Appropriate appraisal and apportionment of megaproject risks

Abstract

The increasing internationalization, magnitude, and complexity of engineering projects has resulted in a review of risk management strategies. This paper develops and describes strategies for appraising the synergistic potential and risk-carrying capacities of prospective project participants, whether in joint ventures or otherwise, and for identifying, analyzing, and responding to risks by an appropriate apportionment to those best equipped and motivated to control them. Multidimensional frameworks are proposed to help professional engineers appraise the potential participants and the project risks, and to appropriately allocate the latter to the former. It is noted that such appraisals may indicate that certain projects are vulnerable to unsustainable risks in which case those projects may be abandoned at that stage itself.