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From several countries trend bamboo has been used as a scaffolding material in building projects. Nonetheless, Ethiopia is known for the high population of bamboo vegetation such utilization of the material remained untapped. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that influence bamboo’s structural suitability as a temporary material and to create a conceptual map for using it as an alternative structural material. Following the identification of important applications influencing parameters via literature analysis, both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to identify significant factors. The paper also used a series of protocols; at first, several documents were selected based on criteria to provide an overview of bamboo- based construction systems. Following that, four major categories for SWOT analysis were chosen to examine the Ethiopian construction industry’s stance on the use of bamboo as a scaffolding material. Finally, a scoring model was employed as a quantitative analysis protocol to calculate the weight of factors (safety, procedure and implementation, time, and cost) through expert opinions. The investigation revealed that the use of bamboo has a cost and time savings advantage, while an increase in trash at acute and intermittent areas was one of the challenges. Furthermore, one of the challenges in creating bamboo formwork is a lack of complementary joinery techniques. Besides that, it is expected that the bamboo content will fall short of technical requirements. On the Brightside, every single respondent stated unequivo- cally that bamboo-made formwork meets a low-cost requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the critical BIM adoption strategies for public construction projects in developing countries to enhance successful BIM implementation schemes in the AEC industry. Initially, an empirical study was conducted using a structured questionnaire survey which is first validated though a pilot test. Then, the study investigated the discrepancy of professional groups on the perception of critical adoption strategies using different statistical tools. Further, factor analysis was conducted to identify potential latent factors associated with public construction projects. The result indicates that the top ranked BIM adoption strategies are strategic & adequate IT infrastructure, availability of standards and guidelines for BIM adoption, and government policy. Similarly, six latent constructs were developed from the factor analysis: organization, application & tools, market, information management, project, and process. The study highlighted critical strategies that are deemed most important to various professionals and business owners, in an effort to improve BIM adoption in the developing countries. The novelty of this study is in relation to BIM implementation strategies towards infrastructure construction projects in developing countries, particularly in the east African region. This paper can also be particularly beneficial to construction firms involved in public construction projects to facilitate the implementation of BIM in their own organizational nature. Moreover, the crosscountry comparative analysis provides a global perspective to improve the gap in the understanding and adoption of BIM in the Sub-Saharan African region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents analytical data-based multi-criteria approach of critical success factors of infrastructure construction projects analyzed in the Ethiopian con- struction industry. This multi-criteria technique helps to improve the decision cap- abilities and ultimate performance of construction processes in various low-income countries of the East African region. The aim of this paper is to establish a logical relationship and interdependencies of success-related factors for enhancing decision making for various project teams and identify priorities while taking into account all known construction organizational constraints. A structured hierarchical matrix was developed based on a pre-identified success-related factors, and initially evaluated by experienced professionals as part of a content validation of the survey. Different professionals working in various construction organizations in Ethiopia were invited to participate in the questionnaire survey. All the required data analysis, including sen- sitivity performance, was conducted through Expert Choice© 11. Further, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was conducted to examine and compare multiple expert responses. Based on the findings, the top success-related factors that affect decision making in construction projects are Adequate Goals/Objectives, Consultant’s Competency, Prior Experience of Consulting Firms, Consulting Firm’s Willingness and Cooperation, and Financial Standing of Contractor. The results are based on their global priority weights in the hierarchical model. The findings highlighted that there is disagreement between the major stakeholders involved in the construction process. The contribution of the study is introducing a bench-marking multi-criteria decision analysis technique to enhance decision making in the Ethiopian infrastructure sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]