Bridging Sustainability and Buildability in Infrastructure Projects Organisation and Sustainability Assessment in Bridge Engineering

Report, 2020

There is an increasing need for dealing with all aspects of sustainability in combination with buildabil- ity within the infrastructure sector, demanding each actor to take responsibility. The infrastructure construction process tends to be complicated due to many actors involved, with separated goals and aims. The actors have to understand the vitality of their possibility to impact, and the importance of collaboration. This Master’s thesis has been conducted to investigate the views on roles and responsibilities concerning sustainability and buildability within the Swedish infrastructure sector, focusing on bridge engineering and early design phases.
The research area is rather complex, and the research questions strive to cover the fundamentals of the subject, constituting the basis for further investigation. The purpose of this study is to map the Swedish infrastructure sector based on the current views of six interviewees from the largest actors in Swedish infrastructure. The interviewees are members of the top project management and represent two of the largest contracting companies, the most extensive public client of civil engineering works, one of the largest consultancy firms, and a material supplier company. The focus has been on getting the top project management’s current view of the infrastructure sector concerning roles and responsibilities regarding buildability and sustainability.
The study has shown that collaboration constitutes a base for change, where the infrastructure sector requires a better trans-boundary understanding of the actor’s responsibilities. The top project management emphasizes the weight of cooperation for improving the work with sustainability and buildability in infrastructure projects. Concerning this, a work plan that provides a concept for the execution of different project delivery methods could help harmonise the industry and potentially facilitate sustainability and buildability. Further, it could also enhance collaborative working methods, which the top project management encourages. Sustainability performance assessment is of great value for improving the sustainability work in the infrastructure sector. An improvement, desired by the interviewees, is a tool that includes several aspects of sustainability to make profound sustainability assessments in the projects. The economic aspect of sustainability is, in our opinion, found as the most prominent driving force for change, and constitutes the base for creating financial incentives, which the top project management seems to encourage.