| dc.description.abstract | Government has put in place plans for road development and maintenance and has improved on its budget allocations, in order to boost tourism, agriculture and mining, among others. However, road maintenance remains a challenge due to cost deviations, inflation of unit costs by contractors and delays in maintenance interventions. This has resulted into maintainable sections of the networks to slip into rehabilitation realm, therefore increasing maintenance backlog. This study examined Cost Performance Improvement of road maintenance projects in Northern Uganda considering Uganda National Roads Authority. The main objective of the study was to develop a model to improve cost performance in road maintenance projects. The study was conducted in four UNRA stations in Northern Uganda, namely Arua, Gulu, Kitgum and Moyo Stations using a simple random selection. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected, using survey questionnaires and documentary reviews from a sample size of 60 elements. Data was analyzed using correlations, regression analysis and descriptive analysis. Wearing course & shoulder works experienced 64.3% negative cost deviations while drainage improvements experienced 21.4%. Material price fluctuations, with 80.9% of respondents, and equipment availability and failures, with 81% of respondents, were key factors, believed to have influence on cost deviations. A Cost Performance Improvement model, developed using a multivariate regression analysis of budgeted cost elements, is proposed to address inaccurate costing of the budget elements. The study concluded that road maintenance projects experience negative cost deviations due to problems related to Clients’ Project management & contract administration, labor management, financial management, contractor’s site management and design & documentation factors. The research recommends a study into the effect of different management styles on project cost deviations since it varies from one contract manager to another. | en_US |
