Texas Department Of Transportation Case Study

Projects developed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) go through a planning process that includes the determination of the project’s schedule. To determine the schedule, highway construction projects are divided into several activities and the time management of these activities will define the project’s duration. In order to improve the productivity and facilitate the execution of the project, an effective planning is needed. An organized Work Breakdown Structure can enhance the project duration. However, there are certain unexpected and unavoidable factors, which can delay the project’s termination: (1) Conflicting Weather Conditions (2) Temperature, (3) Project’s location, and (4) Workers’ shifts.

Adverse weather conditions are often unpredictable and unavoidable. There is no accurate way of predicting when the project will need to pause its activities due to an unworkable environment caused by weather circumstances, and this has been a problem for contractors. In this scenario, projects may experience delays and budget modifications. Considering that weather can be unpredictable, it is difficult to calculate the effects or

The reason being that weather can be unpredictable. Weather causes problems in the productivity rate, and arrangements are made in a construction schedule to decrease the impact. The changes in the schedule may also affect the duration of the project. In cases where the duration has to be extended, construction claims are necessary. To address this issue, construction contracts include clauses in which it is stated that the contractor may need a time extension due to these weather conditions or a cost reimbursement if conflicting weather conditions eventuate. (Ballesteros-Pérez et al. 2017). These claims demand that the construction manager has to prove that unexpected weather conditions obliged an