Rethinking the Construction Schedule Risk of Infrastructure Projects Based on Dialectical Systems and Network Theory

The construction of infrastructures is becoming increasingly complex and risky under uncertainty, which often results in construction delay. Many efforts have been made to identify and control construction schedule risks. However, previous efforts only focused on the diversity of risks with assumption that risks are independent. The ignorance of (1) interdependencies between the originalities of risks within infrastructures as a sociotechnical system, and (2) links between risks impedes the reasonable explanation for and assessment of the construction delay of infrastructures. This paper aims to develop a novel hybrid approach to address these issues based on dialectical systems and network theory. It first identified construction schedule risks from the perspective of dialectical systems at the industry level, which were further verified by global expert interviews and refined by questionnaire survey based on the Chinese infrastructure industry. Then, using network theory-based analysis, the key challenges and solutions were identified at project level based on a real infrastructure case. Seven key risks and 20 key risk links were identified with effective risk mitigation strategies provided for this case project. This research provides a new approach to understanding and analyzing construction schedule risks for better delivery of infrastructures. The results are not only helpful for the Chinese infrastructure industry, but with revisions are also applicable for other regions to improve construction schedule risk management.