Research on Influencing Factors and Control Measures of Construction Cost Overrun in China's Expressway Projects

In China, the expressways have been built a lot over the past decade. The construction of the expressway suffers from usual cost overrun. There are many factors of different stakeholders influencing the construction cost of expressways, and it is difficult to control all of them. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the key factors causing expressway construction cost overrun and take corresponding cost control measures. In this article, decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), interpretative structural modeling method (ISM) and system dynamics (SD) are integrated as DEMATEL-ISM-SD method to identify the key driving factors of expressway construction cost overrun and simulate the interactions of these factors to find the cost control measures. A case in China has been selected as an example to demonstrate how to use the proposed method. As a result, six key factors from different stakeholders are found. Then, six corresponding measures are put forward. This study can provide guidance for expressway construction cost control.