Develop and justify a plan giving a clear analysis of risks and constraints of an identified project. Appraise the roles and skills required to successfully undertake the project

BMP5004 Project Management

Project Management Report

Learning Outcome:

LO2: Develop and justify a project plan for a given scenario

LO3: Appraise project management roles and skills

LO4: Analyse project risks and constraints

Assignment brief:

Develop and justify a plan giving a clear analysis of risks and constraints of an identified project. Appraise the roles and skills required to successfully undertake the project

Your Programme Management report should be constructed using either:-

a) One of the scenarios outlined in the Case Study Sheet for this assessment (see below)

b) A project of your own choice (This can be your work based project).

You should include the following:

1. An introduction including an appraisal of the project aims and objectives. ( 15 marks)

2. A detailed Project Plan including:-

I. An overview of the Project

II. An analysis of the stakeholders and their requirements

III. An analysis of the required resources to facilitate the project.

IV. An assessment of the risks of the plan.

V. A critical path analysis of the project including a Gantt Chart (Or similar structure) representing the timescales of the project.

VI. A copy of the supporting documentation/ forms. (60 marks)

3. An evaluation of your research methodology for the project. (15 marks)

4. Write in a grammatically correct style and provide in text referencing throughout, including quotes, referenced according to the Harvard Referencing System. Provide a correctly formatted Reference List. (10 marks)

BMP5004 Project Management Assessment Case Studies:

There is extensive information available online covering these projects. You should use them to construct your proposal answering the brief above.

Millau Viaduct (Millau, France)

The Millau Viaduct is a multi-span cable-stayed bridge that links Paris to Barcelona in order to prevent gridlock on Millau’s roads in summer. It is the tallest cable-stayed bridge in the world. Michael Virlogeux created the original concept in 1991; however the design was dismissed as being unfeasible. A modified version of the original design was adapted by Sir Norman Foster and approved by the authorities. It pushed the boundaries of what was possible, being built across one of the deepest valleys in France. With mudslides reoccurring in the local geology along with deep caves, it made it a very challenging build. The build began in 2001 and took only three years to finish. It was three months ahead of schedule and had a nearly perfect health and safety record. GPS checks had to be regularly carried out to ensure complete precision. A tolerance of around 1cm per 4m casting ended up in a misalignment of as much as 6m. Winds were another common concern, especially when the positioning of the decks was taking place. Engineers would have to wait for three day weather windows when the wind speeds were lower, in order to carry on working. These obstacles were overcome efficiently in the process of completing the bridge.

Palm Islands (Dubai)

The Palm is one of the largest manmade islands. It took five years of planning and land reclamation to finish in 2011. In order to start the process, the reclaimed land needed to be protected by the strong currents and wind by creating a breakwater. Rock was used despite the fact that it was difficult to source and expensive. It helped encourage the creation of a natural reef. The breakwater created is 11.5km long and goes down 50m and was the first ever ‘curved’ breakwater. When it came to land reclamation, there were many difficulties. The shape of The Palm made it difficult to achieve accuracy when placing the sand. There were no fixed points of land to survey from so to overcome this, engineers used a differential global positioning system. This allowed them to check the accuracy of the placement of sand to within 1cm. The sand then had to settle before it could be built on. This is a natural process, which normally takes millions of years. However, a process called vibro-compaction was used to make the settling process speed up. A project manager would have been responsible for ensuring the safety of this sand for building on. Once the land had been reclaimed, a state of the art vacuum sewerage wastewater treatment plant, underground power lines and a monorail were constructed. Once finished, there were homes and hotels were available for 65,000 people.

Three Gorges Dam (China)

The Three Gorges Dam is a multi-purpose scheme created to bring huge benefits to flood control, power generation and navigation. The main structure consists of a dam, spillway structures, power plants and navigation facilities. The preliminary design was approved in 1993 and the construction was divided into three phases, to allow for easier management of such a huge project. The total construction period lasted 17 years. In phase-I the river was closed. In the second phase from 1998 to 2003, it was marked by the reservoir initial impoundment. The first batch of generating units for electricity was tested and the double-way five-stage ship lock open to navigation. The final phase involved all 26 generating units being put into operation. This marked the completion of the project. During the process of constructing the dam, there was a huge focus on management innovation, project quality and quality management. There was multi-level quality supervision and control systems in place to ensure the quality standards were met. As a result of these systems, the progress the project made was much more efficient and the quality standards were much higher. Crossrail The concept of the Crossrail is not a new one. It has taken 35 years of careful planning and development for it to finally break ground in 2009 at Canary Wharf. Since then there have been a few changes in order to review extra savings on the construction of the Crossrail. This meant that the central section of the Crossrail services would now open in 2018, rather than the original agreed date of 2017. This would be followed by phased introductions of the other services available on the route. The Crossrail Act 2008 gave a confirmed route from Maidenhead and Heathrow to Shenfield and Abbey Wood. This meant that new rail tunnels and stations under central London were required to be built. The cost of the project is shared between the Government, TfL and the business community. Nearly forty-years after the original plans were proposed, the first eight tunnel boring machines were put on path to tunnel from Royal Oak Portal towards Farringdon. The project managers for the Crossrail are responsible for providing support to the project sponsors and must ensure that the project is delivered on schedule, within budget and to the standard agreed.

BMP5004 Project Management