Elazhary, M and El-adaway, I H (2025) Enhancing management of transportation projects: Integration factors for using smart contracts. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 151(12): 04025201, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) delivers a wide range of infrastructure projects, backed by a fiscal year 2023 budget exceeding $100 billion. These projects face mounting pressures to meet performance, accountability, and delivery standards, driven by their dependence on public funding and their operational complexity. Transportation infrastructure presents sector-specific challenges - such as time-sensitive user disruptions, multiparty coordination, and asset intersection risks - that demand more robust, automated, and transparent project delivery mechanisms. Blockchain-enabled smart contracts have emerged as a promising solution to address these operational pain points through real-time automation, immutable data records, and decentralized transaction processing. However, the practical realities of the transportation sector - its fragmented systems, regulatory layers, and diverse stakeholder interfaces - create unique integration challenges that remain underexamined. To address this, this study investigates how smart contracts can be effectively integrated into transportation infrastructure by identifying the context-specific needs, requirements, capabilities, and challenges that govern their adoption. A three-phase research design was employed. First, a literature review was conducted to extract generalized integration factors for smart contract use in the broader construction domain. Secondly, these factors were evaluated and ranked by qualified transportation experts to reflect their relevance in sector-specific contexts. Thirdly, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze expert survey responses and isolate the most influential integration drivers. The results indicate that, unlike general construction projects, the top integration priorities in transportation include (1) compliance checking for quality management (needs); (2) integration with existing cloud repositories or enterprise platforms (requirements); (3) the ability to maintain immutable records (capabilities); and (4) uncertainty regarding usability (challenges). These findings provide a targeted knowledge base for practitioners and policymakers, outlining the critical considerations required for effective and sector-sensitive implementation of smart contracts in transportation infrastructure.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | implementation, smart contract, quality management, infrastructure project, automation, project delivery, blockchain, coordination, funding, transportation infrastructure, transportation sector, research design, pain, platform, complexity, integration, construction project, practitioner, transportation project, usability, structural equation modelling, literature review, face, survey, accountability, compliance, knowledge base |
| Subjects: | management, health conditions and diseases, organizational analysis, information systems, systems engineering, statistical analysis, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, user-centered design, research design and methodology, data collection methods, computing systems, project delivery, data analysis and analytics, digital design, automation and robotics, production management, health safety and environment, quality assurance, liability law, practitioner, psychology, digital technology, economic analysis, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Organizational Design, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Procurement, Legal Issues, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here