There are several site factors that lead to increase construction of heavy civil projects. These factors are not the same from one project to another one.
Site factors that increase the cost of heavy civil constructions include:
One of the major site factors that may increase cost of building is the bad weather for example continues precipitation and short building season.
Fig.1: Bad weather condition during construction generates difficulty and damage part of construction undertaking or and equipment and hence increase construction cost
Difficult accessibility is another factor that increase construction cost. Construction of temporary roads which are used to transport materials, equipment, and personnel to the construction site is an example of raising cost due to difficult access to the undertaking site.
Fig.2: Temporary construction access road
So, labors are needed to commute from other places which clearly increase the building cost. If the building is remote, then it is likely that labor shortage will be encountered. Added to that, transportation cost of equipment and materials will also increase building cost.
Fig.3: Remote undertaking site increases building cost due bringing labors from other regions and delivering of materials and machinery
If the contract period is short, then construction cost may increase due to higher labor and equipment cost. This is because labors required working for longer time and equipment used for longer period to maintain working in night shifts.
This will lead to increase transportation and disposal costs in landfills.
Traffic problems and extensive traffic control in an urban setting is another site factor that lead to increase the cost of project building.
The achievement of borrow pit requirements need considerable time and it is costly. Borrowing material for construction would influence the environment, so it would not be an easy task to comply with several environmental laws.
Excavations close to high level ground water for instance excavation adjacent to river, stream, or lake. This will increase the difficulty of excavation operation and hence construction cost would increase.
Restrictions on how the construction site can be developed will not only influence the selection of the equipment used for construction but also lead to reduce production rate. As a result, the construction cost will be increased.
Limitations on working hours may apply in residential area. Restrictions on working hours will lead to increase number of working days. So, the cost of construction due to limitations on working hours will increase offered that the contractor cannot be take advantage of daylight for the construction.
Limitation on the level of noise generated by used construction equipment: noise level restriction will influence the selection of equipment types.
Subsequently, certain devices may be selected that their operation would be more expensive for example diesel pumps may be prevented to be used for dewatering excavation in residential area and more expensive pumps need to be used.