The Melbourne Metro Tunnel project concerns with the construction of new twin nine kilometres rail tunnels along with five distinct underground stations. It is the most significant Australian public infrastructure project. The rail tunnel is supposed to link the rail lines of Sunbury and Cranbourne/ Pakenham (Metrotunnel.vic.gov.au 2018). The present paper aims to identify and summarize the issues associated with the program management and highlights the PMI techniques and principles adopted for the constitution and execution of the program. In addition, the study critiques the way the particular program have been linked with the strategic plans and what lessons can be learnt for the future with respect to the organization itself as well as the program management discipline as a whole.
The Victorian Government prioritizes the Metro Rail project as the critical city-shaping project that would essentially lead to improved reliability, capacity and traveling times across the various metropolitan rail lines (Gleeson, Dodson & Spiller (2012). The five individual underground stations are to be located at Central Business Districts South and North, Parkville, Arden and Domain. The primary purpose of undertaking the project is to keep up with the growing and changing demand of the Melbourne travelers in an efficient manner.The Melbourne Metro Rail Network will include 33 high-capacity trains, which will accommodate approximately 1,100 passengers in the initial stages (Planning.vic.gov.au 2018). The program also encompasses the reconfiguration of the metropolitan rail network into a simple metro line coordinated network. Each of the simple metro lines is to have dedicated tracks and separate facilities (Heinrichs & Bernet, 2014). The rail network is supposed to pass through the suburbs of North Melbourne, Carlton, Kensington and Parkville. The construction follows a top down technique by dividing the overall program into eight distinct precincts (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). The main components include the five metro rail stations, the western and eastern portals and the tunnels. The trains have been designed in a way to extend it up to a length of 220m. In addition, another 70 train sets will be procured to provide for added capacity.
The major outcomes expected from the program are improved access to public transport with the help of developing five new stations in the inner cities (Lucas, 2012). Further, it would facilitate employment for more than 4000 people during the program construction. The program will enhance the capacity and reliability of the Melbourne rail lines. Most importantly, the program will allow 20,000 more travellers and passengers to avail the metro rail during peak office hours. Another significant outcome of the program is it will effectively reduce the traffic congestion in the roads and highways (Melbourne Metro Rail Project.2018). The metro tunnel is expected to untangle the City Loop involving Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury, which in turn will allow more space to accommodate newer trains.
The strategic planning for the metro rail network demonstrates the demand for an advanced, simple and efficient train system that provides the facility of frequent train services throughout the day as well as during the nights (Edwards, 2013). The strategy for the particular program involves relocation of the existing rail infrastructure as well as upgrades and improvements. The strategic planning considers permanent and temporary land occupation for the delivery of the tunnel project (Weizman, 2012). The project has been thoroughly plan with a predictive schedule management approach. The main activities during the design and planning phase of the program involve site investigations, community consultation, and complete reference design development of the project, preparation of the business case, environmental assessment and enabling works (Walker, 2015). These milestones have been achieved within the year 2015 to 2016 (Planning.vic.gov.au (2018). Therefore, according to the PMI definition of the program management methodology, the project charter developed includes all the major milestones.
In addition to that, it further states the future milestones for the years 2017 and 2018. Hence, by looking at the strategic context of the program, it can be said that the program properly links with the organization strategy, by clear definition of the objectives, business goals, vision and the mission statements (Patanakul & Shenhar, 2012). Apart from that, proper strategic alignment means building a decision-making framework that adequately allows changes as well as stakeholder engagement. The metro tunnel program has the main objective to provide additional capacity to the rail system of Melbourne so that it is able to meet the passenger need (Flyvbjerg, 2014). The rail authority has properly aligned the main aspects of the program with the objectives (Melbourne Metro Rail Project. 2018). These aspects essentially encompass stakeholder engagement, site investigations, planning approvals and procurement, planning and developing a project reference design (Heurkens & Hobma, 2014). The project commissioning and construction delivery are also thoroughly monitored and addressed.
The program planning demonstrates the major benefits of the project outlined in the business case (Bryde, Broquetas & Volm 2013). The strategic program planning includes in detail the individual benefits. The benefits of the project is divided into five categories. These are as follows: station precinct benefits, economic benefits, sustainable population and jobs growth, construction jobs, social benefits and commuter benefits. The benefits are scheduled and planned in detail. According to the PMI definition of a program, the program addresses the assessment and evaluation of the potential benefits identified at the initiation phase. To be more precise, the commuter benefit components include the capacity for 39,000 more passengers in the peak hours, reduction of overcrowding in the inner core of the rail network, ease of congestion, passenger safety, reshaping of travel demand that enables the opportunity of future restructure of the rail network in the central business district.
The economic benefits are planned according to the objectives of the program that looks forward to an increase of the gross state product by at least 7 billion dollars.The other potential economic benefits such as boosting the existing national employment clusters as well as the emerging employment clusters are addressed and monitored effectively. It is expected to reduce City Loop crowd and improve access to public transport in the inner city locations in Melbourne. Furthermore, it will also prove to be a catalyst the new commercial as well as residential developments (Wakeman, 2015). In terms of sustainable population and jobs growth, the program will provide employment, health and cultural opportunities and connect the north and west with knowledge based jobs. The social benefits are also planned accordingly, which include reduction in the number of in-road vehicles, reduced road accidents along with a significant reduction in the degree of greenhouse gas emission.
The Metro Tunnel project effectively plans its stakeholder engagement program. It major stakeholders for this program have been successfully identified. The stakeholder management program takes into consideration the groups and/ or individuals directly or indirectly associated with the program. They include Yarra Trams and Metro Trains Melbourne train and tram franchise, V/Line, VicTrack, VicRoads, Signal Sighting Steering Committee, Transurbanor CityLink, transport users, local businesses and local residents and the other accredited rail transport operators. Apart from that, other stakeholders involve public transport Victoria, department of treasury and finance, department of premier and cabinet, commonwealth department of environment, architect, heritage, environmental, planning, aboriginal affair, department of environment, land, water and the protection authority (Parliament.vic.gov.au 2018). In addition to that, other stakeholders are the local councils in the cities of Maribyrnong, Port Phillip, Stonnington and Melbourne. The local residents, hospitals, businesses, universities and other different types of institutions are also considered as indirect or secondary stakeholders.
The stakeholders are thoroughly managed throughout the developed and construction phase of the project. The metro rail authority oversees the overall activities of stakeholder management. The stakeholder engagement follows a consortium consisting of the joint venture design and construction (Lang et al., 2012). More specifically, it also involves a detailed stakeholder risk management to address and mitigate the risks in an effective manner. Utilizing a systematic communication technique and stakeholder engagement plan, people in general have and will keep on taking part at key focuses in the arranging, improvement and conveyance of Melbourne Metro (Aapaoja, Haapasalo & Söderström, 2013). It takes into account the government offices and offices, utility suppliers, local occupants, organizations, local councils, network associations as well as the interest groups. This approach utilizes devices incorporating direct gatherings with key partners, briefings with pinnacle bodies and local councils and the arrangement of online materials and surveys to speak with, advice and look for the contribution of the extensive variety of partners intrigued by the venture.
The Metro rail authority mainly governs the Melbourne Metro Tunnel program. The overall delivery of the project is taken care by the rail authority since February 2015. The program authority HAS set up a formal assessment and administration structure to regulate the EOI and RFP assessment forms. With respect to the PMI definition of project governance requirements, the program adequately aligns with the governance methodology. In this context, it has a strong governance framework in place, which has proved to be a potential solution in terms of managing the overall project work along with the deliverables and requirements associated with the program. The governance framework is in accordance with the project scope, business case and technical requirements (Wakeman, 2015). As part of the program governance process, the risk management involved a systematic risk identification and assessment approach. The formal governance and evaluation structure supervises the RFP and EOI assessment processes. An assessment board bolstered by three expert assessment SubPanels, whose individuals were particularly chosen for their aptitudes in a specific zone, led the EOI and RFP assessments.
The Metro Tunnel project follows a public private partnership (PPP) model. The appointed persons in the project are Sinclair Knight Merz, Mott MacDonald,Aureconand Grimshaw Architects as technical advisers for the Melbourne Underground Metro Rail project.Grimshaw will be responsible for the architectural design of the five stations as part of the contract, conforming to the budgetary limitations.Their role included carrying out a detailed study and suggesting the route and location of stations. The South Yarrahas established a partnership with the project. The integrated development opportunities in the project has been critically evaluated in order to identify the major gap that can be addressed by adopting meaningful supporting processes (Mees, 2010). The partnerships framework is developed for this purpose, which is dedicated to manage the implementation of the tender process for the stations and the tunnels.
The partnership with the Cross Yarra for the Melbourne tunnel project has the responsibility for developing the construction and design requirement for the project. The construction for the rail tunnel project would include the construction and excavation for the 9 km stretch of twin rail tunnels from South Yerra to Kensington. Furthermore, five new railway stations would be included within the track that would facilitate direct exchange of the commuters between Flinders Street Station Melbourne Central Station (Bowen, 2018). During the initial phase of the project, the Swanston Street was selected as the initial option for construction. Nevertheless, after successive evaluation, the route was rejected due to technical issues and poor connectivity. Therefore, the route above the Swaston Street was confirmed for construction of the metro tunnel project. Further due to the shallow tunnel and within the Swaston Street, the process of cut-and-cover method was selected for construction. Later after commencing work with the construction of the tunnel, the plan for developing the metro over the Swaston Street was discarded due to the increasing risks regarding the disruption of traders and trams on the Swaston Street. This resulted in the increased cost by $1 billion for the project budget. The project finally ended in construction of the twin tunnel lines between the South Yarra and South Kingston terminals while introducing five major stations over the route (Jefferson, 2017).
The changes in the construction plan twice during the project timeline have resulted in increased budget and various damages to the surroundings. The lack of proper planning and risks analysis during the planning phase has increased the technical and engineering risks during the initial phase of construction. Developing a detailed risks analysis while considering the construction environment as well as the technical aspects and impact on the tunnel construction would help in avoiding the risks and increased budget for the project.
The plan for the construction of the metro tunnel railway in Melbourne has been developed for separating the operations in existing metro lines and for better management of the rail capacity. The planning of the metro tunnel development project has been awarded with $40 million AUD (Cotton, & Guo, 2017). The combination of the metro tunnel along with the addition of five new metro platforms on the line would help in increase the frequency of the metro trains on the route. The project would include the construction, excavation of the tunnels while the construction includes the development of the access shaft, ventilation shafts and cross passages, drainage system, pipelines, civil works and embedded pipe work along the tunnel route. The planning for the project included the acquisition of the land for underground tunnel to the Government. In addition to that, the palling of the constructing twin lines over the communication route would allow running of simultaneous two metro at a time. In addition to that, alternative passage and transportation lines have been introduced for diverting the traffic to other routes and eliminating the aspect of congestion.
The initial project constitution included the detailed development and construction of the twin metro lines with five stations along the route. The proper planning and evaluation of the requirements have allowed in the inclusion of civil and pipelines works (Smith, 2017). In addition to that, the evaluation of the congestion risks along the development sites has allowed the project to identify alternative routes for eliminating the traffic congestion. Therefore, the application of risks identification and mitigation plan has been utilized within the project during the planning phase.
The complexity and scale of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project has created vital challenges considering the impact and disruption of construction while justifying the significant expense of AUD 11 billion. The plan for constructing excavation for underground station over the stretch of 9 km has created stringent requirement for the design (Jefferson, 2017). Vital issues were raised when the excavation work was done close to the existing road infrastructure present. In addition to that, the complexity of the surrounding geography around the project site created geotechnical issues for stabilizing the huge wedges that were generated by the Castle Hill Station’s fault lines. Furthermore, the excavation process around the metro has significantly disrupted the vehicular and pedestrian traffic pressure around the metro route under construction. The alternative route developed before the construction was not effective enough for reducing the congestion of the traffic over the tunnel area. In addition to that, the vibration from the excavation and construction process has led to serious damage to the surrounding buildings (Cotton,&Guo, 2017). The authority of the Melbourne have respondent towards the risks by stating proper communication and collaboration will be made with the stakeholders for minimizing the negative impact of the construction over the nearly buildings.
In the project, it has been identified that the proper analysis of the geotechnical risks has been assessed before commencing the project (Jardine, & Riley, 2017). Most of the risks identified in the project are based on the construction issues and lack of proper analysis of the nearby geography over the building. The associated risks could be avoided with detailed and proper analysis of the current geographical area and geotechnical impact over the surrounding building. Further, engagement with the geotechnical engineer during the planning of the tunnel construction project would help in easy identification of the issues in the planning phase while minimizing the damage.
Every project is associated with significant risks and damages. The application of the proper project management methods and risks management analysis helps in identification of the risks, and their impact over the project (Teller & Kock, 2013). This method helps in developing a mitigation strategy or alternative strategy for implementation that helps in lessening the impact of the risks over the project (Bowen, 2018). From the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project it has been identified that the during the feasibility study and risks analysis, the impact of the environment should be taken into considerations. In addition to that, during the construction of the future underground project, the involvement of the geotechnical engineer should be included during the planning phase. Further, various external factors including the trust on the soil, the impact of vibration, the excavation techniques, the depth of the tunnel should be included during the feasibility plan for development of the underground metro tunnel in the future (Alkaff, S. A., Sim & Efzan, 2016). Further in future projects, during the identification of the alternative transportation routes, the density of the traffic needs to be considered for ensuring the efficiency of the path.
Conclusion
The construction of the Melbourne Tunnel Metro has been associated with various risks and issues. The primary purpose of undertaking the project is to keep up with the growing and changing demand of the Melbourne travelers in an efficient manner. However, the application of the various mitigation strategies and implementation of detailed engineering work has resulted in the elimination of the risk impact and proposed completing the project by one year early than the initial date. The evaluation of the strategic alignment and the engagement of the stakeholder within the project has provided with detailed information about the management and development of a real life construction project. In addition to that, the evaluation of the project execution and problem involved within the project has revealed the advantages and impact of the various project management methodologies including risks assessment and feasibility study on determining the project success.
References
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