that
they r eflect f inal s pecifications; analyzing p roject s uccess, e ffectiveness, an d lessons
learned; and achieving such information for future use.)
Poor c ommunication management c ontribute t o various p ay o ffs in construction p roject de livery

among which are time overrun, cost overrun, disputes arbitration, litigation and total abandonment.

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Various r esearches on p roject d elays have ranked c ommunication pr oblem a s the first factor fo r
delay [17]. The s tudy identified that a mong seven most i mportant cau ses o f p roject d elays is
communication problem between parties. These are:
1. Lack of communication between parties

2. Slow decision making
3. Change orders
4. Inadequate contractor planning
5. Finance and payment of completed work
6. Subcontractor performance
7. Inadequate contractor experience
Salleh states that, “Since there are many parties involved in a project (owner, engineer, contractor,
subcontractor), the communication between p arties is cr ucial t o the s uccess o f t he p roject. P roper
communication c hannels between t he v arious p arties must b e es tablished d uring planning s tage.
Problems w ith c ommunication c an lead t o s erious misunderstandings a nd t herefore, d elays in t he
execution of the project.”
Salleh figured out that the similarity of several factors regarding project delay factors in his research
compared t o previous r esearch findings from o ther de veloping countries c onfirmed t hat pr oject
stakeholders in developing co untries face s imilar problems in spite o f d ifferent natural, eco nomic,
political a nd s ocial ba ckground. Salleh ad ded t hat the d ifference is found in t he p riorities o f t he
most important factors of delay [17].
As stated by O’Connor identified that poor specifications can cause construction rework and delays.
The finding s uggest t hat 22% of a ll c onstructability pr oblems a re r elated t o i neffective
communication o f e ngineering information, p lans, an d s pecifications, es pecially inadequacies in
project specifications [18].
Moreover, Finne, C has figured o ut that decisions t aken at the design stage fix approximately 85-
90% of t he co nstruction co sts. Researchers have highlighted the problems e ncountered in projects
due to inefficient communication at the design stage of the projects [19].
Therefore, proper project planning and design shall take into account the issue of contractibility as
part of project communication planning from the very beginning.

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2.3.4 Constructability Information and Clash Detection
As part of communications planning, Yuan Chen and John Kamara stated that the design team is a
major element that takes responsibility for providing technical and engineering related information
such a s d rawings, c ontracts, d esign c larification, c onstruction a nd e ngineering methods, a nd
specifications.
The d esign co nsultant s hall communicate co nstructability information t o other p arties t o av oid
problems o f c lashes o n c onstruction a nd ot her c onstructability pr oblems w hich may o ccur dur ing
construction stage.
The findings o f t he r esearch of Getachew T segaye et.al have r evealed t hat d esign r isks w ere
contributory to cost and time overrun and poor quality of works. The underlying cause of the risks
is that designers lack construction experience and fail to fully address constructability problems that
surface during construction.
However, d evelopment in information t echnology p resented design a nd construction t echnologies

such a s building in formation m odeling applications whereby design a nd construction i s vi rtually
done in the digital environment.
Ahimed Dorani et.al explain that time and space coordination can be checked to virtually eliminate
workflow issues a t the p lanning s tage. S patio-temporal c onflict a nalysis, w hich is o ne o f t he k ey
usages o f 4 D modeling, o ccurs w hen a n act ivity’s space r equirements interfere w ith a nother
activity’s space r equirements, o r with work-in-place. Two main t ypes o f spatio-temporal co nflicts
have been identified which are: (a) hard conflicts: interferences between physical components (e.g.
conflict b etween o ld a nd new e levated highway s tructures); a nd ( b) s oft co nflicts: interferences
between d ifferent c learance volumes and w ork s paces ( e.g. t he s pace c learance r equired by an
equipment) [20].
This indicates t hat the d esign t eam shall virtually s chedule a nd co nstruct the c ivil e ngineering
building or highway to avoid constructability problems and communicate the whole information to
the constructor and or the client.
Due to the fact that;
• communication w ithin p roject-based en vironments p resents s pecial ch allenges in

construction w here interaction t ends t o b e ch aracterized by unfamiliar groups of people
coming together for short periods;
• even m ore than i n other i ndustries, human factors seem to determine most whether
construction projects develop in a good way or not; and
• construction information is intensive and diverse

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the ef ficiency o f information management is c rucial t o the c onstruction i ndustry a nd h as be en
recognized a s a n important c ompetitive ad vantage t o c onstruction co mpanies. Conversely,
efficiency a nd effectiveness o f t he c onstruction p rocess strongly d epend o n t he q uality o f
communication.
In o rder to s atisfy c lient’s n eeds a nd e nsure t hat the design is co nstructible, t he design stage must
not only have t he c lient’s r equirements a s input, but a lso information a bout c onstruction a nd t he
operation and maintenance of the facility [21]. This means, the design stage must be integrated with
information about construction and use (life cycle considerations).
Moreover, during construction stage, Scanlin, J points out that communication consumes about 75%
to 90% of a p roject manager’s time and information therefore needs to be current and available on
demand, w hereas a co nstruction firm surveyed its p roject managers a nd found t hat 1 5 p ercent o f
their w orkday w as s pent on s earching for i nformation [22] and [23]. T he construction industry
requires a s ystem that can provide real t ime information a nd is e fficient in information generation,
communication, s torage an d r etrieval. S uch a s ystem is e ssential for t he q uick d etection o f t ime,
cost, scope and quality deviations from planned performance [24].
Therefore, t here s hall be a mechanism t o i mprove efficiency and ef fectiveness o f c onstruction

information and m inimize subjectivity i nduced by h uman f actors in the construction i ndustry.
Communication of real time accurate information is the requirement to minimize factors leading to
overruns in the industry.

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2.3.5 An overview of the paper based construction communication
2.3.5.1 Limitations in information communication
Yuan C hen and J ohn Kamara have e xplained t hat c onstruction sites are i nformation i ntensive
environments. V arious c onstruction pe rsonnel i n the f ield need large a mounts of information
ranging from project design drawings to personal diaries to support their ongoing work and for their
decision making. However, the main type of information that on-site construction personnel receive
and transfer is paper based files, which include documents such as drawings, data collection forms,
correspondences, progress information a nd s pecifications. T he limitation o f paper-based f iles h as
remained a major c onstraint in o n-site information c ommunication and e xchange. I neffective o n-
site information communication can result in construction personnel overlooking important issues
that require a q uick r esponse an d o ften cau se on-site d ecisions t o b e d eferred. C oordination o f
activities a nd management o f operations on a c onstruction s ite r aises n umerous q ueries a nd
interactions between project participants, which need to be resolved quickly and efficiently to avoid
downtime, rework, waste and cost overruns [14].
Because most small projects are still predominately t raditional, some problems are associated with
the traditional ways of retrieving and transferring information. These kinds of problems include the
inefficient r etrieval an d t ransfer of p aper-based information mediums, a nd t he co nstant d elay o f
information communication between project participants [14].
In o rder t o imp rove t he p redominately t raditional methods o f information c ommunication on

construction sites,
• encouraging small firms to adopt and use Information Technology tools,

• more IT training for construction personnel,
• a reduction in the amount of paper-based forms and documents, and illustrative projects that
examine the benefits that result from the use of IT on construction sites.
• For construction organizations that have already used Information Technology tools in their
daily business p roceedings, t he d esign a nd management o f information systems a re ve ry
important. For example, intranet/extranet and other collaboration tools need to be sized to be
able t o c ope w ith increased e lectronic t raffic. I ntranet/extranet an d r elated ap plication
software s hould be pr operly de signed a nd managed. E xcessive u se o f e mails should be
reduced through the encouragement of one-to-one discussions and group meetings [14].
The study includes remote access to electronic document management systems avoids carrying vast
amounts of hard copy on work sites.

2014
2.3.5.2 Limitations during claim analysis
Construction impact c laims analysis is mostly carried o ut after c losure o f o perations. Revisiting a
project’s h istory, h owever, necessitates t he u se of co ntemporaneous d ocuments p roduced by all
participating groups. T his practice is becoming e ver more e xpensive because documents–paper o r
electronic–are never found in one place, and project groups use different document storage systems
that are n ot n ecessarily co mpatible. A s s uch, d ocuments s prawling t o v arious p roject locations
without discernable d irectory s tructures co mplicate b acking u p a nd archiving o f files, a nd make
locating and accessing documents a difficult task [25].
2.3.5.3 Merits of digital information exchange over paper based communications
• Project information can be accessed in digital form v ia local a nd wide area networks, thus
overcoming the limitation of locally bound, paper-based archives. In addition to that, ability
to manage paper-based documents in an electronic environment can give substantial benefits
in t he form o f less storage s pace a nd r educed t ime for s earch a nd r etrieval o f d ocuments
[26].
• Meta-Data-Based construction as subset o f w eb-based c onstruction collaboration provides
the co nvenience o f t imely, complete, and integrated information, w hich helps t o s peed u p
the decision-making process a nd increase its accu racy so t hat downstream p arties ca n t ake
faster action [27].
• Retrieving pr oject information dur ing c laim a nalysis is d ifficult in p aper b ased
communication for p aper d ocuments are fragmentally stored as op posed to d igital
information filed common database.
It is then figured o ut that l iteratures mutually e xplain t he inefficiencies in the paper b ased
communications p utting a w ay forward t owards t he u se o f best Information Communication
Technology practices.

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2.4 Introduction to Information Communication Technology
2.4.1 Overview
Information technology (IT) is the application o f computers and telecommunications equipment to

store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data, often in the context of a business or other enterprise.
The t erm is c ommonly us ed a s a s ynonym for c omputers a nd c omputer n etworks, b ut i t a lso
encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several
industries are as sociated w ith information t echnology, s uch as computer h ardware, software,
electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and computer services [12].
Humans h ave be en s toring, r etrieving, manipulating a nd c ommunicating information s ince t he

Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in a bout 3000 BC, b ut the t erm information
technology in its modern sense f irst appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business
Review; a uthors Harold J . L eavitt and T homas L. Whisler co mmented t hat " the new t echnology
does no t yet ha ve a s ingle e stablished name. We s hall c all it information t echnology ( IT)." T heir
definition consists of three categories such as techniques for processing, the application of statistical
and mathematical methods to decision-making and the simulation o f higher-order thinking through
computer programs [12].
Information a nd c ommunications t echnology ( ICT) is o ften u sed a s a n e xtended synonym for

information t echnology (IT), b ut i s a more s pecific t erm t hat s tresses t he r ole o f unified
communications and t he integration o f telecommunications (telephone lines a nd w ireless s ignals),
computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems,
which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information [12].
ICT can be considered t o be bu ilt o n the 4 C’s – computing, communications, content, and hu man
capacity. ICT is much more than computers and internet or even telephony. Applications of ICT can
be d ivided u nder t wo b road ca tegories. T he f irst ar e t hose l argely d ependent traditional
telecommunications n etworks ( including t he internet) that en able o n-demand c ommunications t o
provide information t ailored t o t he u ser’s co nvenience a nd needs. T he second g roup o f I CT
applications is ( Human I ndependent) w here information is p rocessed a nd decisions ar e ar rived o n
the basis o f preset cr iteria w ithout human intervention at t he t ime o f decision making. E xamples
include sensor-based networks that determine automated climate control for buildings today, or, in
the n ear future, s ensor networks f or malaria larvae d etection. M any o f t he more-discussed
applications of ICT for SD are of the first category, ranging from distance education programs, e-
commerce, or e-governance, while the second class of applications remain largely unrealized [28].

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2.4.2 Mediums of Information Transfer on Construction
Based on Chen Y. and Kamara J., mediums of information transfer on construction sites are;
• Meeting: receive, transfer or communicate construction information in on-site meeting;

• One-to-one Pass: exchange construction documents with other construction personnel;
• Fax: Construction information is transferred through fax;
• Telephone: communicate construction information through telephone calls;
• Email: Construction information is transferred through sending emails;
• Intra/Extranet: receive o r t ransfer co nstruction information by Intranet o r E xtranet(not
accessible to general public, eg separate military network);
• Post: Construction information is transferred through postal services;
• Transfer o f computer d iscs: Construction information is stored on computer discs t hat ar e
transmitted to other construction personnel;
• Other.
The focus o f t his r esearch is study of application o f w eb ba sed c onstruction information

communication as one of information transfer medium, an internet based communication.
2.4.3 Web site in general
A website, a lso w ritten as Web site, o r s imply site, is a s et o f r elated web pa ges served f rom a
single web domain. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as
the Internet or a p rivate local ar ea network through a n I nternet a ddress k nown a s a Uniform
resource locator. All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World Wide Web [12].
A webpage is a document, typically written in plain t ext interspersed with formatting instructions
of H ypertext M arkup L anguage ( HTML, XHTML). A w ebpage may incorporate el ements from
other websites with suitable markup anchors [12].
Webpages ar e acce ssed a nd t ransported with t he Hypertext T ransfer Protocol (HTTP), w hich may
optionally e mploy encryption ( HTTP Secure, HTTPS) to provide security and privacy for the user
of t he w ebpage co ntent. T he u ser's ap plication, often a web br owser, r enders t he p age co ntent
according to its HTML markup instructions onto a display terminal [12].
Some w ebsites r equire a subscription t o acces s s ome o r al l o f t heir co ntent. E xamples o f

subscription w ebsites include many business s ites, pa rts of n ews w ebsites, academic j ournal
websites, ga ming w ebsites, file-sharing w ebsites, message b oards, w eb-based email, social
networking websites, w ebsites pr oviding r eal-time stock m arket data, an d w ebsites p roviding
various o ther services (e.g., websites o ffering storing a nd/or sharing o f images, files a nd so forth)
[12].

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2.5 Web Based Construction Communications
Project m anagement t hrough w eb based p latform has lately become a n important topic in
construction. Substantial r esearches have been undertaken in developed co untries for web e nabled
construction knowledge management system.
There ar e a lso s everal o nline p roject m anagement s oftware s olutions s erving o nline p roject
management, communication, document exchange and management and construction collaboration.
Some o f t hem ar e PROCORE Online Project Management Software, Aconex, BuildTools, I ntelex
etc.
Some of online project management software solutions include;
• Procore is p owerful C loud-Based C onstruction P roject M anagement S oftware f or

contractors, b uilding o wners, architects, an d specialty subcontractors. P rocore o ffers d eep
functionality with features s uch as d ocument management, R FI management, s ubmittal
management, contract management, job scheduling, and email management [20].
• Aconex's web-based solutions a llow project members t o cr eate and r eview documents and
other project information from any location, and on any mobile device (iOS/Android). This
includes RFIs, drawings, models, contracts, reports, and more [20].
• BuildTools is w eb-based, acce ssible from a nywhere, a nd p rovides a foundation for a ll
builder / c lient / s ubcontractor / a rchitect c ommunication. B uildTools manages a ll e -mail,
site p hotos, w eekly & d aily r eports, ch ange o rders, material s elections, p ayment r equests,
project documents, punch-lists & warranty tracking. [20]
• Intelex provides a c omplete s et o f software solutions t o h elp o rganizations in t he
construction industry manage o perational, business and health a nd safety c hallenges. Track
and manage incidents, contractors and training, mitigate risks, and ensure compliance across
your business with Intelex's user-friendly, web-based solutions [20].
Web based communication for co nstruction p roject m anagement w ould be facilitated if t he w eb

based information management within the organizations is matured and incorporated in the day-to-
ay working. This would be facilitated through organization web sites having link to the project web
sites for p rojects being e xecuted b y t he o rganization. T his w ould enable t he information t o f low
freely in al l levels an d al low managers t o l earn o f t he o rganization a nd/or p rojects an d t heir
problems simultaneously s o t hat de cisions a nd instructions c an be made a nd r eceived u niformly
[24].
A W eb-based p roject management s ystem is also a r estricted n etwork f or p roject s pecific

collaboration a nd c ommunication. I t supports in formation sharing, e nables t imely c ommunication,
and offers dynamic information for decision-making [4].

2014
According t o t he E uropean Construction T echnology P latform ( ECTP 2009) , t he future
construction s ector w ill involve i nnovative business c oncepts t hat w ill be e nabled by s eamless
communication throughout the construction l ife-cycles (e-NVISION 2007). Researchers have been
developing languages a nd c omputing machinery for making w eb c ontent un ambiguously
interpretable b y co mputer p rograms, w ith a view t o automation o f a d iversity o f w eb t asks. I n
addition, r esearchers ar e developing automated r easoning machinery t o address some o f t he more
difficult t asks necessary for s eamless interoperation including a r icher form o f automated w eb
service. (e-NVISION 2007) [30].
The p rocess o f e -Tendering, e -Procurement, e -Site an d e -Quality constitute the c ore construction
processes of the e-NVISION e-Business platform. The future e-Site scenario’s main objective is to
coordinate o perations o n t he site in r eal t ime t aking into acco unt t he e vents t hat o ccur at the
building s ite: breakdown o f machinery, u nacceptable w eather co nditions, ab sence o f manpower,
change in the documentation, etc [30].
Therefore, centralized information systems that are accessible to all parties in a construction project
are powerful tools in the quest to improve efficiency and to enhance the flow of information within
the construction industry [31].
A large variety o f forms a nd t ypes o f p roject information ar e required at d ifferent s tages o f a

construction p roject. A w ide range o f p rofessionals from many d isciplines u ses t his information.
The data is e xtremely d ynamic, o ften changing from day t o day t hroughout the project. There is a
continuous c ycle o f c reation, s toring, manipulation, transmission, r eformatting, a pplication a nd
revision. The time for each cycle can be very short [31].
The consequences of using inappropriate or inaccurate data can be costly and result in unnecessary
delay. The efficiency of the construction development and operation cycle depends on the integrity
and e ffectiveness o f t he information flowing between t he c lient, d esign e ngineering, equipment
manufacturing, contracting, and facilities management segments of the construction industry [31].
A centralized database is a n integral part of a n appropriately formed information framework. Any

changes or modifications to i nformation ar e r ecorded an d d isseminated au tomatically within t he
system t hus e nsuring t hat e very d iscipline involved is w orking w ith t he most u p-to-date
information. Such a system also removes the need for duplication and hence a p otential for errors.
By providing an efficient central data facility it is possible to create and maintain goals, schedules,
standards, p olicies and pr ocedures t hat ar e s hared b y all o f t hose involved in the c onstruction
process [31].
Common features of such systems are [31]:
• Access t o p roject information is p ossible from an ywhere and a t a ny t ime t hrough t he

Internet.

2014
• Team co mmunication, co llaboration a nd d ecision-making are improved t hrough t he
increased transparency in the management process.
• Handling of data is cost effective and not prone to errors and delays caused in duplication.
• Project management is controlled and systematic.
• Updated information on progress is available to all and shared as soon as it is available.
• The quality of project data is high and meets the real needs of the professionals involved, as
a r esult o f t he timely t ransmission o f information between d esignated parties, u se o f
specified t ask s pecific formats, d ata accuracy a nd backup in w ell-defined a nd po werful
database repository.
• Historic d ata f or p ast p rojects is a vailable for r etrieval for new ap plications, s uch as for
project maintenance needs, new project planning etc.
2.5.1 Web based communication in various stages of construction
2.5.1.1 Design Stage
Research pointed out that project web site shall be developed from the design stage of the projects.
It i s a lso s urveyed t hat d ecisions t aken at t he design s tage fix ap proximately 85-90% o f t he
construction c osts. Researchers h ave h ighlighted the pr oblems e ncountered in pr ojects due t o
inefficient communication at the design stage of the projects [32].
Preliminary de signs could be up loaded o n t he w eb t hrough t he pr oject folder/web s ites f or

immediate acce ss. T hey co uld be r ed-lined, c ommented upon a nd c irculated t o al l o rganizations
involved in t he de sign. As revisions occur, revised drawings could be maintained o n t he web a nd
fully documented f or f uture r eference, leading t o f aster d esign p rocess, w ith less time s pent, a nd
more expedient verifying, so that everyone has the right drawing. Correct and latest drawings would
be downloaded for preparation of tender documents [32].
2.5.1.2 Tendering and Award Stage
Contractors co uld r egister o nline a nd acc ess drawings and specifications through t he Project We b
sites, s aving O wners t he c ost o f pr inting and p ostal charges w here r equired. B id submissions,
including financial a nd t echnical bids a nd s chedules c ould be s ubmitted t hrough t he pr oject w eb
sites. Bids opening and negotiation meetings could be held through virtual conferencing [32].
2.5.1.3 Construction Stage
The majority o f t he information flow in co nstruction p rojects o ccurs at the construction s tage, as
during t his stage a ll t he p roject t eam organizations become a ctive. Design d etailing, ch ange
management, site coordination, material procurement and arrangement of manpower and machinery

2014
is happening simultaneously at t his s tage a nd r equires real time in formation ma nagement for
tracking a nd monitoring t he pr ojects. W ith us e of w eb ba sed communication, ev eryone o n t he
project t eam, including t he O wner would have t he o pportunity t o r eview, a pprove a nd c omment
before a d ocument is issued to site, w ithout sacrificing t ime o r spending hours o n meetings, faxes
and p hone ca lls. T here w ould be immediate acc ess t o R FI r esponses, s ite photos, upda ted a nd
supplemental drawings, project schedules, c hange orders, and field comments. This would reduce
the risk of errors and rework by ensuring that everyone in the project team is working with the most
current drawings a nd o ther do cuments. S ite ph otos w ould he lp t o s hare pr ogress w ith those i n
remote locations, resolve issues and minimize site visits by monitoring construction from the office.
Coordination meetings could be h eld through o nline co nferences. All current and past versions o f
drawings and documents could be stored at the project web site, facilitating preparation o f correct
as-built drawings and dispute resolution at the end of the project [32].
2.5.1.4 Implementation of the Web based communication
There are three options currently available for organizations to implement Web based Construction
Management: t o d evelop t he system in-house; t o purchase packaged s oftware f rom v endors and
install it o n organization’s own server a nd t o s ubscribe t o an ap plication service p rovider ( ASP)
from a service provider [32].
This research focuses on in-house t ype of system implementation prepared to serve the purpose of
web based project management.
2.5.2 Legal and Security Issues
Regarding legality, p aper w ork cannot b e co mpletely e liminated b ecause legal d ocuments ar e
needed as physical evidence with blue ink signatures. For final drawing approval is done based on
paper d rawings… legally it s eems w e s till have t o do that today t o g et a s tamped drawing. Once
approved d rawings ar e r eturned, they ar e s canned an d made a vailable o nline for t he r est of t he
process. The ap proved p aper d ocuments ar e stored in a box a nd never r eused again. The o nly
documents that we request to have duplicated or hard copies of are the contracts which are signed
originals, all the rest is handled electronically [33].
The assumption of t his r esearch also b ases o n important c ontract e lements su ch a s The Letter o f
Acceptance, The T ender a nd t he Appendix t o T ender, The Minutes o f N egotiation and A ddenda
issued dur ing t he Tender Period, The Conditions of Contract, Part II, The Conditions of Contract,
Part I; Method o f Me asurement, The S pecial S pecifications, T he D rawings, The P riced Bill o f
Quantities, Other documents, as listed in the Appendix to Tender signed in paper based signatures.

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Contracting parties must expressly address electronic communications in their contract documents.
The provisions must be clear as to which communications under the contract may and may not take
place in electronic form [34].
Moreover, a s a co nsequence o f t he legal uncertainties surrounding t he validity of el ectronic

signatures, to avoid the risk that a guarantee may be unenforceable all guarantees should continue to
be entered into in paper form and be physically signed using handwritten signatures [34].
The following systems can be implemented to control security of the project information.
• Website shall be project specific and not be subjected to general public access.
• Internet security protocols such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security
(TLS) assure the confidentiality and integrity of messages exchanged using an e-contracting
system.
• Access t o i mportant p roject i nformation by us ers s hall be g iven w ith pr ivilege
corresponding to their authority and accountability level.
2.6 Summary of Literature Review
From r eview o f literatures, t he e ffort of d eveloping t he co untry’s r oad n etwork to the level o f
Middle I ncome C ountries ca lls for s ystematic a pproach w here s trategic p lanning w ill be v ery
important. However, Ethiopia’s current road sector will unlikely have the capacity to scale up and
deliver upo n s uch e xpectations w ithout e xtensively modernizing its b usiness pr ocess a nd
In p rinciple, project management is t he a pplication of knowledge, skills, t ools, a nd t echniques t o

project act ivities in o rder to m eet o r ex ceed s takeholder needs a nd e xpectations from a p roject.
These ap plications shall b e done i n as close as p ossible to real t ime basis in order t o optimize
constraints in construction projects.
On the other hand challenges in a c onstruction industry a re being d iversified from t ime t o time in
different forms. Such challenges added to the fragmented nature of the construction industry require
the most up to date knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to be competitive in the system.
From s urvey o f literatures, as o ne o f t he methods o f s treamlining p roject management p ractice,

online p roject management s ystem through w eb b ased p latform is an important e lement o f t he
construction industry of the developed countries.
It can be co ncluded t hat web based c onstruction c ommunication is o ne o f s ystem improvement

mechanisms to streamline the construction management aiding to scale up road network to the level
of Middle Income Countries as in the case of global practice.

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3 Research design and methodology
3.1 General
The o bjective o f t he r esearch is a imed a ssisting evidenced r eal t ime c ommunication, information
storage, r etrieval, manipulation a nd t ransmission among p roject p articipants parallel t o t he p aper
based p roject co mmunication scheme t hrough t he a pplication o f Web B ased C onstruction
Communication. T herefore t he r esearch d esign an d methodology is focused at at taining t his
objective.
3.2 Research design
The research is an explanatory research exploring the existing construction practice and describing
applications of web based communication in Ethiopia Federal Road Projects to have an evidenced
real time communication process for decision making and have better documentation.
The ap proach t o the s olution o f t he r esearch p roblem is systematically t racked from literature
reviews of international and local sources to design of website compatible with the traditional paper
based communication. Final conclusions and recommendations are then made.
Based on the idea of the research topic, researches conducted in Addis Ababa University Institute of
Technology on Federal Road Projects have been surveyed for existence of the problem.
Researches a nd E RA r eports ex plain t hat Ethiopian R oads Authority dur ing its previous t hree
phases of Road Sector Development Programs, has encountered considerable overruns in terms o f
time, c ost a nd r esulted in u ndesired q uality in c onstructions u ndertaken both b y local and
international firms.
Even though there may be various reasons for the problems, construction communication problems
were pointed out as an integral part of the causes for overruns.
On t he basis o f problems listed, survey o f literatures was conducted to find out global practice o n
the status of construction communication in general and electronic construction co mmunication in
particular.
Various methods o f co mmunications based o n e lectronics media have been surveyed as e xplained
in the literature review.
Among t hese communications, ap plication o f web based co nstruction co mmunication is t hen

selected for the contribution of the research in the local construction industry.

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3.3 Obtaining Project Information for the Research
Project information d ata was co llected from E thiopia R oads Authority for M odjo-Edjere-Arerti-
Gobensa, Sembo-Sholagebeya-Gorfu-Gobensa and Metehbila-Metehara Road Project, Contract III-
LOT 2: Gindeber-Gobensa.
The obtained project information includes
• FIDIC Harmonized Edition March 2006,

• original design drawings,
• progress report,
• work program,
• Ethiopian Roads Authority Standard Technical Specification,
• FIDIC Condition of Contract 1987,
• FIDIC Interpretation,
• and guide to the use of FIDIC.
The p roject information o btained is u ploaded t o file system a nd w ebsite d atabase a nd eac h w ere
tested on the site.
3.4 Design of the website
Surveys of l iteratures ha ve proven t hat r eal time c ommunication is far better to s olve act ual
problems o n s ite in r eal t ime t erm a s co mpared t o traditional co mmunication. Among t he various
mechanisms of real time communication exchange is the use of web site in the stream of electronic
information communication technology.
Project s pecific w ebsite ca n be d esigned t o s erve t he p urpose o f r eal t ime co mmunication in t he

construction industry one of which will be dealt with hereof.
As ex plained in t he literature r eview a n in-house s ystem type o f w eb ba sed c onstruction

communication is developed consisting of various communications as in the paper-based approach.
3.4.1 Administration of the website
In t he WBC2FRP, in a n a nalogy to the current administration of contracts, the consulting engineer

administers t he w ebsite from s erver s ide since information u pload from co ntractor h as t o b e
checked and approved before displaying online as authorized information.

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The t raditional paper-based co mmunication ca n follow t he d igital t ransfer o f information as a n
authorization. As in the case of facsimile transmission, formalized documents can also be scanned
and communicated online.
3.4.2 System Database/System File
Since construction documents stored serve multipurpose function, proper organization and storage
is ve ry i mportant. For m ost of w eb p ages on WBC2FRP, d atabase is cr eated for s torage an d
retrieval purpose. Some files uploaded by authorized users are stored in file system in local folder.
3.4.3 Registration
To secure project information from unauthorized entering and/or retrieving of sensitive project data,
authorized u sers ar e r egistered ah ead o f u sing. A unique U ser I D a nd pa ssword is r ecorded for
authentication purposes.
3.4.4 System Architecture
For the d esign o f t he w ebsite, WA MP s erver is installed o n Windows 7 o perating s ystem t o r un

localhost.
Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) script, Javascript, HTML form and Cascading style sheets (CSS) are
used as programming and formatting applications.
Notepad++ is used to edit instruction languages and forms. The website is tested on Mozilla Firefox,
Microsoft Internet Explorer and Google Chrome browsers and found operable.
Even though, it is possible to upload project information through outputs from different applications
such a s AutoCAD, M icrosoft w ord a nd s preadsheets, hy pertext m arkup languages a nd P lanning
software, i t is p referable t o u se P DF files, s canned d ocuments, Z IP f iles a nd images o f various
extensions for the following reasons;
• hypertext markup texts can contain destructive scripts which can cause system problem
• for authentication of the transferred document
• compressed files minimize in size for ease of data transfer
Project information transferred to the system can digitally be submitted to centralized s ystem files
or database. This information can t hen be a ccessed for timely d ecision o r f or future r etrieval. In
addition t o al lowing communications irrespective o f t ime a nd s pace, d ocumentation a nd ea se o f
future reference will be made in a single website.

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4 Results and Discussions

The findings of the study is web based project communication web site serving trilateral document
exchange a nd s torage an d information co mmunication mechanism w ith t he main ad vantage o f
aiding real time project information communication and decision making scheme.
The result of the web site is discussed under the following integrated web pages.
4.1 Structural Composition of the Website
The s tructural co mposition o f t he We b B ased C onstruction C ommunication in E thiopia

(WBC2FRP) includes H ome P age, C ontract O verview, P rogram o f Works, R eporting, P ayment,
Requisitions ( RFI), R eference D ocuments, R equest f or R esources, L etters, V ariation O rders, s ite
diary, D iscussion, S lideshow, D rawings a nd P hotographic R eports w hich a re d iscussed in t he
literature review.
4.1.1 Home Page
The web pa ge or local file au tomatically loads w hen a w eb browser s tarts or w hen t he browser's
"home" button is p ressed; t his is a lso c alled a "home page". T he user ca n specify t he URL of t he
page to be loaded, or alternatively choose e.g. to re-load the most recent web page browsed [12].
The ho me page for the purpose of this research is just displaying information to be conveyed to all
users of the site. The content of the home page can be varied to be used for;
• Business advertising
• New tender notices
• Construction news
• Call meetings
• Pass notices
• Announce good wishes etc
Presentation of the home page for WBC2FRP is displayed in Figure 2.

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Figure 3 Presentation of home page

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4.1.2 Contract Overview
Online r eference t o contractual documents o r download t o local machine can g ive a n easy access
for r eal t ime d ecision making irrespective o f t ime w hen t he d ecision maker w ants t o ac t an d
wherever he/she is.
The administrator of the website, the consultant, uploads components of signed contract document
such as;
• The Letter of Acceptance

• The T ender a nd t he A ppendix t o Tender T he M inutes o f N egotiation a nd Addenda issued
during the Tender Period
• The Conditions of Contract, Part II;
• The Conditions of Contract, Part I;
• Method of Measurement
• The Special Specifications
• The Drawings;
• The Priced Bill of Quantities
• Other documents, as listed in the Appendix to Tender
In t his w ebsite, t he g eneral c onditions o f c ontract, bi ll o f q uantities a nd de sign dr awings a re

included in t he respective w eb pages. T he p referred co ntract d ocument is a llowed t o d isplay t he
first time t he browser loads t he p age. H owever, a u ser can s elect h is choice w here a fter the p age
displays the enquiry.
4.1.3 Program of Works
As part of planning, work programs guide a way through the anticipated progress. This plan as the
main monitoring t ool shall be ea sily acc essible t o the p arties. Master w ork p rogram o r re visions
prepared by the contractor can be uploaded to the web as draft and co mmented by the engineer or
client f or ap proval. W ork p rogram p repared in s uch a w ay c an t hen be t racked o nline ag ainst
progress reports and adjustments can be made to monitor overruns.
The w eb pa ge c onsists o f up load pa rt a llowing program up load a nd d isplay p art of a pproved or

draft work program.
Quick reference to method statement, barchart, cashflow, s-curve and resource requirement can be
made from this web page. All components of the construction program prepared by the contractor
and a pproved by t he co nsultant w ill be d isplayed for r eference. D raft w ork p rogram ca n also b e
commented by the client.

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4.1.3.1 Method statement
A work method statement, sometimes referred to as a safe work method statement is predominately
used in c onstruction t o de scribe a d ocument t hat g ives specific instructions o n how t o s afely
perform a w ork related task, or operate a p iece of plant or equipment [12]. It also includes analysis
of a verage d aily p roduction o f a ll act ivities a nd r esources r equired t o acco mplish w ithin stated
period of time.
The method statement prepared for Gindeber-Gobensa is uploaded and made available for reference
online by the parties. For a g iven activity on method statement, presence of actual resource on site
referred from d aily s ite r ecord r eport can b e c hecked a nd co mmented ear ly t o c orrect to the
requirements within the proposed resources.
4.1.3.2 Barchart
Bar chart or network of activities in work program prepared on the basis of critical path method is a
typical me thod to manage p rojects. Among network of act ivities, s et of cr itical act ivities form
critical path of the project dictating project completion t ime. Any deviation of activity t ime on the
critical path affect the project time, cost and possibly quality.
Therefore, this critical element of work program shall be easily accessed to the parties regardless of
time and space for good project management.
Barchart or network diagrams prepared on master work program or revisions made are uploaded by
the contractor and commented and approved by Engineer for reference.
Barchart is allowed to display the moment the browser loads the page. The red bar on the network
diagram directly takes users through critical activities of the project.
4.1.3.3 Cash flow Estimates/Cost Control
Schedule of cash flow estimate consists of anticipated monthly cash inflow, monthly financial claim
of e xecuted w ork, ad vance d isbursement an d r epayment s tatus, r etention a nd r elease o f retention
sum and the net monthly expected payment to be effected.
Moreover, it indicates t he monthly cu mulative a nd p ercentage o f work expected t o be d one. The

user by loading the page with cash flow can refer to this schedule for comment or decision making
purpose.

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4.1.3.4 Plan S-curve
Plan S -curves d emonstrates an ticipated g raphic c umulative cash flow ag ainst t ime commonly on
monthly basis. It gives virtual observation of project growth against time.
Similarly, with selection of an S-curve page, users can retrieve the graphs for decision. The S-curve
of F igure 4 demonstrates a p lot of forecasted cas h inflow o n monthly o rdinate. The s lope o f t he
tangent to the S-curve approximately differentiates to zero during off periods due to rainy seasons.
Figure 4: Plan S-Curve
4.1.3.5 Resource requirement
Resource r equirement s chedule is a nother cr itical p art of t he w ork p rogram. S ince r esources ar e
limited, managing o f r esource f orms p art of p roject m anagement. The an ticipated r esource
requirement can be compared against actual reports from site to ascertain the accomplishment of the
progress.
Monthly r equirement o f e ach machinery a nd e quipment a re upl oaded t o this pa ge for s imilar
reference.

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4.1.4 Reporting
Work pr ograms prepared, co mmented an d ap proved for tracking t he p roject p rogress h as t o b e

evaluated for conformance or slippage if any.
A p age w ith “R eporting” is cr eated f or u ploading p eriodical r eports. R eports u ploaded b y t he

contractor w ill be d isplayed a fter b eing checked an d ap proved by t he co nsultant. The w eb p age
consists o f narrative r eport, project status summary, project physical progress, financial status and
s-curve. All reports are stored in database for documentation and future reference.
4.1.4.1 Narrative Report
Narrative r eports ar e p arts of p roject p rogress r eports that p rovide q uantitative a nd q ualitative
reports such as executive summary, project information, problems encountered, insurance and other
project related guarantees.
4.1.4.2 Project Status Summary
Project s tatus s ummary p rovides a co ncise q uantitative p roject st atus su ch a s p rogress a gainst
schedule, slippage encountered and percentage accomplishment up to the reporting period.
Approved project status summary ca n be d isplayed for r eference by t he parties as is done o n t his
web page.
4.1.4.3 Project Physical Progress
Physical progress o f t he project is used t o display quantitative accomplishment versus p lan w hich
helps to monitor status of critical activities.
4.1.4.4 Financial Status
Financial status of the project is used to display detail quantitative acco mplishment versus plan i n
terms o f qua ntity a nd amount o f w ork do ne. B y c hecking t he s tatus o f c ritical a ctivities o nline,
corrective measures can be taken especially for critical activities.

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4.1.4.5 Plan vs Actual S-curve
Evaluation o f act ual S-curve p lotted against plan S-curve helps parties t o identify project growth,
and s lippages t o take corrective measures. S-curve p lotted against p lan S-curve w ill be d isplayed
when u sers browses S -curve p age as d emonstrated b elow. The act ual S -curve o f F igure 5
exemplifies a n accu mulated project s lippage o ver project life e nding w ith 2 months t otal s lippage
for not tracked early.
Figure 5: Plan Vs Actual S-Curve
4.1.5 Payment Certificates
The next pa rt o f w eb pa ge d isplay is pa yment link. S imilar t o t he r est o f t he p ages p ayment

prepared b y t he co ntractor i s s ubmitted for ap proval b y t he co nsultant. Wh ile d etail p ayment
certificate is made ready for approval summary of payment status can be posted for quick reference.
All interim payment certificates are stored in database for documentation and future reference.
4.1.6 Requisition(RFI)
In the paper based approach, the Contractor shall give a minimum o f 24 hours notice in writing to
the E ngineer t o a llow a ny inspection a nd t esting t o b e car ried o ut (Clause 1 203 of E RA 2002) .
Request s ubmission n eeds s ome t ime a nd means o f d elivery. After inspecting t he act ivities, t he
Engineer gives approval or comment thereon which also requires time and means of delivery.

2014
In t he web based approach, forum t ype d ialogue is presented for d iscussion. T he c ontractor po sts
his r equest topic a nd t he co nsultant r eplies a co mment o r approval a fter inspection. All t he topics
and replies are stored in database for documentation including comment by the client if any.
The c lient i s t herefore g iven better acces s t o r equests w hich w as not common in t he p aper based
communication.
4.1.7 Reference Documents
Reference d ocument p age a llows u sers t o h ave acces s o f documents, f ormats and an y available
references pertinent to administration o f the contract. All reference documents can be made ready
for download. Commonly referred document can be displayed online without the need to download.
The r eference p age co unteracts t he p roblem o f f ragmented s torage of d ocuments influencing
decision making activity for documents are locally bound.
In w eb based co nstruction co mmunication, r eference d ocuments ar e not bound in s pace a nd t ime

tracking w ith a vailable network a nd c omputing f acility extending t o the u se w ith smart mobile
phones.
In F igure 6 , r eferences d ocuments su ch a s ERA S tandard T echnical S pecification, ERA L ow

Volume R oads D esign M anual, Guide t o the u se o f F IDIC, FIDIC In terpretation and Interim
Payment Certificate Formats are uploaded for ease of reference.

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Figure 6 Presentation of reference page

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4.1.8 Letter
The letter section of the page is used to submit letters to database and have reply of them posted on
the page. Signed letter which is representative of hard copy exchanges in the formal communication
system will be submitted to increase authenticity of the documents. This also has the functionality
that client has early access to communications for any comment or suggestions thereon.
Unlike r eports, programs a nd p ayment cer tificates, t he co ntractor can d irectly write a letter to the
client and consultant as well in line with contractual requirement.
Figure 7 demonstrates that the contractor can upload letter for the client and consultant. Meanwhile,
a query of the incoming letters gives the contractor to access to correspondences from the parties.
Similarly, the engineer can upload a letter for the client and the contractor whereas he is allowed to
query for his incoming letters. The same is true for the client.
Figure 7: Presentation of Correspondence web page

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4.1.9 Variation Orders
Variation o rders p roposed b y t he co nsultant an d ap proved b y t he c lient ar e p art of c hanges in

quantity or scope affecting the project in terms of cost, time and possibly change in quality.
Even though variation orders are parts of written communications, separating from other letters will
allow parties t o pay special attention t o changes in project cost and t ime. Moreover, unlike letters
variation orders are displayed online for ease of reference.
4.1.10 Site diary
Abera Bekele (2005) pointed out that lack of proper record keeping as one of shortcomings leading
to disputes in Federal Road Project. Therefore, to avoid such problems daily records of;
• Weather,
• on-going work executed,
• tests taken,
• any i ssues - plant, labour o r ma terials, local d isturbances, et c. that ar e af fecting
progress,
• materials delivered to site,
• instructions given on site,
• all verbal instructions to be confirmed in writing within 24 hours,
• requests for information from the Contractor,
• accident occurred on site,
• Performance status (text, photos),
• defects (text, photos),
• delays,
• (Partial) acceptance processes
shall b e reported to cen tralized d atabase. Moreover, a part f rom he lping for future
retrieval for any purpose, records stored in this manner help to take immediate action to
influence the project.
4.1.11 Discussion
Similar t o RFI information exchange, to have an online d iscussion o f a n issue o r leave a message
for communication, a simple forum type dialogue box is designed for discussion.
The t opics a nd r eplies ar e s tored in d atabase for d ocumentation. Any issue r egarding t he d ata o n
website or point of discussion can be raised and discussed.

2014
4.1.12 Slideshow
As discussed in the literature review, site photos would help to share progress with those in remote
locations, resolve issues and minimize site visits by monitoring construction from the office.
Site photographs visualizing the actual progress of activities can be posted daily or upon execution
to envisage the correctness of the permanent work or conformity of temporary works such as false
and formworks. Mistakes in construction can be rectified while the work is under progress. Through
such mechanisms, works conducted in remote area in the country can be monitored online by senior
professionals of the client, consultant and contractor.
The co ntractor or t he E ngineer uploads s ite ph otographs taken j ointly w ith the consulting
supervisors through “Upload Photo Report” page. The engineer imports the data to slideshow page
which g enerates s lideshow o f t he p ictures s o that al l p arties c an e nvisage t he cu rrent o ngoing
activities in line with the schedules.
4.1.13 Working Drawings
Similarly a s d iscussed in t he literature s tudy, d esign de tailing, a nd c hanges occurred require real
time in formation ma nagement for t racking a nd monitoring t he p rojects. W ith the use o f this w eb
page everyone o n t he p roject t eam, including t he O wner w ould have t he o pportunity t o r eview,
approve an d co mment b efore a d ocument i s issued t o s ite, w ithout s acrificing t ime o r s pending
hours on meetings, faxes and phone calls.
The co ntractor submits detail working drawings prepared o nsite to the co nsultant. This a llows t he
parties to observe the correctness of each detailing ahead of taking action.
Moreover, the web page solves s hortage of s enior professionals o n site a llowing t hem t o look into
critical details from head office located at remote area from the work.
4.1.14 Upload Photo Report
This is t he p age w here t he co ntractor i s a llowed t o r eport p eriodical p hotographic r eports f or

approval by the engineer. The engineer display commented and approved drawings for reference.

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5 Conclusions and Recommendations

The main o bjective o f the r esearch was study o f ap plication o f Web B ased C onstruction
Communication which is a imed a t a ssisting e videnced r eal t ime c ommunication, information
storage, r etrieval, manipulation a nd t ransmission among p roject p articipants p arallel t o t he p aper
based project communication scheme.
To improve project co mmunications and d ocumentation, this st udy p resents a w eb b ased

construction co mmunication. The s tudy demonstrates that the WBC2FRP system improves p roject
management for project teams in a construction project environment.
5.1 Conclusions
The conclusion of the research is discussed as follows based on the specific objectives set forward.
1. The first specific objective was to develop a simple and friendly web site oriented at real t ime
communication, information storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission and decision making.
In this regard, the study has assured that;
 Trilateral communication and discussion is made possible
 Project information storage in database and f ile s ystem is designed a nd made possible
to store all information for decision making and future reference
 Retrieval of information stored is possible for processing
 Project data manipulation is accessible mostly for the engineer action whenever desired.
 Transmission of project information and decision exchange is made possible
2. In accordance with the second specific objective, the system enable parties to update data from
anywhere a nd immediately u pload d ata t o the system to share real-time p roject-related
information s uch t hat t hey c an make effective decisions r egarding t he p roject. It ha s be en
discussed t hat an integral co mponent o f a co nstruction p rocess is accompanied by set o f
decisions. D elayed act ion t o the p rocess has a n integral co mponent in t he cau ses o n p roject
delays. T o min imize s uch d elay segments, the w eb s ite a ssures d ecision making mechanism
wherever the decider is or at any time. Therefore, real time project communication is favored by
the application of the system.
3. The t hird s pecific o bjective w as t o t est the functionality o f t he w eb site u sing local server
installed o n w indows o perating s ystem. T he w ebsite is t ested a nd functional o n w indows

2014
operating s ystem with M ozilla Firefox, G oogle C hrome a nd Microsoft I nternet E xplorer
browsers.
5.2 Recommendations
1. The research has found t hat E RA has a n o bjective of upgrading itself to a w orld c lass r oad
agency, c haracterized by o rganizational e xcellence, g rowth t hrough en gineering r esearch a nd
innovation, responsiveness, and m ost of a ll b y c ustomer-driven a nd o riented s ervices. The
overall improvement w ill at tempt t o i ncrease t ransparency o f p rocurement p rocess t hrough a
digitized and web based communications with stakeholders, improve the quality of procurement
process through s tandardization o f d ocuments an d e xpediting t he p rocurement p rocess by
utilization of database system. ERA has also developed Web Based Ethiopian Roads Authority
Management S ystem –ERAMS which is de signed t o e nsure qua lity a nd monitor the pr ogress
achieved i n implementation o f t he r oad d elivery a nd management co re p rocess. The
modernization initiative then requires stakeholders to reengineer their business process to cope
with such client sophistication.
2. Electronic project m anagement shall b e i ncluded i n curriculum design i n C onstruction
Technology and Management Stream.
3. Applications o f 4D building i nformation m odeling i n l ocal construction i ndustry shall be
studied t o integrated planning, designing a nd construction o f projects to avoid co nstructability
problems leading to design risks.
4. Applications o f E lectronic T endering in local co nstruction industry shall be s tudied further t o
integrate web based project management with electronic contract administration.
5. Further research shall also be conducted to address legal issues in the use o f electronic project
management.
6. As in the case of traditional project administration, the engineer is expected to be responsible in
administering the website.

2014
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Getu Tilahun

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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

APPLICATION OF WEB BASED

Advisor: Professor Abebe Dinku (Dr.Ing.)

Advisor: Professor Abebe Dinku (Dr.Ing.)

A Thesis submitted to School of Graduate Studies of Addis Ababa University

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun i

Apart f rom s erving as d ocumentation a nd r etrieval o f p roject information, t he w ebsite i ncludes

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun ii

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun iii

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun iv

3 Research design and methodology ......................................................................................... 32

4 Results and discussions .......................................................................................................... 35

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun v

5 Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................ 47

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun vi

Table 2: Design management gaps ................................................................................................. 5

Table 3: Contract management gaps ................................................................................................ 5

Table 5: Problems related to communications and documentation ................................................... 7

Table 6: Improving design management gaps ................................................................................ 14

Table 7: Improving contract management gaps ............................................................................. 15

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun vii

Figure 1: Regional States and Administrative Cities in Ethiopia .......................................... 2

Figure 2: Research design.................................................................................................. 11

Figure 3: Presentation of home page .................................................................................. 36

Figure 4: Plan S-Curve ...................................................................................................... 39

Figure 5: Plan Vs Actual S-Curve ...................................................................................... 41

Figure 6: Presentation of reference page ............................................................................ 43

Figure 7: Presentation of Correspondence web page .......................................................... 44

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun viii

General profile information about Ethiopia is shown in Table 1 below

Official Name Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 1

Figure 1: Regional States and Administrative Cities in Ethiopia

The g overnment’s long-term eco nomic d evelopment s trategy – Agricultural-Development-Led-

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 2

One o f t he modernization initiatives w hich is t he E thiopian Road I nformation M anagement

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 3

Consistently, r esearches a nd literatures mutually explain t hat c ommunication a nd t he t ransfer o f

To the co ntrary, d ue t o f ragmented n ature o f co nstruction, r eal t ime co mmunication is r arely

Such fragmentation r equires co nstruction industry to be more ef fective a nd e fficient in d elivering

The WC2FRP system is d eveloped t o al low c ommunication am ong cl ient, c onsultant a nd

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 4

1.2 Statement of the problem

Areas of Improvement Existing (Baseline value)

Similarly, Table 3 is extracted from the report for contract management.

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 5

Physical Financial (million Completion

Total Length (km)

Table 5 indicates problem po ints identified related to construction communication, documentation

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 6

Author Problem Relation to this research

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 7

An integral component o f a co nstruction p rocess is accompanied by set o f d ecisions a nd

1.3.1 General objective

The o bjective o f Application of We b B ased Construction C ommunication in E thiopian Federal

MSc Thesis by Getu Tilahun 8

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

Specifically the objective of the research is to;