# Risk Assessment of Large-Scale Infrastructure Projects--Assumptions and Context
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Methods
#### 2.2.1 Qualitative Analysis  
The significance of project risks (R) was divided into four categories: very high (VH), high (H), medium (M), and low (L). This was determined on the basis of the product of the project risk impact intensity (I) and its occurrence probability (p), with a five-interval scale of both variables, according to the following relation:  
\[\text{R}=\text{I}\times\text{p} \tag{2}\] \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**No.** & **Risk Description** \\ \hline \hline  & Demand-related risks \\ \hline R1 & Different development of demand than expected \\ \hline \hline  & Risks related to the project design \\ \hline R2 & Inadequate surveys and inquiries in the given locality \\ \hline R3 & Inadequate estimates of project work costs \\ \hline \hline  & Administrative and public procurement risks \\ \hline R4 & Delays in awarding \\ \hline R5 & Building permit \\ \hline  & Risks related to the land purchase \\ \hline R6 & Land price \\ \hline R7 & Delays in land purchase \\ \hline  & Risks related to construction \\ \hline R8 & Exceeding investment costs \\ \hline R9 & Floods, landslides, etc. \\ \hline R10 & Archaeological findings \\ \hline R11 & Risks related to the contractor (bankruptcy, lack of resources) \\ \hline  & Operational risks \\ \hline R12 & Higher maintenance costs than expected \\ \hline  & Regulatory risks \\ \hline R13 & Environmental requirement change \\ \hline  & Other risks \\ \hline R14 & Public opposition \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Source: Departmental methodology of the Ministry of Transport [7].  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Risk register according to the Departmental Methodology of the Czech Republic. The probability (value) and the impact intensity had the determined ranges presented in following Tables 3 and 4. Table 5 shows the occurrence frequency of very high, high, and medium risks in the researched sample of projects, according to the risk register (see Table 1). In addition to the risk frequency, the table also shows the dependent variable, which enters the economic CF of the projects as a basis for the calculation of economic efficiency indicators. It is clear from the overview given in Table 5 that the most significant risks for transport infrastructure projects identified in the pre-investment phase lie in the estimation of future demand for new infrastructure use (R1), design and preparatory work (R2), (R3), delays in obtaining construction permits (R5), land purchase (R7), and excess of project costs (R8). The R1 risk is related to the demand, which affects the income part of the projects in the operational phase of their life cycle by a possible reduction in their expected socio-economic benefits. The influence of other risks has a direct impact on investment costs, which thus become a significant variable in the economic assessment. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Category** & **Name** & **Verbal Description** \\ \hline I & Imperceptible & no significant effect on expected social benefits of the project \\ \hline II & Mild & long-term project benefits are not affected but corrective measures are needed \\ \hline III & Medium & loss of expected social benefits of the project, mostly financial loss and in medium- and long-term time horizon, corrective measures may solve the problem \\ \hline IV & Critical & large loss of expected social benefits of the project, occurrence of adverse effects causes a loss of the project’s primary function; corrective measures, even if taken on a large scale, are not sufficient to prevent major losses \\ \hline V & Catastrophic & significant to complete loss of function of the project, project objectives cannot be achieved even in the long term \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Scale for risk impact intensity (I).