Resilient Construction of Critical Infrastructure: Anticipating and Measuring Supply Chain Delays from Global Disruptions
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 30, Issue 4
Abstract
Public sector infrastructure construction has been adversely impacted by recent shocks and stresses associated with global change, conflicts, and supply chain breakdowns. To address these challenges, this article presents novel methodologies to quantify past project delays and anticipate potential future disruptions from global shocks. These methodologies are then applied to over 2,000 projects executed by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 2011 and 2021. The results show that cost and time overruns in 2021 are double the baseline amount observed in the last 10 years. In some districts, a greater than 50% reduction in the number of contractors is also observed, despite an increased volume of work. Further, this article finds that many projects significantly rely on Russian-sourced minerals, suggesting that these challenges will likely accelerate as commodity scarcities from the Russia-Ukraine War unfold. This early-stage intelligence could significantly improve supply chain resilience in an increasingly unstable world.
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Data Availability Statement
The data sets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported in parts by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, under the RSDN project) and the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (under a FLEX project on compounding threats).
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual authors and not those of the US Army, or other sponsor organizations.
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Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 30 • Issue 4 • December 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 24, 2023
Accepted: Jun 5, 2024
Published online: Aug 24, 2024
Published in print: Dec 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jan 24, 2025
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