Global Provider of Architecture Construction Services

Question: Describe about A global provider of architecture, design, engineering, and construction services? Answer: Introduction: Gateway WA can be considered as one of the largest road construction projects in Western Australia (mainroads.wa.gov.au, 2015).The project is being undertaken by the Government of Western Australia. It is expected that the completion of the project will lead to enhancement of security and safety in existing transportation system of the area. Although the Main Roads WA is considered as the main stakeholder of Gateway WA project, actually the authority developed an alliance with private organizations (mainroads.wa.gov.au, 2015). The organizations which are included in this joint venture are- Georgiou, Leighton contractors, GHD, BGE and AECOM (Gatewaywa.com.au, 2015). The construction of proposed transportation infrastructure is being undertaken in three parts. The total area which is being redeveloped is segmented into three parts-Northern area, southern area and western area. Gateway WA being a large project is divided into several tasks. Expanded Tonkin and Leach highway, improved pe destrian facilities and designing of the area according to urban standards and public art can be considered as some of the key deliverables of Gateway WA project. Project Charter: Components of charter Description Analysis of scope Expansion of Tonkin Highway Up gradation of Leach Highway Development of Grade separated interchanges at different intersections of network Up gradation of interchange at Tonkin/Roe Highway Construction of on-ramp at Abernethy road Improvement of local networks, pedestrian facilities Designing landscapes Business case analysis Improving transportation infrastructure if Western Australia Milestones for project Development of On ramp-December 2013 Temporary grade interchange at Tonkin/Horrie Miller and Kewdale road-mid 2014 Construction of 4 bridges at Tonkin Highway-July 2014 Improvements in Kewdale-mid 2015 Construction at Leach Highway and Abernethy road-2015 Grade separated interchange completion at intersections mid 2016 Identification and analysis of risks Cost overrun Legal issues Technological issues Delay in project completion Estimation of budget $ 1 billion Analysis of stakeholders Federal Government of Australia Main Roads WA State Government of WA Georgiou, Leighton contractors GHD BGE AECOM Learned lessons Importance of communication Project planning WBS development Operating principle of teams Different manages were appointed for each zone. However, teams communicated with each other. Table 1: Project Charter for Gateway WA Analysis of scope: According to Journal (2013) success of a project depend on the approach of executing it. Kenley (2014) opined that it is important to organize the tasks of a project to complete it successfully. However, identification of deliverables plays a major role in the process of organizing a project. Morris (2013) states that identification of project scope gives the ideas on its deliverable. It also provides information regarding the potential obstacles for successful execution of project. Scope of the Gateway WA project includes expansion of Tonkin Highway as a six lane road, up gradation of Leach Highway according to the standards of an expressway, up gradation of Roe Highway (Gatewaywa.com.au, 2015). Successful completion of the project will also lead to development of vertical intersections at major junctions of Western Australia. Success criteria for the project completion also includes development of an on ramp at Abernethy Road to Tonkin Highway. Tasks related to installation of advanced cycling infrastructure and local transportation development is also being conducted as a part of Gateway WA project (Gatewaywa.com.au, 2015). Business case analysis: Lingard, (2010) states that analysis of business scopes leads to better identification of project deliverables. However Karrbom Gustavsson, and Gohary, (2012) also opined that business scope analysis provides us with the information regarding the need of undertaking a project. Thus the tasks of a project can be prioritized effectively using the findings of business case analysis. In case of current project the business case is analyzed by reviewing current transportation infrastructure of Western Australia. However, the pressure on existing transportation infrastructure is also considered while analyzing the business case for Gateway WA project. The Government of Western Australia has initiated the project Gateway WA with the intention to improve the existing transportation facility of whole region (Gatewaywa.com.au, 2015). As the population is increasing in Western Australia, the number of vehicle is also increasing. It indicates that the roads are being more congested. Although the existing transportation facility is capable to handle the traffic, growth rate of vehicles indicates that the existing infrastructure requires being up graded immediately. As the number of vehicles is increasing rapidly, increasing the number of lanes in busy roads is essential to ensure uninterrupted flow of traffic. On other hand, increase in population is also leading to increase in the number of pedestrians and cyclists. It indicates that the infrastructure for pedestrian and cyclist facilities require to be upgraded to provide safety to the users. However, the project is also being undertaken for designing the landscapes of major junctions in road network of Western Australia (Gatewaywa.com.au, 2015). Mile stones of the project: Completed tasks Date of completion Development of On ramp at Abernethy Road December 2013 Gerry Archer Reserve Realignment December 2013 Switching of traffic to temporary intersection of Tonkin Highway/Horrie Miller and Kewdale intersection Mid 2014 Construction start of four bridges Mid 2014 Traffc Switching at Leach Highway and Abernethy Road intersection August 2014 Construction at Kewdale Mid 2015 Construction at Leach and Abernethy junction By end of 2015 Construction of grade separated interchanges By mid 2016 Table 2: Milestones for Gateway WA Gateway WA was started in 2013. Initially it was estimated that the project will be finished by 2017.Analysis of the tasks within this project indicates that about half of the whole project has been completed. However, the current progress in project works indicates that Gateway WA can be completed within mid 2016 (Mediastatements.wa.gov.au, 2015). The tasks which are completed already ,are development of Abernethy road on-ramp, development of temporary grade separated interchange at the intersection of Tonkin Highway, Kewdale Road and Horrie Miller Drive is also completed in 2014 (Get The Bigger Picture, 2015).However , the tasks which are expected to be completed within 2015 are, constructions in Leach Highway, Abernethy Road and Kewdale industrial area. Permanent grade interchange development at different junctions of Tonkin Road, Kewdale Road, Horrie Miller Drive and Abernethy Road will be completed by mid 2016. Identification and analysis of risks: The risks which are associated with Gateway WA project are risks related with increase in budget, lack of funding, arising of legal issues and technological issues. Cost Overrun risks: According to Kenley (2012) most of the large infrastructure projects fail to be completed within estimated budget. As these projects are executed for a long time budget can increase due to sudden increases in price of raw materials. On other hand Kloppenborg (2012) opined that the deliverables of infrastructure project requires being tested for several times before they become fully operational. Budget of the project can increase if problems are found while testing new infrastructure for transportation. The roads where construction works are going on are still being used by people. It is causing reducing the time for working in these roads. It may cause delay in project. Legal issues: Kenley (2014) stated that complexity of project increases with increase in the number of stakeholders associated with it. In the current project Federal Government and state government are responsible for funding. Apart from this, five constructors are also given with the responsibility of executing different tasks. Although the Government agency made an alliance with these organizations and all the constructors are cooperating with each other to complete their tasks, chances of arising legal issues cannot be minimized. Arising of legal issues among stakeholders can interrupt the progress of project and thus restrict it from being completed on time. Lack of funding: Although the Federal Government and state government are working jointly to raise fund, project may not be completed within the estimated budget. However it may require additional financial resources for being completed of the price if raw materials increase suddenly. Lack of fund can affect the progress. Estimation of budget: Estimated budget of Gateway Construction is about $1 billion. However the budget may increases as the construction is still being undertaken. As stated by Landin (2011) estimation of budget in case of large projects is difficult as large projects often fail to be completed on time. The Federal Government of Australia and the State Government are contributing jointly to raise the fund. The Federal Giver met contributed approximately $616 million to the find. On other hand the contribution of state Government is about $318 million (Gatewaywa.com.au, 2015). Analysis of stakeholders: Parameters Sponsors (Federal Government and State Government agency-Main Roads WA) Constructors (Georgiou, Leighton contractors, GHD, BGE and AECOM) Transportation facility users Importance High Funding the project High Responsible for successful completion High The project is undertaken to benefit users Power High Takes all decision regarding fund High Takes all decision regarding construction Low Cannot take part directly in the process Interest High Successful completion will lead to over all improvement of the area High Financial improvements High Will be benefited by improved infrastructure. Influence High Decides policies and contracts High Develops designs Low Not directly related with process Impact High Can modify policies High Can modify designs Low Not directly related with process Urgency High Lack of fund can cause delay High Poor quality can affect the effectiveness of project Low Not directly related with process Legitimacy Project Owner Member of alliance Users will get the benefit of improved transportation system Total High High medium Priority Key Key Other Table 3: Identification and analysis of stakeholders Success of a project depends on the involvement of stakeholders with the process (Lau and Rowlinson, 2011). However the stakeholders can be categorized according to their influence on project (Morris, 2013). According to Lingard (2010) key stakeholders who are directly related with the process have more power to influence the process of undertaking a project. On other hand impacts of the project are more evident in case of those stakeholders who are not directly related with project. In this current project Main Roads WA, an agency of WA government is one of key stakeholders. Although different stakeholders are related with the project priority of stakeholders depend on how they are related with it. The Federal Government contributes a significant portion of the fund for undertaking the project. Thus the Federal Government is identified as another important stakeholder for this project. As construction is an important part of the whole process, companies which are responsible for executing construction works are also consud4ed as key stakeholders. Other key stakeholders for Gateway project are- Georgiou, Leighton contractors GHD, BGE and AECOM. Successful up gradation of transportation infrastructure will benefit the users. People who use the transportation facilities are considered as stakeholders for this project. However, Morris (2013) stated that large projects can be influenced by various factors and thus it is difficult to identify all stakeholders of a pro ject. Learned lessons According to Lingard (2010) identification of main deliverable in a project is important for developing effective plans. In case of large projects , proper planning is important for completion of tasks with in time the experience of working in Gateway WA helped us to learn how small tasks of a large projects can be identified. We also realized the importance of identifying deliverables while developing plans. However we also learned the process of communication if several teams are working in a project. Importance of communication among teams is also realized by us. Operating principle of teams As the project aims at improvement of transportation infrastructure and important road networks in Western Australia, the constructions are being undertaken in large Ares. However total construction are is divided into three different zones-Western, southern and Northern area. As five private organizations are responsible for completing construction works, different project managers are appointed for each zone. According to Smith et al. (2013) collaboration among teams is important to complete a project successfully. However teams of each zone communicate regularly to collaborate with each other. Communication plan: SI Agenda for communication Structure Time of communication Method of communication/medium 1 Planning for project Direct communication between both members At start of project and whenever required Meeting/ face to face communication 2 Developing resource strategies Direct communication between both members After development of design and whenever required Meeting/ face to face communication 3 Discussion on current work status Reporting to team leader After completion of each milestone E-mail/communication over phone 4 Identification of issues Direct communication between both members Every week and whenever required Meeting/ face to face communication Table 4: Communication plan of our team According to Kenley (2014) communication among teams enhances their efficiency. In case of large project several teams work together. Communication among these teams is important to avoid interruption in project works. However Lingard (2010) opines that structure of communication varies according to the need and nature of communication. On other hand, Morris (2013) opined that scheduling of communication is important for increasing efficiency of the process. Table describes the communication plan used by our team. Before commence met of the project we scheduled the meetings. Apart from scheduled meetings we also communicated whenever required. In our project both the member of team communicated several times for completing our tasks. We used both push and pull methods for communication. The medium of communication also varied according to the purpose. Work Break down structure (WBS): Figure 1: WBS fir Gateway WA According to Landin, (2011), development of WBS is important for identifying scopes of a project. However the complexity of WBS increases with the increases in size of projects. As large project comprises of several small tasks, creation of WBS ensures that the whole project is executed efficiently (Lingard, 2010). In this current project 3 tiered WBS is developed to identify each task. Development of WBS not only enabled us to identify the deliverables, but it also benefited us to understand priority of each task. The tasks related with selection of constructors, fund raining, fund allocation, designing and staffing are described. However successful completion of these tasks will lead to completion of other tasks such as project planning, construction works and alliance formation. These tasks are described in second tier of WBS. Completion of tasks mentioned in second tire will lead to successful completion of Gateway WA project. Conclusion: Analysis of the Gateway WA reflects the difficulties which can be faced by infrastructure development project. As the constructions are being undertaken at busy road networks, difficulties may be faced while achieving milestones. Analysis on the progress in this project indicates that all tasks can expect to be completed within time. Although large number of stakeholders is involved with this project, no legal issue has been raised till date. However, chances of raising such issues are not eliminated completely. Although the constructors are capable to complete their tasks efficiently, project can be restricted from being completed within estimated time if any issue raises reading quality of construction. References Aecom.com, (2015). About - AECOM - A global provider of architecture, design, engineering, and construction services. [online] Available at: https://www.aecom.com/About [Accessed 11 Mar. 2015]. Gatewaywa.com.au, (2015). Funding delivery Gateway WA. [online] Available at: https://gatewaywa.com.au/about-the-project/funding-and-delivery/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2015]. Gatewaywa.com.au, (2015). Project scope Gateway WA. [online] Available at: https://gatewaywa.com.au/about-the-project/project-scope/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2015]. Georgiou.com.au, (2015). Georgiou Group - About Us. [online] Available at: https://www.georgiou.com.au/about-us.html [Accessed 11 Mar. 2015]. Get The Bigger Picture, (2015). Gateway WA. [online] Available at: https://getthebiggerpicture.wa.gov.au/gateway-wa/ [Accessed 10 Mar. 2015]. Ghd.com, (2015). History. [online] Available at: https://www.ghd.com/global/about-us/history/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2015]. Journal, P. (2013). Agile Project Management. Hoboken: Wiley. Karrbom Gustavsson, T. and Gohary, H. (2012). Boundary action in construction projects: new collaborative project practices. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 5(3), pp.364-376. Kenley, R. (2012). Managing Change in Construction Projects: A Knowledge-based Approach. Construction Management and Economics, 30(2), pp.179-180. Kenley, R. (2014). Productivity improvement in the construction process. Construction Management and Economics, 32(6), pp.489-494. Kloppenborg, T. (2012). Contemporary project management. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning. Landin, A. (2011). Construction Stakeholder Management. Construction Management and Economics, 29(1), pp.107-107. Lau, E. and Rowlinson, S. (2011). The implications of trust in relationships in managing construction projects. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 4(4), pp.633-659. Leighton Contractors, (2015). About us. [online] Available at: https://www.leightoncontractors.com.au/about-us/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2015]. Leighton Contractors, (2015). Gateway WA. [online] Available at: https://www.leightoncontractors.com.au/projects/gateway-wa-perth-airport-and-freight-access-project/ [Accessed 10 Mar. 2015]. Lingard, H. (2010). Construction Safety Management. Construction Management and Economics, 28(2), pp.213-214. mainroads.wa.gov.au, (2015). TRAFFIC SWITCH SUCCESS Horrie Miller Drive Tonkin Highway. [online] Available at: https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/Documents/Gateway%20WA%20Project%20Newsletter%20-%20June%202014.RCN-D14%5E23491194.PDF [Accessed 10 Mar. 2015]. Mediastatements.wa.gov.au, (2015). Joint Media Statement - Gateway WA passes the halfway mark. [online] Available at: https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/pages/StatementDetails.aspx?listName=StatementsBarnettStatId=9015 [Accessed 10 Mar. 2015]. Morris, P. (2013). Reconstructing project management. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell. Smith, N., Merna, T. and Jobling, P. (2013). Managing Risk in Construction Projects. Hoboken: Wiley.