Development of a model determining the relationships of the factors delaying reconstruction projects

Transportation infrastructure plays key role in timeliness of post-hurricane reconstruction process. Therefore, timely reconstruction after hurricanes is of high importance for the decision makers. Various factors lead to delays in the reconstruction of transportation infrastructure. To lessen the adverse impacts of these factors, not only the individual study of the effects of these factors but the interactive consequences of them need to be accurately investigated. The objective of this study was to (1) explore the causal relationships among the factors affecting timeliness of post-hurricane reconstruction of transportation infrastructure and (2) the extent to which these factors and their interactions affect the timeliness of reconstruction process. Implementing data from 44 experts in post-hurricane reconstruction of transportation infrastructure and 195 of the general public, the interrelated network of 14 factors was modeled using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Then, the impact of the factors on the time of the reconstruction was evaluated. The outputs demonstrated that severe damage to major transportation systems, insufficient number of available active contractors, and low revenue of local government are the top-Three factors affecting the time of reconstruction of transportation infrastructure according to both groups. This research assists decision makers in understanding the critical paths that lead to delays in the post-hurricane reconstruction of transportation infrastructure and how different is the perspective in this regard. In addition, the decision makers would be able to predict the impacts of interdependent factors during the reconstruction process after hurricanes.