Team working in road maintenance functions for sustainable construction in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Road maintenance is a continuous process that ensures a proper road network with safe and comfortable riding facilities are available to the road users. Among the few research studies on road maintenance, most of them suggest better contractual arrangements to improve road maintenance performance. This paper takes a different stance by looking into the team working aspects of road maintenance teams and suggesting avenues to improve team performance for sustainable road maintenance in general. Literature lacks in discussing how teams perform in road maintenance activities. Hence, the aim of this research was to explore how team working takes place in road maintenance functions and how to improve team-working towards sustainable road maintenance in Sri Lanka. The case study research approach was selected for this study. Accordingly, three case studies with three Executive Engineer’s Divisions within the Road Development Authority were undertaken. The findings revealed how maintenance personnel worked as teams during different phases of road maintenance. However, several areas needed improvement as suggested in the paper. These findings will be useful for performance improvements of road maintenance activities in general.