Factors Affecting Tower Crane Production Rate in Egyptian Construction Industry

Construction equipment is an essential resource for the modern construction industry as the production rates of equipment is considered a significant factor in construction projects' success. Frequently, construction managers must make influential monetary decisions based on the machinery performance they supervise, with 30-40% of construction cost overruns attributed to insufficient equipment production rate. The tower crane is considered one of the most important pieces of equipment because its production rate has a huge impact on the construction project's performance. This was the rationale for focusing on tower cranes in this research. The aim of this research is to identify and measure the factors that are affecting tower crane production rates in the Egyptian construction industry to support decision-makers in enhancing projects' performance. Therefore, a questionnaire that includes 19 affected factors structured under four main criteria, which are site management, site conditions, labor conditions, and tower crane conditions, was developed to collect the data required. The questionnaire was conducted through personal interviews with industry experts. Collected data was recorded and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Then the data was evaluated and ranked based on the Relative Importance Index (RII) method. The results achieved by this research introduce a hierarchy rank for 19 factors that affect tower crane production rates in the Egyptian construction industry. These results represent vital information that facilitates overcoming the insufficient tower crane production rate in the project's early study stages to avoid its negative impacts on project success.