Refereed Journals

Sub-grade is the ultimate load bearer of vehicular traffic load in a pavement structure. A weak sub-grade or problematic soils require some improvements like soil stabilisation, soil reinforcement and/or capping of the sub-grade layer. These sub-grade improvement methods increase the total project cost because non-local materials such as cement, geosynthetics and hydrated lime are commonly used. The use of graded oil palm kernel shells (OPKS) which are local, cheaper and readily available as a soil improvement material was assessed in this research. This assessment was done by mixing sub-grade material with 2.8 mm, 5 mm and 10 mm graded OPKS. 10 %, 20 % and 30 % of each graded OPKS was added separately to the soil to form nine composite materials. These composite materials including the natural soil were tested for their California Bearing Ratio (CBR) values. The investigation proved that the composite made of 20 % 2.8 mm graded OPKS yielded a soaked CBR of 23.5 % which is a 197.47 % increase in soaked CBR compared to that of the natural soil. The soaked CBR samples of the graded OPKS composite materials absorbed lesser amounts of water in comparison to that of the natural soil. This behaviour implies that some capillary force created at un-soaked condition in the composite materials was preserved; therefore the composite materials generally have higher CBR values than the natural soil.

E-procurement implementation in other parts of the world has brought benefits such as efficiency, cost reduction, reduced procurement process, minimised corruption, enhanced compliance and standardisation of procurement. Though the Public Procurement Authority has made many strides in the adoption of e-procurement in the Ghanaian Public Sector, the pace for the implementation and adoption is still very slow. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the critical factors for the implementation of e-procurement in Ghana. With the knowledge of these critical factors for e-procurement implementation a survey was conducted involving 60 procurement professionals. The mean score ranking test was then used to determine the factors that were significant to the implementation of e-procurement. The results revealed that availability of internet, power stability, capacity enhancement of procurement officers, availability of infrastructure were important critical factors when it comes to implementation of e-procurement while the mandatory use of e-procurement, technical interoperability budgetary control among others were of less importance. This study therefore evaluates the critical factors for e-procurement implementation in public sectors. The implication is that the finding offers useful factors that will guide the stakeholders and policy makers in e-procurement implementation. It provides practitioners with better understanding of e-procurement environment.

Ghana is the first country in the Sub-Sahara African region to reform its mining sector and has become the poster
child for such change in the developing world. Obuasi is the hub of gold mining in Ghana. The Obuasi mine is
currently operated by AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), and contributes immensely to the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) of Ghana. Mining is however, an activity that causes disturbance to the natural habitat and threatens
biodiversity. Mining of mineral resources results in extensive soil damage, altering microbial communities and
affecting vegetation leading to destruction of vast amounts of land which needs to be reclaimed and restored.
Reclamation is the process to restore the ecological integrity of these disturbed mine land areas. Mining at the
Eaton Tuner Shaft (ETS) area has been decommissioned and this paper seeks to explain processes leading to the
sustainable design of a safe and suitable landform for the ETS as part of closure plan by reclaiming the vast land
currently in the heart of Obuasi town. This is an exploratory study employing survey methods, geotechnical
profiling and topographical survey to obtain data for the landform design and ultimate land reclamation. The
study revealed that the soils at the ETS area have an upper stratum of sandy Gravels underlain by strata of silts or
sands with average plasticity index of 14.46% and can be used as fill material with mean allowable bearing
capacity between 781KPa and 1,413KPa. For a sustainable landform design, the study recommends a gentle
slope transitions of about 2.5% and 1:2 for embankments.

Research works into the effect of economic factors on the construction industry are enormous. But finding the core economic factors is limited in the Ghanaian construction industry. In an attempt to address this research gap, this study articulates the aim of identifying exogenous economic factors influencing the construction industry through a qualitative literature review. The study used secondary data collected from over 50 published journals, conference papers, and dissertations on exogenous factors. Fifty-nine exogenous factors were identified, and the most prevailing ones were GDP, exchange rate, inflation, interest rate, consumer price index, etc. It also revealed that black market is a factor affecting construction industry in Saudi Arabia. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting generic and specific exogenous factors that should be of concern to players in the construction industry including policy makers in their project planning. This will help to reduce the incidence of high failure rate of construction firms. Again, it establishes the need to further study the real impact of these exogenous factors as well as the strategies to mitigate the influence of exogenous factors on the construction industry as this study was limited to qualitative literature review.

Cost of building is usually influenced by several factors; one of such is frequent changes in macroeconomic variables. The purpose of this study is to establish the need to conduct further research on the impact of changes in macroeconomic components on the cost of public educational buildings. The study adopted the qualitative research approach; purposive and snowballing techniques were used in selecting respondents. Questionnaire survey was used to obtain primary data from respondents who were Quantity Surveyors and Estimators. The questionnaires were analyzed through descriptive analysis. Secondary data was obtained through literature review. The study revealed that respondents were satisfied with cost management procedures and practices and mainly relied on cash flow, progress reporting, and project cost control methods as means of monitoring and managing project cost. Relative important index, prime rate, interest rate, and inflation were some of the macroeconomic components that professionals considered having impact on cost. The respondents also recommended further studies on the impact of macroeconomic variability on cost of public buildings.