Causal Factors of Claims in Highway Construction Projects

The US highway system is the largest road network system in the world. Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) administers about 9,722 route-miles, (28,000 lane-miles) of roadway networks in Michigan. Every year, hundreds of projects worth millions of dollars are let by the State Transportation Agency (STA). Majority of these projects are successfully completed within the original scope of work, budget, schedule, and without litigation. However; some projects end up in litigation and disputes costing tax payers a great amount of money and the STA a great amount of resources. The number and cost of these construction claims has been substantially increasing in recent years. Research on this topic has been limited to-date. Therefore, a research on this subject is needed to investigate all of the factors affecting highway construction claims to improve efficiency and effectiveness of highway project delivery.