An-Najah National University Faculty of Graduate Studies Evaluation of the Quality Management System of Highway Projects in the Northern West Bank By Areej Nabeel Ahmad Hussain Supervisor Dr. Khaled Al-Sahili This Thesis is Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Roads and Transportation Engineering, Faculty of Graduate Studies, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine. 2021 III Dedication This thesis is dedicated with special thanks: To my Mother, Father, Brothers and Sisters for their unlimited support. To my husband “Ahmad” for his continuous encouragement. To my daughters Meral and Loure. To all of my friends. For their support and encouragement to achieve this work. IV Acknowledgment After thanking Allah, the Merciful, the Graceful who generated me the power and courage to finish this work. I would like to express my special thanks to Dr. Khaled Al-Sahili for the continuous support in accomplishing this thesis; for his motivation and encouragement. I would like to express my special thanks to Dr. Amjad Issa for his assistance throughout the research. I would like also to express my gratitude and deep appreciation to MDLF staff for their support and assistance. VI Table of Contents Dedication III Acknowledgment ........................................................................................ IV Declaration V Table of Contents ........................................................................................ VI List Of Tables ............................................................................................... X List of Figures ........................................................................................... XII List of Abbreviations ............................................................................... XIII Abstract XIV Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................ 2 1.1 Background .......................................................................................... 2 1.1.1 General ........................................................................................... 2 1.2 Problem Definition ............................................................................... 4 1.3 Objectives ............................................................................................. 5 1.4 Study Area ............................................................................................ 6 1.5 Thesis Structure .................................................................................... 7 Chapter Two: Literature Review .................................................................. 9 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 9 2.2 Quality Definition .............................................................................. 10 2.3 ISO 9001: Quality Management System ........................................... 11 2.3.1What is ISO 9001? ........................................................................ 11 2.3.2 Quality Management System ....................................................... 12 2.4 Importance of Quality Management System in Highway Construction …………………………………………………………………………..13 2.5 Quality Management System in Highway Projects ........................... 13 2.6 Quality Management System of Highway Projects in Palestine ....... 14 VII 2.7 Factor Affecting Quality .................................................................... 16 2.8 Quality Modeling ............................................................................... 20 2.9 Summary ............................................................................................ 23 Chapter Three: Methodology ...................................................................... 25 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 25 3.2 Literature review ................................................................................ 26 3.3 Data collection ................................................................................... 27 3.3.1 Documented Data on Road Projects and Pavement Condition Survey ................................................................................................... 27 3.3.2 Questionnaire Form ..................................................................... 28 3.4 Data Analysis ..................................................................................... 30 3.5 Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................. 31 Chapter Four: Data collection ..................................................................... 33 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 33 4.2 Interview ............................................................................................ 33 4.2.1 MDLF History ............................................................................. 34 4.2.2 Highway Construction Through MDLF ...................................... 34 4.3 Roadway Condition Survey ............................................................... 35 4.3.1 Pavement Condition Index (PCI) ................................................. 36 4.3.2 Calculation of PCI for asphalt pavement ..................................... 37 4.3.3 Research Sites ............................................................................ 39 4.4 Questionnaire ..................................................................................... 40 4.4.1 Response Evaluation System ..................................................... 41 Chapter Five: Data Analysis ....................................................................... 43 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 43 5.2 Analysis of Roads’ Physical Conditions ............................................ 43 5.3 Analysis of Questionnaire for Contractors’ Companies .................... 48 VIII 5.3.1 Contractor’s Profile .................................................................... 48 5.3.2 Descriptive statistics of contractor ............................................. 51 5.3.3 Relative Importance Index ......................................................... 55 5.3.4 Results From the Contractor’s Point of View ............................ 60 5.3.4.1 Managerial Factors .................................................................. 60 5.3.4.2 Design and Specification Factors ............................................ 62 5.3.4.3 Construction Process Factors .................................................. 65 5.3.4.4 Quality Factors ........................................................................ 68 5.3.4.5 Environmental Factors ............................................................ 70 5.4 Analysis of Questionnaires for the Consultant Office ....................... 72 5.4.1 About the Consultant ................................................................. 72 5.4.2 Descriptive Statistics by the Consultants ................................... 73 5.4.3 Relative Importance Index ......................................................... 77 5.4.4 Results from the Consultants’ Point of View ............................ 81 5.4.4.1 Managerial Factors .................................................................. 81 5.4.4.2 Design and Specifications Factors .......................................... 83 5.4.4.3 Construction Process Factors .................................................. 85 5.4.4.4 Quality Factors ........................................................................ 88 5.4.4.5 Environmental Factors ............................................................ 89 5.5 T-test .................................................................................................. 95 5.6 Summary ............................................................................................ 97 Chapter Six: Model development ............................................................. 100 6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 100 6.2 Pareto Analysis for Factors Affecting Quality in Northern West Bank…………………………………………………………………...100 6.3 Using The Model ............................................................................. 108 Chapter Seven: Summary and Conclusions .............................................. 112 IX 7.1 Summary .......................................................................................... 112 7.2 Conclusions ..................................................................................... 113 7.3 Recommendations ............................................................................ 114 References 117 Appendix 122 ب اا عاص X List Of Tables Table (1.1): Road Network Length In The Northern West Bank By Governorate And Road Type, 2019 ......................................... 6 Table (3.1): Factors Affecting The Quality Of Asphalt Highway Projects 29 Table (5.1): Pavement Condition Survey For The Targeted Roads ........... 44 Table (5.2): Common Distresses Observed In The Field ........................... 45 Table (5.3): General Information About The Contractor Companies ........ 50 Table (5.4): Descriptive Statistics Quality Factors Contractor’s Response 52 Table (5.5): Cronbach's Alpha Test Measuring Reliability Statistics ......... 55 Table (5.6) Importance Levels (Akadiri, 2011.) ......................................... 56 Table (5.7): The Calculated RII Of The Quality Factors From Contractors’ Point Of View ......................................................................... 57 Table (5.8): Managerial Factors And Effect On Quality – Contractors’ Point Of View .................................................................................. 60 Table (5.9): Design And Specifications Factors And Their Effect On Quality- Contractors’ Point Of View .................................................... 63 Table (5.10): Construction Process Factors And Their Effect On Quality- Contractors’ Point Of View .................................................... 66 Table (5.11): Quality Factors And Their Effect On Quality-Contractors’ Point Of View ......................................................................... 68 Table (5.12): Environmental Factors And Their Effect On Quality- Contractors’’ Point Of View .................................................. 70 Table (5.13): Descriptive Statistics For Factors According To Consultants ................................................................................................ 74 XI Table (5.14): The Calculated RII Of The Factors From Consultants’ View ................................................................................................ 78 Table (5.15): Managerial Factors And Their Effect On Quality For Consultant ............................................................................... 81 Table (5.16): Design And Specification Factors And Their Effect On Quality-Consultant’s Perspective ........................................... 83 Table (5.17): Construction Process Factors And Their Effect On Quality- Consultant’s Perspective ........................................................ 86 Table (5.18): Quality Factors And Their Effect On Quality For Consultant ................................................................................................ 88 Table (5.19): Environmental factors and their effect on quality-consultant’s perspective .............................................................................. 89 Table (5.20): The calculated overall RII for both consultants and contractors ................................................................................................ 92 Table (5.21): T-Test results comparing the quality factors from the respondent point of view ........................................................ 96 Table (6.1): Importance percentage of factors .......................................... 102 Table (6.2): Cumulative percentages of factors in descending order ....... 103 Table (6.3): Modify critical factors of quality .......................................... 106 XII List of Figures Figure (2.1): Representation Of The Structure Of This International Standard In The Pdca Cycle (Iso 9000 :2015) ....................................... 12 Figure (3.1) Shows Summary Of Methodology Used In This Research .... 26 Figure (4.1): Pavement Condition Index (Pci) Rating Scales And Suggested Colors Source Astm D 6433-07 ,2007 ................................... 37 Figure (4.2): Flexible Pavement Condition Survey Data Sheet For Sample Unit ......................................................................................... 37 Figure (6.1): Pareto Chart For Quality Factors In Highway Construction 105 XIII List of Abbreviations ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers ISO International Organization for Standardization FHWA Federal Highway Administration LGUs Local Government Units MDLF Municipal Development and Lending Fund MPWH Ministry of Public Works and Housing PCBS Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics PCI Pavement Condition Index PNA Palestinian National Authority QA Quality Assurance QC Quality Control QMS Quality Management System RII Relative Important Index TQM Total Quality Management UNRWA United Nations Relief and Work Agency XIV Evaluation of the Quality Management System of Highway Projects in the Northern West Bank By Areej Nabeel Ahmad Hussain Supervisor Dr. Khaled Al-Sahili Abstract In Palestine, there is limited documentation concerning quality management system in construction projects in general, and in highway construction at specific. The lack of specialized studies for this purpose could be attributed to the lack of awareness in quality and their importance in construction in light of economic, social, and political challenges that encounter the Palestinian situation, especially with shrinking budget and the lack of reliable data. Therefore, this study is done to explore the quality management system in highway construction project and to highlight the main factors affecting their quality in the northern West Bank. Field surveys and a questionnaire were used for data collection. The population under study is made up of highway contractors and consultants who are actively associated with the construction activities and possess sufficient experience in the field of construction. Thirty-seven factors are identified to affect the quality of road projects; subdivided into five groups: managerial, design- and specifications, construction, quality, and environmental factors. XV Statistical analyses showed that the critical factors that affect highway construction project’s quality are: quality and type of used asphalt, contractor’s experience, availability of experienced staff in the owner’s and contractor’s teams, construction process used for asphalt layers, and design errors. Pavement roadway condition survey was done visually to twenty-five roads distributed in the northern governments in the West Bank to evaluate roads with an age of less than five years. Common distresses observed in the field were alligator, longitudinal cracks, depression, and patching. These distresses show defects in the construction process of different layers, inaccurate design, and/or weak affective coordination in executing the infrastructure works. A model has been developed using Pareto approach. The model represents the critical factors of quality in highway projects to be used as a tool to determine important factors of road construction projects to solve or avoid problems and to improve the performance. The study recommends contracting and consulting firms involved in road construction projects to develop a quality management system to meet the requirements of international quality standards. This also includes a management system for equipment, materials, and labors. The owner should select the most qualified contractors not based on the lowest bidder; rather based on qualified, experienced, and efficient site staff with the team. 1 Chapter One Introduction 2 Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 General Road transportation plays an essential role in the life of any community today, and it is important in the socio-economic development of the country. Therefore, Palestine rehabilitated and established a network of roads connecting most of the cities and villages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2015 the national road network length in the West Bank was 3,674.6 km as was reported by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS, 2016). It reached 3847.1 km in 2018 (PCBS, 2019), and 3,922 Km in 2019 (PCBS, 2020); meaning that there is a continuous increase over the years. In addition to the importance of expanding roadway network, one should pay attention to its quality to ensure its durability and safety of road users. Quality is a process that includes everything from planning to the final product. The performance of key players in highway projects is equally important. To produce good quality pavement, specifications are important tools to be concerned with. Specifications describe what is expected from the contractors in terms of materials, workmanship, and other general requirements. Therefore, they should be understandable for both the contractors and the highway agencies. In addition to this, designers should be competent and be able to produce the optimum road design for the roadway conditions and requirements. 3 Supervisor engineers should also be competent and be keen to supervise the projects and make sure all are done according to specifications and requirements. The contractors should have the proper experience and equipment to produce the required roads project. The quality control procedure should be well established and testing laboratory should have the knowledge and capacity, as well as the integrity to conduct the quality control procedure. The funding agency and the project’s owner should have clear contracts showing the required project and specifications, etc. Quality may mean different thing for difference people. Some see it as an approved design or construction standards, and others may consider it as less congestion and safer roadways. In short, it is the end result that adds value to everything else. “Highway quality is all about achieving the shared goal of building, preserving, and maintaining better roadways” (FHWA, 2007). As we face serious challenges in terms of traffic growth, increased roadway congestion, improper traffic management, environmental concerns, limited funding, failing infrastructure, and limited work force, the quality of highways becomes critically important. Therefore, attention to quality in order to get the highest performance possible from the highway projects becomes critically important. To evaluate road quality projects, road engineer need to check the finished state of a project and its conformance with the design requirements and specifications. Quality –related problems can be projected on the operating life of the highway if their non-conformance occurs. To the contractor, non- conformance can yield penalties, as well as cost and time burdens for rework. 4 It also results in road user’s and owner dissatisfaction, which may show as safety, service, and economy related problem. Quality related problems could be eliminated or prevented in early stages when an effective quality management system is in place. 1.2 Problem Definition In Palestine, there is little documentation concerning highway quality management system in general. It might be difficult to perform such studies under the exiting economic, social, and political challenges in the country. As a result of the Israeli occupation, the Israelis paved and built roads to serve their settlement goals and most of these roads are not allowed for Palestinians to use. On the other hand, the roads paved in the Palestinian areas were not built on the basis of economic feasibility and did not take into account the shortest distances between urbanized communities. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has been established in 1994. Since then, the road sector has witnessed a remarkable growth as PNA worked to rehabilitate, develop, and construct road networks that link most Palestinian cities and villages; there are road networks that are partially capable of meeting the needs of the Palestinian community. Most of the road projects implemented depend on financial funding from external assistance because of weak economy; therefore, if we have a highway quality with continuous maintenance, we would guarantee durability. In order to increase road durability, cost mitigation, and achieve better satisfaction, these questions should be answered: 5  Who are entities responsible for implementing road projects in the West Bank?  How are highway projects managed in the West Bank?  What changes must be made to improve the quality of highways in the construction phase?  What are the main factors affecting the quality of the constructed asphalt highways according to contractors and consultants in the northern West Bank? This is the focus area in this study.  Do contracting and consulting perceive quality factors in highway construction differently?  How is highway construction project success measured?  What is the suitable model that can be used for highway construction in the northern West Bank? These questions and others will be answered in this thesis, in order to improve quality management performance in the highway construction projects in northern West Bank. 1.3 Objectives The main objectives of this research are:  To examine the Palestinian highway construction projects and define nature and performance of the quality management. 6  To highlight the main factors affecting the quality of the constructed asphalt in highway construction projects in the designated study area in the West Bank.  To use the results of this study to assist in improving highway construction projects in terms of quality and avoiding problems.  To highlight the success factors in managing highway projects, especially in the designated study area in the West Bank. 1.4 Study Area The research will focus on the factors affecting the quality of the constructed asphalt pavement in the West Bank by taking a case study in the northern governorates. These include the governorates of Qalqilia, Tulkarem, Nablus, Tubas, and Jenin. Table (1.1) shows the road network length in the northern West Bank by governorate. Table (1.1): Road network length (in Kilometers) in the northern West Bank by governorate and road type, 2019 Governorate Paved Roads Unpaved Roads Total Main Regional Local Total Jenin 56.4 138 221 415.4 63 478.4 Tubas and Northern Valley 13.5 41 53 107.5 24 131.5 Tulkarem 15.8 73 117 205.8 43 248.8 Nablus 111.4 90 202 403.4 36 439.4 Qalqilia 32.2 40 37 109.2 16 125.2 Total 229.3 382 630 1241.3 182 1423.3 Source: Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MPWH), 2019 Note: Road classification used in this table is for external roads, which is adopted by the MPWH; however, the urban road classification (local, collector, and arterial) was used later in this thesis. 7 1.5 Thesis Structure This thesis is composed of seven chapters. In addition to the First introduction chapter. Chapter Two reviews the related literature on the quality management system in general and in highway quality construction projects in specific. Chapter Three describes the methodology of this study, while Chapter Four reviews the procedures followed in collecting the required data. Chapter Five shows the data analysis, and Chapter Six shows the model developed for the quality management. Finally, Chapter Seven presents the summary, conclusions, and recommendations of this study. 8 Chapter Two Literature Review 9 Chapter Two Literature Review 2.1 Introduction Road transportation plays an essential role in the life of any community today, and it is important in the socio-economic development of the country. In roadway construction industry, quality is considering key factor such as time and cost. Road quality assesses the road pavement reaction under traffic loading and environmental condition. Road construction project goes through various phases or life cycle as any construction project; therefore, improvement in highway quality is linked with quality management system in all phases. The quality in construction process started long time ago; in fact, it is a result of several thousands of years of development and implementation. The Great Pyramid of Giza showed the first signs of quality in a managed form. The tools and measurement used in building the pyramids were professionally done with a high level; therefore, indicating a systematic high quality system. Furthermore, China had a comprehensive set of standards, inspections, and training to provide high quality parts; this was in 700 BC (Juran, 1995). Several studies in different countries aimed to find out the basic factors that affect quality in construction projects, to develop a comprehensive system to improve quality in projects. 10 This chapter reviews some of studies that discuss the quality in the construction projects in general and in highway projects at specific. It also defines the quality management system of highway projects. 2.2 Quality Definition Quality does not always mean the same to everyone. Definitions ranged from authoritative documentation to expressions of experiences and opinions. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO, 2015) defines quality as “ degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of an object fulfils requirements.” (Rumane, 2011) define construction project quality is “The fulfillment of the owner’s needs per defined scope of works within a budget and specified schedule to satisfy the owner’s/user’s requirements.” The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) defined quality in construction projects as “The fulfillment of project responsibilities in the delivery of products and services in a manner that meets or exceeds the stated requirements and expectations of the owner, design professional, and constructor. Responsibilities refer to the tasks that a participant is expected to per-form to accomplish the project activities as specified by contractual agreement and applicable laws and licensing requirements, codes, pre- vailing industry standards, and regulatory guidelines. Requirements are what a team member expects or needs to receive during and after his or her participation in a project” (ASCE, 2007). 11 2.3 ISO 9001: Quality Management System 2.3.1What is ISO 9001? ISO 9001 is defined as the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS), which can organization use to develop own guidelines on QMS, regardless of size or industry. The standard does not define the specific quality of product or service. Instead, ISO 9001:2015 helps to achieve consistent results and continually improve into organization processes (ISO9001, 2015). ISO 9001 is based on the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle methodology and risk- based thinking, which “provides a process to documenting and reviewing the structure, responsibilities, and procedures required to achieve effective quality management in an organization.” The PDCA cycle consists of steps for carrying out change, which should be repeated again for continuous improvement, as shown in Figure (2.1). 12 Figure (2.1): Representation of the structure of ISO9000 in the PDCA cycle (ISO9001, 2015) 2.3.2 Quality Management System A QMS is defined as the part of a management system with regard to quality (ISO9000, 2015). Management system is defined as “a set of interrelated or interacting elements of an organization to establish policies and objectives, and processes to achieve those objectives” (ISO, 2015). A QMS consists of activities, which define the organization’s objectives and determine and manages the interacting processes and resources required to achieve desired results for relevant interested parties. The principles included in quality management are focusing on customers, leadership, engaging people, process approach, improvement, decision- making based on evidence, and managing relations (ISO9001, 2015). 13 The benefits to impletion of a quality management system are meeting customer’s requirement and satisfaction, and improving the agency system. 2.4 Importance of Quality Management System in Highway Construction In order to enhance road users’ satisfaction, increased durability, health and safety, and reduce environment damage, the project must meet the expected quality. This expected quality can be ensured through the implementation of quality management system in road construction projects. To apply this, understanding and applying activities of quality planning (identification of quality standards), quality assurance (evaluation of overall project performance), quality control (monitoring of specific project results), and quality improvement (informed by all activities and the requirements of the project) must be done through the life cycle of the road project (aura, 2019). 2.5 Quality Management System in Highway Projects In highway construction projects, quality management should be involved in all stages of a project. In the design phase, end product’s quality is specified to meet the user’s needs and the best cost-benefits. Quality management procedures are developed to ensure compliance with the specifications. During construction, non-conformance could be in terms of end products or output products of activities. In such cases, Battikha (2002) stated that “appropriate actions must then be taken to rectify non-conforming situations and, if possible, diagnosis and elimination of the reasons causing 14 nonconformance, in order to avoid similar situations during the remainder of the project and on future projects”. Quality management system is not so widespread in the field of construction as it is in the field of industries. A number of institutions in different countries conducted research and studies and produced quality guides in road construction during the different project phases by develop construction quality assurance and quality control or by using inspection form and testing systems. To accomplish the road quality, the desired quality, methods, and procedures for the quantification of the quality of road construction should be precisely determined ahead of time. Therefore, highway departments must have a guide for the correct construction practices and procedures to be used in road projects contracts. 2.6 Quality Management System of Highway Projects in Palestine “A QMS is a dynamic system that evolves over time through periods of improvement. Every organization has quality management activities, whether they have been formally planned or not” (ISO, 2015). Interviews with the staff of the Municipal Development and lending Fund (MDLF) and Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MPWH) in Palestine revealed that there are no official quality control and quality assurance systems for their highway projects. There are some practices followed by each of them, and sometimes it depends on the nature, location, and size of 15 the project. In year 2018, the MDLF, for example, prepared its own standards and specifications and disseminated them to all municipalities by preparing a manual and through conducting training workshops on the use of the manual. The MDLF has a system of selecting the quality control and testing labs from a set of three licensed labs suggested by the contractors. In recent years, the MDLF has adopted a system of quality assurance by hiring a third- party lab to double check the quality of testing (MDLF, 2018). The municipalities generally follow the MDLF system of quality control, but not the quality assurance. On the hand, the MPWH prepared draft standards and specifications for road projects in terms of procurement and contracts, geometric design, and construction standards in 2010 through a project funded by the USAID. However, these documents were not finalized; nevertheless, they are used by MPWH in their road projects. In 2017, MDLF prepared the Operation and Maintenance Manual for buildings and roads, with the aim of providing technical and administrative assistance to workers in Palestinian municipalities in managing operations and maintenance operations; specifically, to prepare operation and maintenance plans for these vital facilities (MDLF, 2017). This guide gives the necessary instructions to do what is needed at the technical, financial, and administrative levels in order to carry out the optimal operation and the necessary maintenance works related to road facilities and public buildings, to ensure the sustainability of these facilities, and to achieve the optimal and effective use of funds allocated by the municipality for these purposes. 16 2.7 Factor Affecting Quality Understanding the important factors affecting the quality in road construction is the most important step to develop a system for improving quality and linking it to all stages of the project life cycle. Several studies identified factors affecting the quality of road construction projects. Some of these are presented below. In Mumbai, India, Minde (2018) focused on identifying and evaluating the various factors affecting quality throughout the lifecycle of a road project. The study considered 54 factors affecting quality of roads throughout their lifecycle and circulated to owners, engineers, contactors, design consultants, and construction managers. The lifecycle of a road project includes quality of concept, design, construction, conformance and of performance (Minde, 2018). The effect of each factor was measured in terms of its importance index and then ranked accordingly. The results of this study demonstrate that owner’s policy and effective quality management system are found to be highly significant factors at the conceptual stage. In the design quality, the nature and type of subgrade soil and design errors were found to be extremely important factors. Similarly, the quality of raw materials; i.e., aggregates, etc. and method of construction are of prime importance in quality of construction. Effectiveness of QA/QC program and subgrade failure, rutting, and shoving are significant factors for quality of conformance and performance, respectively. 17 Abu El-Maaty, et al. (2016) presented thirty-nine factors and their impacts on the quality of highway projects in Egypt. The most important factors from the owners and consultants were:  Qualified staff available during the project execution within the owner’s and contractor’s team.  Efficiency of the owner’s inspection team  Clear roles and responsibilities among the owner, consultant, and the contractor  Design errors; pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions (e.g., soil type, temperature, and traffic volume)  Quality and type of used asphalt Neyestani (2016) evaluated the impact of quality management system implementation on vital factors (time, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction) of construction projects in Metro Manila, Philippines through a questionnaire distributed to managers. The study found that customer's satisfaction and cost and time affected the quality management system, while on scope (quality) had a minimum effect. The factors that have the most significant impact of quality management system on the customer’s and client's satisfaction were:  Increasing business benefits  Increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and improved common understanding of goals and values among interested parties  Improved customer’s relationship, communication, and reporting 18 Molenaar (2015) focused on the identification, understanding, and dissemination of alternative quality management systems applied in the highway industry throughout the United States. These defined the roles and responsibilities of all project key players (agency, contractor, designer, and consultant) and described the fundamental quality assurance organization. Najmi (2011) studied the project management of construction projects in Palestine through interviewing 36 project managers in the West Bank. The study found that the most important problems were poor planning, poor project management, and poor communications between all parties to reach optimal solutions. Farooqui and Ahmed (2008) studied the current state of performance of Pakistani construction industry and provided directions for strategic improvement of the construction industry. The top factors that caused quality problems in Pakistan were:  Material prices escalation  Inflation  Procurement  Selection of material  Lack of communication  Poor on site supervision Jha and Iyer (2006) studied reasons for the underperformance of the quality of Indian construction projects. The conducted survey identified 55 attributes 19 responsible for impacting quality performance of the projects. They investigated the adverse factors on quality of Indian construction projects, which were:  Bad weather condition  Communication problem between site staff  Lack of project management skills  Low bids due to excessive competition Studies in the Palestinian area about the quality of highway construction projects are limited. As reported by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA, 2006), many local construction projects in Palestine showed poor performance. This was attributed to: lack of materials; successive amendments of design and drawings; improper coordination among involved parties, poor monitoring and feedback, inappropriate project leadership skills, and conflicts in the region. Amer (2002) conducted a study in Gaza Strip with the aim of providing building construction projects’ stakeholders with information needed to better manage the quality. The most affecting factors were:  Site characteristics  Site staff’s skills and experience  Proper documentation  Proper management system of equipment, materials, quality, and labor  The owner’s taking decision process 20  The project’s awarding system and the political environment AL-Hassan’s (1993) study aimed to identify factors affecting the quality of constructed highway asphalt concrete pavement in Saudi Arabia. Among the fifty-nine studied factors, the top factors were (based on the contractor’s view):  Design errors  Interpretation of specifications related to aggregate’s quality and gradation  Clarity of specifications and appropriate of compaction level  Amount of flier materials in the mixture  Quality of material It should be noted from the literature, that there are several factor affecting quality. 2.8 Quality Modeling Syaj (2015) conducted a study on the quality of the construction sector in Palestine with the aim of improving the management process, and developing a management model to measure total quality management (TQM) in Palestinian construction companies. A questionnaire was developed to identify the most important factors affecting quality in construction. The most important factors according to managers and engineers were:  Lowes prices of tender  Lack of experts in quality management system 21  Lack of awareness about the importance of quality  Clarity of work instruction, awarding tender  Review drawing and specification before tendering  Fetch materials in a timely manner A model representing local quality factors was developed using Pareto approach to develop a management model as a tool to measure TQM in the Palestine’s construction company. Figure (2.1) shows the critical success factors used (Syaj, 2015). Figure (2.1): Critical success factors of TQM companies (Syaj, 2015). Battikha (2002) studied the practiced quality management function in highway construction in the USA, which is an interrelated system identifying the main quality activities. The study defined a model for multilevel (contractors, engineers, and managers) quality management involvement, as shown in Figure (2.2). 22 Figure (2.2): Model applicability in construction practice (BattiKha, 2002) Amer (2002) used the stepwise multiple regression technic to develop a model that represents the most important factors affecting quality of construction projects in Gaza Strip. Amer’s model can summarize as the following: Quality = (13.67 + 1.35 F1 + 1.21 F3 + 1.28 F4 + 1.02 F5 +1.18 F6 + 1.29 F8+ 0.75 F9 + 1.09 F10 + 0.96 F14 + 1.14 F15 + 0.96 F17 + 1.06 F18) * (100/80.12) Where: F1, F3, F4, F5, F6, F8, F9, F10, F14, F15, F17, F18 are average weighted scores resulted from collecting the ranking scores of the factors explained as the following:  F1: Characteristics of site layout  F3: Characteristics of site staff  F4: Characteristics design documents 23  F5: Material Management System  F6: Control Systems  F8: Equipment Management System  F9: Financial Management System  F10: Political Environment  F14: Integrated Management Execution System  F15: Owner’s Quick Response for Taking Decisions  F17: Type of awarding system  F18: Labor Management System  80.12 = the summation of the formula if each factor has the maximum  score, which is 5.  100 = The expected result of quality score. 2.9 Summary  Failure in the quality of construction projects in general and in highway projects in particular is a universal problem. In order to satisfy road users, consultants’ and owners’ ISO and quality management system have become a trend in the construction industry.  Project management system can be used for ensuring the quality of all components of the process of construction, maintenance, and repair of roads.  Palestinian road projects suffer from poor performance, and need an integrated and standardized quality management system to improve performance. 24 Chapter Three Methodology 25 Chapter Three Methodology 3.1 Introduction This chapter shows an overview of the methodological approach the researcher used for studying the quality management system of highway projects in the northern governorates of the West Bank. The methodology explains how the objectives of this research can be achieved. This study was carried out based on the literature review, documented data on road projects, and a questionnaire survey. Then data collection was analyzed using the statistical methods, and their results were being presented. The methodology in this research has been simplified into Figure (3.1). 26 Figure (3.1) Summary of methodology 3.2 Literature review The first step was a comprehensive literature review, which supported the survey methodology, identified the research problem, and identified goals and objectives. In this phase, the following activities are included:  Creation of a clear description of the problem.  Extraction of and gathering information from several sources, such as books, journals, reports and website. 27  Identification of factors affecting asphalt highway projects.  Development of the research methodology. 3.3 Data collection Data collection is the most critical step of the study since the accuracy and the factuality of the results is related to the success or failure of the research. Data collection was done in two steps: Step one: Data documented on road projects and road pavement condition survey Step Two: Questionnaire form 3.3.1 Documented Data on Road Projects and Pavement Condition Survey Interviews were held with the MDLF staff to clarify the mechanism and policies for implementing road projects administered by MDLF in northern West Bank. A sample of projects was taken such that each project does not exceed five years of age and roadway condition survey of the pavement was done visually, then calculating the pavement condition index (PCI) based on distresses observed according to the distresses identification specification. Data collected was divided into two sections:  Section-1: General information about the road such as length, width, road classification.  Section-2: The current condition of the roads, which was done through visual survey using the PCI method. The pavement is divided into 28 sections, and each section is divided into sample units. The type and severity of pavement distresses is assessed visually. 3.3.2 Questionnaire Form First, the critical factors affecting quality based on the literature review were identified. The factors affecting quality were grouped into five categories: 1. Managerial-related factors, 2. Design- and specifications-related factors, 3. Construction-related factors, 4. Quality-related factors, and 5. Environmental-related factors. In order to measure the impact of these factors on the quality of roads in the northern West Bank, a questionnaire was designed to collect the responses from the contractors and consultants based on their experiences. The questionnaire was divided into two sections:  Section-1: Records the general information about the respondent.  Section-2: 37 factors affecting quality as shown in Table (3.1); the respondents were asked to complete the questionnaire form. The factors are subdivided into five groups, and each factor has (5) alternative answers ranging from “highly important” to “not important”. 29 Table (3.1): Factors affecting the quality of asphalt highway projects Code Factor 1 Group No.1: Managerial Factor F1.1 Clear roles and responsibilities (owner, consultant, and contractor) F1.2 Contractor’s experience F1.3 Financial status of the contractor F1.4 Contractor’s capability in terms of labors and equipment F1.5 Contractor’s selection based on the lowest bidder F1.6 Owners team experience F1.7 Efficiency of the owner’s inspection team F1.8 Amount of work subcontracted F1.9 Delay in contactor progress payment F1.10 Direct payment to laboratory test by contractor F1.11 Weak effective coordination between the departments responsible for infrastructure and road projects 2 Group No.2: Design and Specification Factor F2.1 Pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions (e.g. soil type, temperature, and traffic volume) F2.2 Design errors due to inadequate engineer assumptions and inaccurate data (e.g. traffic volume expected growth and soil type) F2.3 Clarity and accuracy of specifications in terms of aggregates quality and gradation F2.4 Clarity of specifications and appropriate of compaction level F2.5 Consistency of specification interpretation of asphalt quality F2.6 Limitation on material source selection, equipment type,… etc. 3 Group No.3: Construction Process Factor F3.1 Availability of owner’s and contractor’s experienced staff for the project F3.2 Availability of the specified materials quality F3.3 Quality and type of used asphalt F3.4 Construction process used for asphalt layers F3.5 Quality of used aggregates (e.g., gradation, shape, and type) F3.6 Frequent change in the mix design as a result of changing material’s sources F3.7 Compaction process for: 3.7.a subbase layer 3.7.b base course layer 30 3.7.c asphalt layer F3.8 Acceptance procedure F3.9 Public pressure from the community to modify design or increase the speed of works execution 4 Group No.4: Quality Factor F4.1 Existence of quality planning F4.2 Existence of quality assurance F4.3 Existence of quality control F4.4 Existence of proper quality monitoring and evaluation F4.5 Lack of quality policy 5 Group No.5 : Environmental Factor F5.1 Existence of environmental management plan to deal with environmental issues F5.2 The season during project execution F5.3 Time the project execution at night or day F5.4 Occurrence of Neutral disasters during or after short period of executing project 3.4 Data Analysis The collected raw data was first sorted, edited, coded, and then entered into computer software using SPSS software. Appropriate tables were obtained to understand and analyze. Data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS as follows:  For section-1: across-tabulation method was used to obtain a general description of the contractor company.  For section-2: a qualitative analysis was used to determine the factors affecting the quality. Descriptive statistics such as frequency analysis mean; standard deviation, and variance were presented for each factor. Ranking of the factors affecting quality using Relative Importance Index (RII) was done. 31 3.5 Conclusions and Recommendations After collecting and analyzing data and extracting the results, conclusions and recommendations were given. 32 Chapter Four Data Collection 33 Chapter Four Data collection 4.1 Introduction The main objectives of this research is to answer the question of “what changes must be made to improve the quality of highway in the construction phase?” And this question will be achieved by two steps: Step one: Roadway condition survey - Physical condition of the road to determine the real physical condition and to identify factors affecting the quality of the constructed asphalt highways in the designated study area in the West Bank to prevent early distress. Step two: Identifying factors affecting the quality of the constructed asphalt highways in the designated study area in the West Bank. To achieve the objective, a survey was done using questionnaire form that includes several factors. Each factor listed in the questionnaire was intended to measure the degree of affect it has on the quality of constructed asphalt highways. 4.2 Interview An interview was made with the technical supervisor of the Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF) to find out how road projects are run . 34 4.2.1 MDLF History The MDLF is a quasi-governmental institution that was created in 2005 by the Palestinian government to be the main and preferred channel to support the development and reform process for local government units (LGUs) and entities, and in 2015 the Fund Law was approved by the President of the State of Palestine. The main objective of the MDLF is to encourage the flow of financial resources from the PNA and various donors to the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government to support LGUs and other local public entities to improve the delivery of local infrastructure and municipal services, pro-mote economic development, and improve municipal efficiency and accountability. 4.2.2 Highway Construction Through MDLF The municipalities submit a grant application form for the road project to be implemented and financed by the MDLF. The project’s documentation contains information such as general information of municipalities and general information about road project as length, width, estimated project cost. It also contains the design details of the road, which is done in three stages. The design is provided by the municipality, which is executed by a specialized engineering office or municipality itself; design review and check by the consultancy office representing the MDLF, which might include the required verification. 35 The MDLF double checks all the paper works and designs. The MDLF has specifications and guidelines that are distributed to municipalities and consultants. Technical specifications are reviewed annually and modified; modification is done as needed based on their suitability. Usually the lowest price bid is accepted, but after the contractor submits the guarantees, a certificate of experience, and all documents that prove the competency to implement the project. During the construction process, the main supervisor is the municipality, and the work is followed up by the consultant engineer. All laboratory tests and receipts are not carried out without the presence of a representative or consultant engineer who makes the monthly and final reports for the MDLF. At the end, the project is received in the presence of all parties from the municipality engineer, consultant, and MDLF engineer. Maintenance of the project in the first year is done by contractor, then the municipality will follow up the maintenance work. Typically, the project’s design life is 15 years. 4.3 Roadway Condition Survey Roadway condition survey of the pavement was done visually; PCI is calculated based on distress observed according to the distresses identification specification. The existence of distress without making 36 suitable maintenance causes damage and failure to the pavement structure thus affecting road users’ safety and reducing road durability. The roadway condition survey plays an important role in pavement management, which permits early identification of repair and rehabilitation needed to be done on the roads. The problems faced through the road condition survey were:  The absence of a database about of road executed project and unavailability of road condition assessments.  Traffic hazard while the survey or walking to perform the condition survey. 4.3.1 Pavement Condition Index (PCI) Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is a numerical indicator that rates the surface condition of the pavement road ranging from 0 to 100, as shown in the Figure (4.1). The PCI provides a measure of the present condition based on the distresses observed on the surface of the pavement. Through the PCI method, accurate data is obtained and road condition is estimated based on real filed conditions (ASTM, 2007). 37 Figure (4.1): Pavement condition index (PCI) rating scale and suggested colors (Source ASTM, 2007) 4.3.2 Calculation of PCI for asphalt pavement The first step, pavement is divided into sections. Each section is divided into sample units. The type and severity of pavement distresses is assessed by visual inspection. The data sheet is shown in the Figure (4.2). Figure (4.2): Flexible pavement condition survey data sheet for sample unit 38 Next is calculating the PCI value for each sample unit of the road section. The following procedure shows how to determine the value of PCI. 1. Sum the total quantity of each distress type at same severity level to calculate total severity. The units for the quantities are square meters, meters, or number of occurrences; depending on the distress type. 2. Find percentage of damage (density). Density is measured as the percentage of damage level in the sample area of the unit under review. The density is obtained for each distress type and severity level by dividing the total quantity obtained in steps 1 by the unit sample area and multiplying by 100. 3. Determine the deduct value (DV). After the density values are obtained, for each distress type at each severity level a DV obtained by using curves in ASTM appendix. 4. Determine the maximum corrected deducted value (CDV); through the following: A. Determine total deduct value by adding individual deduct values. B. Determine the value of q, which is the number of deduct values greater than or equal five. C. Look for CDV value from total deduct value and q to find appropriate correction curve. D. Determine the PCI value using the following formula: PCI = 100 – CDV (4.1) 39 5. Determine PCI for roads by calculating the weighted PCI of the surveyed sample units (PCIr) using the following formula (4.2): 𝑃𝐶𝐼𝑟 = ∑ (𝑃𝐶𝐼𝑟𝑖 ∗ 𝐴𝑟𝑖)𝑛 𝑖=1 ∑ 𝐴𝑟𝑖𝑛 𝑖=1 (4.2) Where: PCIr = Area weighted PCI surveyed sample units PCIri = PCI of sample unit i Ari = Area of sample unit i n = number of sample units surveyed 4.3.3 Research Sites In this research, eight municipalities in the northern West Bank and 25 roads were visited and conducted make pavement condition survey for. All roads were with ages less than five years from last maintenance/rehabilitation work. The selected roads are distributed in the northern governorates of the West Bank, and were selected based on cooperation by the municipalities. These municipalities are:  Nablus  Jenin  Tulkarem  Tubas  Hawarah 40  Jumain  Kufr Thalth  Auzoun 4.4 Questionnaire The population under study is the highway contractors and consultants who are actively associated with the construction activities and possess sufficient experience in the field of construction in the northern governorates in the West Bank. For this, the questionnaire was translated into Arabic language, shown in the Appendix A. Due to the Corona pandemic, the questioners were distributed in several governorates through emails and followed up by calling. The questionnaire form consists of two parts. The first part includes general information questions about the respondent’s experience and his/her position in the contracting company and other general questions about the company, including:  Grade/Classification of contracting company in the field of roads  Number of years of experience  Number of employees  Average road project size (in terms of money)  Average road project duration The second part concerns the factors affecting quality in highway construction projects, which were grouped into five main categories, and 41 were further sub-categorized into 37 sub-factors as shown in the Appendix. Each factor has 5 alternative answers rating from ‘major effect’ to ‘no affect’. A total of fifty-five (55) contracting companies were contacted; only forty- five (45) responded, which represents 81.8% of the total population. The questionnaire was then statistically analyzed to determine the degree of effect that the factors have on the quality. For the available consultants in the northern governorates in the West Bank, these were distributed in two governorates (Nablus and Jenin). There are only four (4) consulting offices in the northern West Bank and all responded to the questionnaire. All respondents were project managers in these offices. The questionnaire is given in Appendix. 4.4.1 Response Evaluation System The Likert scale (1–5) was used such that each answer was given a value from ‘5’ to ‘1’ as below; the respondent should select only one of these answers.  Value 5 indicates ‘major effect’  Value 4 indicates ‘effect’  Value 3 indicates ‘some effect’  Value 2 indicates ‘neutral’  Value 1 indicates ‘no effect’ 42 Chapter Five Data Analysis 43 Chapter Five Data Analysis 5.1 Introduction Data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed by using the computer program SPSS as follows: For part one: a cross-tabulation method was used to obtain a general description of the contractor company. For part two: a qualitative analysis was used to determine the factors affecting the quality. Descriptive statistics such as frequency analysis; mean, standard deviation, and variance were presented for each factor where the effect of each factor was measured by the relative importance index (RII). 5.2 Analysis of Roads’ Physical Conditions The visual PCI method for evaluating pavement conditions was done through field inspection and measurement to assess the type and severity of each distress, as shown in Table (5.1). Roadway condition survey of the pavement was done based on distresses observed in pavement, which permits evaluating and rating the pavement as the first step to improve quality management system; determining the main factors affecting the emergence of distresses in the early stage. 44 Table (5.1): Pavement condition survey for the targeted roads Road No. Year Road Length (m) Classification of Roads Number of Sample Units Average PCI Value Rate R01 2015 200 Local 1 68% Fair R02 2018 1655 Collector 5 78% Satisfactory R03 2016 147 Local 3 84% Satisfactory R04 2016 250 Local 1 94% Good R05 2018 1000 Local 3 92% Good R06 2018 1362 Local 6 95% Good R07 2016 1015 Local 4 95% Good R08 2016 926 Collector 5 89% Good R09 2017 595 Collector 2 79% Satisfactory R10 2015 250 Local 2 92% Good R11 2018 300 Local 1 72% Satisfactory R12 2016 747 Local 4 79% Satisfactory R13 2019 200 Local 1 95% Good R14 2017 480 Local 2 83% Satisfactory R15 2017 500 Local 4 91% Good R16 2019 400 Local 2 93% Good R17 2019 383 Local 3 85% Satisfactory R18 2016 955 Local 4 92% Good R19 2018 700 Local 3 85% Satisfactory R20 2018 150 Local 1 95% Good R21 2017 655 Local 4 85% Satisfactory R22 2019 280 Local 1 98% Good R23 2019 290 Local 2 96% Good R24 2018 445 Local 4 98% Good R25 2016 700 Local 3 98% Good During the field condition surveys, repetitive number of distresses were observed as shown in the Table (5.2) (all roads’ ages are less than 5 years). Note: all pictures in Table (5.2) were taken in the field survey. 45 Table (5.2): Common distresses observed in the field Distress Description Distress Example Alligator cracks Alligator or fatigue cracking is a series of interconnecting cracks caused by fatigue failure of the asphalt concrete surface under repeated traffic loading. Alligator cracks is one of the most cracks occurring in the West Bank roads especially when roads not designed according to real traffic loads or poor construction. Longitudinal cracks and transvers cracks Longitudinal cracks are parallel to the pavement's center line or lay down direction. Transverse cracks extend across the pavement at approximately right angles to the pavement's canter line or direction of lay down. Some roads have longitudinal cracks along the whole road. Longitudinal cracks occur due to different in temperature between day and night or poor construction. 46 Depression Depressions are localized pavement surface areas with elevations slightly lower than those of the surrounding pavement. Depressions are created by settlement of the foundation soil or are a result of improper construction. Potholes Potholes are small bowl- shaped depressions in the pavement surface. Patching and utility cut patching A patch is an area replaced with new material to repair the existing pavement. A patch is a defect no matter how well it is performing. In northern West Bank, the main reason to this distress is weak effective coordination between the departments responsible for infrastructure and road projects. 47 Table (5.1) shows some roads with ratings ranging from satisfactory to fair; no poor roods. According to the municipal engineers, the reasons for the appearance of such distresses, and based on their knowledge of the area, implementation, and design conditions, there were a number of common factors as follows:  Weak effective coordination between the departments responsible for infrastructure and road projects. This factor was more noticeable in the large municipalities, where utility patching and sewage lines were implemented after the construction of the road. The incorrect treatment of patches led to weakness in the surrounding area, which weakened the pavement and resulted in occurrence of several types of distresses.  Pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions especially soil type. This occurs because of the high project cost, where soil replacement is needed and there was a lack of necessary funding.  Design errors due to inadequate engineer’s assumptions and inaccurate data such as traffic volume and expected growth. Unfortunately, not taking into account the size of the traffic and the nature of the surrounding area as residential, industrial, or agricultural area in the design would lead to the rapid appearance of distresses and shorter road’s life span.  Availability of resident supervising engineer. It is important to have a resident supervising engineer to follow up the implementation of the works during the period of project. 48  Lack of experts and reports on QMS. Defining a system focusing on quality at all levels of project is essential to help in drafting critical issues in quality.  Asphalt quality and construction process of asphalt.  Lack of effective quality planning.  Contractor’s experience. In addition to the factors mentioned by the engineers' point of view, from my opinion there are a number of factors that must be taken into consideration as:  Lack of awareness about the importance of quality.  Weak of supervision system.  Absence of a good data base; data base should be well documented, systematic, and comprised  Absence of sense of ownership  Lack of awareness about the importance of roads. Road users should keep roads in good condition without destroying the pavement by construction waste 5.3 Analysis of Questionnaire for Contractors’ Companies 5.3.1 Contractor’s Profile The person who filled the survey was the contractor himself, project manager, or the contractor’s engineer. 49 The grade of the contractor is based on the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MPWH) classification system, which is based on the experience of the contractor and ability to complete the project, availability of permanent management, availability and experience of engineering and technical staff, and equipment owned. Based on this system, “Grade 1” is the largest size contractor who can bid on large road projects, and so on up to “Grade 5”. According to this grading system, eleven (11) contractors out of the 45 contractors (24.4%) were first grade, sixteen (16) contractors (35.6%) were second grade, eleven (11) contractors (24.4%) were third grade, and seven (7) contractors (15.6%) were fourth grade. The fifth-grade contracting companies have been excluded since they did not implement road projects during the past five years. The frequency shows that more than half the contractor’s companies have experience in the road projects for more than 15 years (23) companies; (51.1%), and only one (2.2%) has an experience of less than 5 years. The size of contractor companies was determined based on the number of employees. Results show that most contractor companies have less than ten (10) workers (20 contractors; 44.4%); small size companies. Only three (3) contractor companies (6.7%) have more than 30 workers. Therefore, the majority of companies in north of the West Bank are considered small to medium size. 50 In terms of average project duration, all contractors have an average duration of less than two years, and most of contractors (23 contractors; 71.1%) are in the range of less than six months. As for the average road project’s budget, most contractors (24 contractors; 53.3%) have an average project budget range of (200-800) thousand US Dollars (USD). Furthermore, four (4) contractors (8.9%) have an average project between 800 thousand to 1 million USD, seven (7) contractors deal with projects more than one million USD, and ten (10) contractors (22.2%) dealt with project budget less than 200 thousand USD. Table (5.3) shows the frequency and percentages for the forty-five (45) surveyed contractors. Table (5.3): General information about the contractor companies Question No. Frequency Percent Job position of Person Filling the Questionnaire Contractor 19 42.20% Project manager 24 53.30% Engineer 2 4.40% 1. Grade 1 11 24.40% 2 16 35.60% 3 11 24.40% 4 7 15.60% 2. Years’ of experience in road projects ≤ 5 years 1 2.20% (5-10) years 7 15.60% (10-15) years 14 31.10% ≥ 15 years 23 51.10% 51 3. No. of employees Less than 10 20 44.40% From (10-20) 15 33.30% From (20-30) 7 15.60% More than 30 3 6.70% 4. Average project duration Less than half year 32 71.10% (1/2-1) year 10 22.20% (1-2)year 3 6.70% more than 2 years 0 0 5. Average road project size ($) Less than 200*103 10 22.20% (200-800)*103 24 53.30% (800-1000)*103 4 8.90% More than 1million 7 15.60% 5.3.2 Descriptive statistics of contractor Table (5.4) presents the results of descriptive statistics for part two of the questionnaire according to contractors. 52 Table (5.4): Descriptive statistics quality factors contractor’s response Code Factor Frequencies Major effect Effect Some effect Neutral No Effect 1 Group No.1 : Managerial Factor 5 4 3 2 1 Mean Std. deviation Variance F1.1 Clear roles and responsibilities (owner, consultant, and contractor) 27 6 9 1 2 4.22 1.126 1.268 F1.2 Contractor’s experience 31 12 1 1 4.58 0.812 0.659 F1.3 Financial status of the contractor 26 14 4 1 4.42 0.839 0.704 F1.4 Contractor’s capability in terms of labors and equipment 20 13 11 1 4.16 0.878 0.771 F1.5 Contractor’s selection based on the lowest bidder 17 9 9 1 9 3.53 1.517 2.3 F1.6 Owners team experience 29 11 5 4.53 0.694 0.482 F1.7 Efficiency of the owner’s inspection team 22 12 9 2 4.2 0.919 0.845 F1.8 Amount of work subcontracted 4 15 12 6 8 3.02 1.252 1.568 F1.9 Delay in contactor progress payment 33 9 1 2 4.62 0.747 0.559 F1.10 Labors Direct payment to laboratory test by contractor 3 6 10 3 23 2.18 1.37 1.877 F1.11 Weak effective coordination between the departments responsible for infrastructure and road projects 23 15 5 2 4.31 0.848 0.719 2 Group No.2 : Design and Specification Factor F2.1 Pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions (e.g. soil type, temperature, and traffic volume) 26 11 5 2 1 4.31 0.996 0.992 53 F2.2 Design errors due to inadequate engineer assumptions and inaccurate data (e.g. traffic volume expected growth and soil type) 24 14 3 3 1 4.27 1.009 1.018 F2.3 Clarity and accuracy of specifications in terms of aggregates quality and gradation 18 18 7 2 4.16 0.852 0.725 F2.4 Clarity of specifications and appropriate of compaction level 28 12 4 1 4.49 0.757 0.574 F2.5 Consistency of specification interpretation of asphalt quality 30 10 5 4.56 0.693 0.48 F2.6 Limitation on material source selection, equipment type,… etc. 14 13 10 5 3 3.67 1.225 1.5 3 Group No.3 : Construction Process Factor F3.1 Availability of owner’s and contractor’s experienced staff for the project 36 8 1 4.78 0.471 0.222 F3.2 Availability of the specified materials quality 26 9 7 3 4.22 1.146 1.313 F3.3 Quality and type of used asphalt 37 6 2 4.78 0.517 0.268 F3.4 Construction process used for asphalt layers 30 10 3 2 4.47 0.968 0.936 F3.5 Quality of used aggregates (e.g., gradation, shape, and type) 37 6 2 4.78 0.517 0.268 F3.6 Frequent change in the mix design as a result of changing material’s sources 19 17 7 2 4.13 0.991 0.982 F3.7 Compaction process for: 3.7.a subbase layer 32 13 4.71 0.458 0.21 3.7.b base course layer 31 14 4.71 0.549 0.301 3.7.c asphalt layer 34 9 2 4.71 0.549 0.301 F3.8 Acceptance procedure 18 15 9 2 1 4.04 0.999 0.998 54 F3.9 Public pressure from the community to modify design or increase the speed of works execution 16 14 12 3 3.89 1.112 1.237 4 Group No.4 : Quality Factor F4.1 Existence of quality planning 15 21 6 3 4.07 0.863 0.745 F4.2 Existence of quality assurance 21 13 8 2 1 4.13 1.014 1.027 F4.3 Existence of quality control 25 11 6 3 4.22 1.126 1.268 F4.4 Existence of proper quality monitoring and evaluation 21 10 11 2 1 4.07 1.053 1.109 F4.5 Lack of quality police 11 16 14 2 2 3.71 1.036 1.074 5 Group No.5 : Environmental Factor F5.1 Existence of environmental management plan to deal with environmental issue 13 14 8 4 6 3.53 1.358 1.845 F5.2 The season of the project execution 23 14 4 2 2 4.2 1.079 1.164 F5.3 Time the project execution at night or day 9 16 11 9 3.36 1.368 1.871 F5.4 Occurrence Neutral disasters during or after short period of execution the project 21 8 8 6 2 3.89 1.265 1.601 55 5.3.3 Relative Importance Index The effect of each factor on the quality of highway project is measured by calculating the relative importance index (RII). The calculated RII of the factors according to contractor is shown in Table (5.7). The respondent’s feedback on the ranking criteria was rated based on a five- point Likert scale (1–5), which provides an ordinal type as rank orders are in the form of major effect, effect, some effect, neutral, or no effect. In order to ensure the reliability of the scale, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient value was measured. Cronbach's alpha is the most common measure of internal consistency (reliability) (Syaj, 2015) of each of the five main group; i.e., managerial factor, design and specification factor, construction factor, quality factor, and environmental factor; their alpha value for all factors is 0.826, as shown in Table (5.7). Table (5.5): Cronbach's alpha test measuring reliability statistics Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items .826 .853 37 It should be noted that when a value is greater than 0.8 it indicates a high level of internal consistency, and is acceptable for appraising the criteria (Syaj, 2015). The RII is a descriptive statistical technique to determine the important factors affecting the highway quality (Akadiri, 2011). Construction and 56 facilities management researchers commonly use RII technique for the analysis of structured questionnaire; the RII is obtained as follows: 𝑅𝐼𝐼 = ∑ 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑖 𝐴×𝑁 × 100𝑛 𝑖=1 (5.1) (0 ≤ RII ≤ 1) Where: Wi = weight of each ith total response given by the respondents. In this case, it ranges from 1 to 5 ni = total number of each ith in the sample A = the highest weight in the scale, “5” N = the total number in the sample Table (5.6) depicts the used scale; the RII value ranges from 0 to 1. It shows that the higher the RII value the more important effect it has. According to (Akadiri, 2011), five important levels are transformed from Relative Index values, as shown in Table (5.6): Table (5.6) Importance levels (Akadiri, 2011.) RII Values Importance Level 0.8 ≤ RII ≤1 High H 0.6≤ RII <0.8 High-Medium H-m 0.4≤ RII <0.6 Medium M 0.2≤ RII <0.4 Medium-Low M-L 0≤ RII <0.2 Low L Table (5.7) shows the calculated RII of the factors from contractors’ point of view; ordinal scales were used as a ranking data in ascending order. 57 Table (5.7): The calculated RII of the quality factors from contractors’ point of view Code Factor Mean Relative Index (RII) Ranking by Group Overall Ranking Importance Level 1 Group No.1 : Managerial Factor F1.1 Clear roles and responsibilities (owner, consultant, and contractor) 4.22 0.8444 6 17 H F1.2 Contractor’s experience 4.58 0.9156 2 8 H F1.3 Financial status of the contractor 4.42 0.8844 4 13 H F1.4 Contractor’s capability in terms of labors and equipment 4.16 0.8311 8 23 H F1.5 Contractor’s selection based on the lowest bidder 3.53 0.7067 9 33 H-M F1.6 Owners team experience 4.53 0.9067 3 10 H F1.7 Efficiency of the owner’s inspection team 4.20 0.8400 7 20 H F1.8 Amount of work subcontracted 3.02 0.6044 10 36 H-M F1.9 Delay in contactor progress payment 4.62 0.9244 1 7 H F1.10 Direct payment to laboratory test by contractor 2.18 0.4356 11 37 M F1.11 Weak effective coordination between the departments responsible for infrastructure and road projects 4.31 0.8622 5 14 H 2 Group No.2 : Design and Specification Factor F2.1 Pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions (e.g. soil type, temperature, and traffic volume) 4.31 0.862 3 14 H 58 F2.2 Design errors due to inadequate engineer assumptions and inaccurate data (e.g. traffic volume expected growth and soil type) 4.27 0.853 4 16 H F2.3 Clarity and accuracy of specifications in terms of aggregates quality and gradation 4.16 0.831 5 22 H F2.4 Clarity of specifications and appropriate of compaction level 4.49 0.898 2 11 H F2.5 Consistency of specification interpretation of asphalt quality 4.56 0.911 1 9 H F2.6 Limitation on material source selection, equipment type,… etc. 3.67 0.733 6 32 H-M 3 Group No.3 : Construction Process Factor F3.1 Availability of owner’s and contractor’s experienced staff for the project 4.78 0.956 1 1 H F3.2 Availability of the specified materials quality 4.22 0.844 8 18 H F3.3 Quality and type of used asphalt 4.78 0.956 1 1 H F3.4 Construction process used for asphalt layers 4.47 0.893 7 12 H F3.5 Quality of used aggregates (e.g., gradation, shape, and type) 4.78 0.956 1 1 H F3.6 Frequent change in the mix design as a result of changing material’s sources 4.13 0.827 9 25 H F3.7.a Compaction process for subbase layer 4.71 0.942 4 4 H F3.7.b Compaction process for base course layer 4.69 0.938 6 6 H F3.7.c Compaction process for asphalt layer 4.71 0.942 4 4 H F3.8 Acceptance procedure 4.04 0.809 10 28 H 59 F3.9 Public pressure from the community to modify design or increase the speed of works execution 3.89 0.778 11 29 H-M 4 Group No.4 : Quality Factor F4.1 Existence of quality planning 4.07 0.813 3 26 H F4.2 Existence of quality assurance 4.13 0.827 2 24 H F4.3 Existence of quality control 4.22 0.844 1 19 H F4.4 Existence of proper quality monitoring and evaluation 4.07 0.813 3 26 H F4.5 Lack of quality policy 3.71 0.742 5 31 H-M 5 Group No.5 : Environmental Factor F5.1 Existence of environmental management plan to deal with environmental issue 3.53 0.707 3 34 H-M F5.2 The season of the project execution 4.20 0.840 1 20 H F5.3 Time the project execution at night or day 3.36 0.671 4 35 H-M F5.4 Occurrence Neutral disasters during or after short period of execution the project 3.89 0.778 2 30 H-M 60 5.3.4 Results From the Contractor’s Point of View 5.3.4.1 Managerial Factors Table (5.8) shows the managerial related factors ranked according to the RII, with their degree of effect on the highway quality. Table (5.8): Managerial factors and effect on quality – contractors’ point of view Code Factor Relative Index (RII) Ranking by Group Overall Ranking Importance Level F1.9 Delay in contactor’s progress payment 0.924 1 7 H F1.2 Contractor’s experience 0.916 2 8 H F1.6 Owners’ team experience 0.907 3 10 H F1.3 Financial status of the contractor 0.884 4 13 H F1.11 Weak effective coordination between the departments responsible for infrastructure and road projects 0.862 5 14 H F1.1 Clear roles and responsibilities (owner, consultant, and contractor) 0.844 6 17 H F1.7 Efficiency of the owner’s inspection team 0.840 7 20 H F1.4 Contractor’s capability in terms of labors and equipment 0.831 8 23 H F1.5 Contractor’s selection based on the lowest bidder 0.707 9 33 H-M F1.8 Amount of work subcontracted 0.604 10 36 H-M F1.10 Direct payment to laboratory test by contractor 0.436 11 37 M 61 The importance levels show that most managerial factors are considered with high effect level on the highway project. The following points discuss the three main managerial factors. 1. Delay in contactor progress payment Table (5.8) shows that the quality of highway project is highly affected by the delay in contractor’s progress payment. Most of the contractors (73.3%) answered that delay in payment or slow in payment procedure by the owner is considered the major effect. Most of the contractors in the West Bank depend on borrowed money (from banks, for example) to fund their operation. Therefore, progress payment is very important for keeping the working capital at an adequate level, and for managing the cash flow for the payment of material and for other financial obligations. Delay in payments or slow payment procedure will impose serious problems to the contractor and this will impact negatively on the final quality. Most of the contractors’ companies emphasized that choosing road projects depends on the funder, because some parties have delays in payments. 2. Contractor’s experience Table (5.8) shows that the contractor’s experience is the second factor affecting the quality of highway project. Most of the contractors (68.89%) considered this factor to have a major effect. 62 The experience of the contractor is essential to perform the required work efficiently. Contractors’ experience or prequalification shows their capability, capacity, resources, management processes, and performance. It is very important to obtain a qualified and competent contractor to construct the project. To achieve this objective, the contractor’s documentation and employees should be verified. It is also important to check the contractor’s previous work record of projects with similar size, complexity, and quality of finish. It is also important to find out if the contractor gave assistance and guarantees. Therefore, only bidders who are prequalified are allowed to submit for a bid. 3. Owners’ team experience It is important for the owner to have a team with sufficient experience to make the right decisions and to produce the required specifications and designs for the project. Table (5.4) shows the frequency of contractors who answered this factor; 29 of the contractors; (64.44%) considered this a major factor. 5.3.4.2 Design and Specification Factors Table (5.9) shows the design and specifications related factors ranked according to the RII, with their degree of effect on the highway project quality. 63 Table (5.9): Design and specifications factors and their effect on quality- contractors’ point of view Code Factor Relative Index (RII) Ranking by Group Overall Ranking Importance Level F2.5 Consistency of specifications interpretation of asphalt quality 0.911 1 9 H F2.4 Clarity of specifications and appropriate of compaction level 0.898 2 11 H F2.1 Pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions (e.g. soil type, temperature, and traffic volume) 0.862 3 14 H F2.2 Design errors due to inadequate engineering assumptions and inaccurate data (e.g. traffic volume expected growth and soil type) 0.853 4 16 H F2.3 Clarity and accuracy of specifications in terms of aggregates’ quality and gradation 0.831 5 22 H F2.6 Limitation on material source selection, equipment type,… etc. 0.733 6 32 H-M The importance level shows that most design and specifications factors are considered of high level effect on highway projects. The following points discuss the three main design and specifications factors: 1. Consistency of specifications interpretation of asphalt quality The adequacy of the specifications is an important factor in determining the final quality that is achieved on a highway construction project. Materials’ quality must be included in the technical specifications part of the contract 64 documents. Among the most important specified material characteristics is the asphalt quality, which plays an important role in the quality as shown in Table (5.9). This was ranked as the most important factor from the design and specifications factor. Asphalt is the face of road; therefore, all measures and specifications should be taken to achieve the required quality. Specifications of asphalt consider:  Asphalt material, which shall be a composite mixture of coarse and fine aggregates, mineral filler, and bituminous binder proportioned and combined in an approved mixing plant to meet the requirements of this specifications.  Mixture design and job mix formula.  Specifications for the implementation of asphalt work and equipment use. 2. Clarity of specifications and appropriate of compaction level Table (5.9) shows that the specifications of compaction level is the second factor affecting the quality of highway project. Most of the contractors (62.22%) considered this factor to have a major effect, as shown in Table (5.4). The compaction process plays an important role in improving the strength and bearing capacity of materials used in road construction. Soil compaction reduces settlement and volume change to a minimum, thus enhancing the embankment’s or subbase’s strength. Asphalt will not be resistant to 65 deformation and will not be durable unless it is properly compacted in the construction phase. Compaction is achieved in the field by using different types of roller equipment, which have weight specifications and then a suitable compaction test procedure is needed to ensure meeting the specifications. 3. Pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions (e.g. soil type, temperature, and traffic volume) Table (5.4) shows the frequency of contractors who answered this factor; 26 of the contractors; (57.78%) considered this a major factor. The pavement design (structural design) process involves the selection of materials, thickness of each layers, and the type of soil to provide a satisfactory level of pavement performance during its service life. These all are major components to producing a good quality pavement; therefore, considered with high effect on quality by the contractors. 5.3.4.3 Construction Process Factors Table (5.10) shows the design and specifications related factors ranked according to the RII, with their degree of effect on the highway project quality. 66 Table (5.10): Construction process factors and their effect on quality- contractors’ point of view Code Factor Relative Index (RII) Ranking by Group Overall Ranking Importance Level F3.1 Availability of owner’s and contractor’s experienced staff for the project 0.956 1 1 H F3.5 Quality of used aggregates (e.g., gradation, shape, and type) 0.956 1 1 H F3.3 Quality and type of used asphalt 0.956 1 1 H F3.7.a Compaction process for subbase layer 0.942 4 4 H F3.7.c Compaction process for asphalt layer 0.942 4 4 H F3.7.b Compaction process for base course layer 0.938 6 6 H F3.4 Construction process used for asphalt layers 0.893 7 12 H F3.2 Availability of the specified materials quality 0.844 8 18 H F3.6 Frequent change in the mix design as a result of changing material’s sources 0.827 9 25 H F3.8 Acceptance procedure 0.809 10 28 H F3.9 Public pressure from the community to modify design or increase the speed of works execution 0.778 11 29 H-M The importance level shows that most construction process factors are considered of high level effect on the highway projects. The construction 67 factors are also considered as the most (overall) important factor affecting the projects quality. The following points discuss the three main construction factors. 1. Availability of owner’s and contractor’s experienced staff for the project Table (5.10) shows that the quality of highway project is affected to a great degree by the availability of owner’s and contractor’s experienced staff for the project. Most of the contractors (80%) answered that availability of experienced staff, their attitude, skill, and experience play a major effect. 2. Quality of used aggregates (e.g., gradation, shape, and type) Table (5.4), shows that most of the contractors (82.22%) considered this factor to have a major effect. Based on the contractors, this factor is ranked the first among overall factors. Aggregate base is the main load spreading layer. Typically, it consists of specific sizes of hard pieces of crushed rock or gravel, and a filler of sand or other fine mineral matter; it should not contain clay. The material must be compacted to produce a close and tight surface texture. 3. Quality and type of used asphalt Asphalt course is as good as the good material used in the mix. Table (5.4) shows the frequency of contractors’ opinion regarding this factor; 37 of the contractors (82.22%) considered this a major factor. Based on the contractors. 68 5.3.4.4 Quality Factors Table (5.11) shows the quality related factors ranked according to the RII, with their degree of effect on the highway projects quality. Table (5.11): Quality factors and their effect on quality-contractors’ point of view Code Factor Relative Index (RII) Ranking by Group Overall Ranking Importance Level F4.3 Existence of quality control 0.844 1 19 H F4.2 Existence of quality assurance 0.827 2 24 H F4.1 Existence of quality planning 0.813 3 26 H F4.4 Existence of proper quality monitoring and evaluation 0.813 3 26 H F4.5 Lack of quality policy 0.742 5 31 H-M The importance level shows that most quality factors are consider of high level effect on highway projects. The following points discuss the three main quality factors. 1. Existence of quality control Quality control (QC) is defined as part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements (ISO, 2015); this concept of quality includes sampling and testing to monitor the process. Usually the contractor is responsible for performing QC, under supervision, to make sure that the result meets the specification. 69 It is the responsibility of the contractor to provide and maintain a quality control system, which provides reasonable assurance that all brought in material and products conform to the specification requirements. “The contractor shall perform or have performed the inspection and tests required to substantiate product conformance to the mix design requirements, and shall also perform or have performed all inspections and tests otherwise required by the road project specifications” (AASHTO R42, 2006). Table (5.11) shows that QC was ranked as the first factor affect quality of highway project from quality factor group. Table (5.4) shows the frequency of contractors who answered this factor; 25 of the contractors (55.56%) considered the QC on highway project a major factor. 2. Existence of quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is defined as “part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled.” (ISO 9000, 2015). QA, “is a schedule of tests performed by the owner or owner’s representative to assure that the materials, and workmanship incorporated on a project are in conformity with the agency or owner of the roadway plans and specifications” (AASHTO R42, 2006). Table (5.11) shows that QA is ranked the second factor affecting quality of highway projects among the quality factor group. Table (5.4) shows the frequency of contractors’ answers of the QA factor; 21 of the contractors (46.67%) considered this factor a major factor. 70 3. Existence of quality planning “Quality does not happen by accident; it has to be planned” (Juran, 1995) Quality planning is defined as “part of quality management focused on setting quality objectives and specifying necessary operational processes, and related resources to achieve the quality objectives.” (ISO, 2015). Quality plan is that from funding agency to doing to control the quality on the construction projects. Table (5.4) shows the frequency of contractors who answered the existence of quality planning (33.33%); this factor was considered a major factor. 5.3.4.5 Environmental Factors In addition to roads’ significant economic and social benefits, they might have negative impacts on communities and the Neutral environment; therefore, such impacts should be considered. Table (5.12) shows the environmental related factors ranked according to the RII, with their degree of effect on the highway project’s quality. Table (5.12): Environmental factors and their effect on quality- contractors’’ point of view Code Factor Relative Index (RII) Ranking by Group Overall Ranking Importance Level F5.2 The season during which the project is executed 0.840 1 20 H F5.4 Occurrence of Neutral disasters during or after short period of execution the project 0.778 2 30 H-M 71 F5.1 Existence of environmental management plan to deal with environmental issue 0.707 3 34 H-M F5.3 Time the project execution at night or day 0.671 4 35 H-M The importance level shows that most environmental factors are considered of high-medium level effect. The following points discuss the three main environmental factors. 1. The season during which the project is execution Table (5.4) shows the frequency of the contractors (51.11%) who answered that the season of project execution is a major factor. Road construction is most affected by the weather; therefore, execution takes maximum advantage of the dry seasons in order to complete works. The works shall be restricted in the wet seasons and to ensure that work is executed efficiently and effectively. Project execution in dry seasons ensures that work will be completed without effort spent on repeating the work due to rain. Therefore, this will improve the quality of road in addition to reducing the time. 2. Occurrence of Neutral disasters Table (5.4) shows the frequency of the contractors (46.67%) who answered that this factor is considered a major factor on highway projects. 72 Neutral disasters such as earthquakes and floods have the potential to cause serious damage to highway infrastructure, and this is considered a challenge, which affects the quality and durability of the highway. 3. Existence of environmental management plan Table (5.4) shows the frequency of the contractors (28.89%) who answered that this factor is considered a major factor on highway projects. An environmental management plan is “a plan, which is prepared and documented at the beginning of a project in order to plan out and understand how your project will impact the environment, and how you will manage these impacts and risks over the course of a project” (Environmental Management Plan, 2018). This should start early in the planning process to enable a proper consideration of alternatives and avoid potential delays and complications. The environmental management plan often contains construction guidelines that specifically address how the contractors are to incorporate environmental considerations into their work. 5.4 Analysis of Questionnaires for the Consultant Office 5.4.1 About the Consultant In the northern West Bank there are only four consultant offices, three in Nablus and one in Jenin. Projects managers in these offices filled the questionnaire. Their experiences ranged between eight and thirty years. 73 5.4.2 Descriptive Statistics by the Consultants Table (5.13) presents the results descriptive statistics techniques for part two of the questionnaire according to consultant. The table shows the frequencies, mean, standard deviations, and coefficient of variation (C.V) for all factors. 74 Table (5.13): Descriptive statistics for factors according to consultants Code Factor Frequencies Major effect Effect Some effect Neutral No Effect 1 Group No.1 : Managerial Factor 5 4 3 2 1 Mean Std. deviation Variance F1.1 Clear roles and responsibilities (owner, consultant, and contractor) 3 1 3.5 1 1 F1.2 Contractor’s experience 3 1 4.75 0.5 0.25 F1.3 Financial status of the contractor 2 2 4.5 0.577 0.333 F1.4 Contractor’s capability in terms of labors and equipment 1 1 2 3.75 0.957 0.917 F1.5 Contractor’s selection based on the lowest bidder 2 1 1 4.25 0.957 0.917 F1.6 Owners team experience 2 1 1 3.25 0.957 0.917 F1.7 Efficiency of the owner’s inspection team 2 2 3.5 0.577 0.333 F1.8 Amount of work subcontracted 2 2 3.5 0.577 0.333 F1.9 Delay in contactor progress payment 2 2 3.5 0.577 0.333 F1.10 Direct payment to laboratory test by contractor 1 2 1 3.25 1.258 1.583 F1.11 Weak effective coordination between the departments responsible for infrastructure and road projects 4 3 0 0 2 Group No.2 : Design and Specification Factor F2.1 Pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions (e.g. soil type, temperature, and traffic volume) 2 2 4.5 0.577 0.333 75 F2.2 Design errors due to inadequate engineer assumptions and inaccurate data (e.g. traffic volume expected growth and soil type) 2 2 4.5 0.577 0.333