Analysis of the economic life of construction equipment in egypt

Construction equipment constitute a major investment for mostcontractors, especially heavy construction contractors. Consequently, thecontractors’ equipment policies greatly affect their project profitability.They have also a geat impact on the contractor’s ability to be competitive,in an economic sense, with other cor+ractor-s. Determination of the optimumtime at which a piece of construction equipment must be replaced is one ofthe most important elements of construction equipment policy.Studies aimed at optirnizing the economic service life (ESL) ofconstruction equipment have appeared in the literature for over 60 years.The development of the different methods and models that are used fordecision making in equipment replacement and the applications of thesemodels are the major areas investigated in these studies. However, thesemodels have not found application in practice, especially in Egypt, becousethey do not adequately reflect the local conditions.In this study a computerized mathematical model has been developed tostudy the economic service life (ESL) of construction equipment under thelocal conditions and regulations. Moreover, four categories of constructionequipment were selected as a test bed for this study; Earthmovingequipment, pavement equipment, cranes and concrete mixers. Sixty fivepieces of these equipment were chosen as case studies. These pieces wereowned and operated by six public sectors. The optimum replacement lives forthese equipment were calculated and compared with their actual ages. Anaverage value for the optimum replacement life was also identified.Additionally, the main defects of the equipment replacement policies in thesix sectors were presented. Finally, a sensltivity analysis study has beenconducted to identify the most affecting factors among those affecting the(ESL) of construction equipment.