Journal of Project Management

Running head: SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
Name of the Student
Name of University
Author Note

1SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
Introduction
A collaborative project was planned between the organisation of Fujitsu, Downer and
EYEfi to establish smart drains with the utilization of sonar and camera sensors such that the
project would act in reducing the risk of flooding when storm water drains overflow. The
project was taken as a solution for the over flooding of the blockages in storm water drains
for improving the utilisation of the maintenance system teams for drains. The following essay
would find out the issues in the project, the users, the issues that they were facing without the
implementation of the drainage systems, the definition of the problem, the needs of the users,
the key stakeholders, stakeholder mapping, addressing of the problems of the project details
and the reflection of this is the source of the project with discussion of the problems
associated with the different aspects of the project.
Synthesis of the Project
Understanding the problem
The primary problem of this particular case when the roadside storm water drains
would overflow. Implementing a smart drainage system with the help of a system that would
enable a proper utilisation of an alerting procedure that would initiate an alarm every time the
overflow is about to occur is the probable solution to the problem so that a proper mitigation
strategy can be instigated.
The users of the end product would be the people in Australia, especially the people in
the Yarra regency community. The collaboration for the project is developed for these people
as they are the ones who usually face problems due to the blockage of Roadside storm water
drains.
The blockage of storm water drains can often cause problems during the times of
extreme and heavy rain. Due to this, the risk of flooding increases significantly where storm

2SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
water drains often overflow. The people residing in that particular area are specifically facing
several problems because of it since there is no system to detect the upcoming overflow due
to blockage. Naturally, there are no ways that mitigation strategies could be applied.
Flooding of general roads can cause a lot of problems for every person who avail the
route for daily commute. Overflowing of the drains will also incorporate the solution with the
help of smart sensor and cloud technology so that the storm water pits in flood prone areas
can be checked. The most important factor is to find a solution for the problem which would
be easier to detect the overflowing so that there can be strategy applied for mitigating the
flooded conditions.
Defining problem
The area that is going to be affected by the project is mostly under a huge risk of
damage caused to general properties. The local flood management system implemented in the
area are receiving drainage related challenges and issues every now and then. There are
several reports of long-term issues and analysis reporting upcoming failure of the system that
is depicted on the drainage system because of another future problem. The risks are going to
increase even more because of the rise in the rain percentage on earth by 7%. The solution to
this problem is going to be found out with the help of this project.
The primary need of the project managers handling the project is have the
organization goals fulfilled, which is developing a better drainage system that would provide
the residents and the other people in the area with low risk of flooding issues that can occur
with over excessive rainfall; with alerts sent for and upcoming drainage overflow. The
customers are right now requiring a proper drainage system that would not flood the area
even if there is a chance of increase in rainfall by 7% in the area.

3SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
The key stakeholders of the project are the ones that are directly or indirectly affected
by the outcomes of the project. This means that only the people who are directly or indirectly
associated with the project would be counted as the stakeholders. This would be the three
organizations collaborating with each other, the end users who are the local residents in
Australia, the Yarra Ranges community and the mayor Len Cox.
The three collaborating organizations are directly related to the project and they are
the primary stakeholders who have the responsibility of building up the entire project and
providing the best possible outcomes or solutions for the development of the technological
alerting system for the drainage overflow. The mayor Len Cox is at the responsibility of
providing permission to the organisations to have a proper develop project and carry on with
it. The end users have the responsibility of utilising the drainage system and the Yarra
Rangers community has the responsibility of feasibly testing the project after its delivery to
have a proper after-project feedback generation for instigating maintenance of the product.
What are the key challenges?
The primary challenges in this particular project is the long-term future pressures that
the organisation has been facing because of the existing drainage system problem associated
with the urban consolidation. There has been reports about the rainfall percentage, which
clearly depicts that that there is going to be an increase in the rainfall in density which would
be about 7% of properties prone to flooding in the Rangers Council alone.
The problems are addressed by utilisation of Sonar and camera sensors that would be
designed with the help of Information Technology Solutions and Cloud Computing for
monitoring the water levels and identifying the potential flow rate of water when the roadside
storm water drains would be requiring assistance during an overflow. The blockages can be
addressed before any overflow orcas and the smart brain solution would address the problems

4SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
by incorporating the network smart sensor for providing alert for every rising water within 15
minutes and also for every next 15 minutes.
Addressing the problems
The project is to prepare a system that would provide information to the headquarters
about overflowing of the roadside storm water drain in Yarra Rangers community every time
there is a potential for the management to be ready at providing a mitigation strategy by
analysing the overflow pattern and data. The Information Technology system would provide
the data about the possible overflowing of the drainage system every time there is heavy rain
causing overflow.
The project fulfils all the constraints of a project and hence, it can be regarded as a
proper project. The project has a scope of instigating an innovative system development,
within a proper time schedule of building the system and also it is made under a particular
budget. All this makes it to be considered as a particular project. The project aims to deliver
the solution to the overflowing problem due to heavy rains in the Yarra Rangers community.
Australian people in this community are facing problems due to overflow after every heavy
rain, so there would be a solution provided after the end of the project with the innovative
system development. It is not just necessary to be alerted about the upcoming overflow but
there is also a potential of checking all the data about all upcoming overflows in a particular
season. This data can be collected for further analysis of the future integrations of a
permanent solution. Mitigating the overflow for not letting it because flood is a temporary
solution. Analysing the data for a particular season through a long period of time would
provide a permanent solution for the community so that there would no longer be any
overflow or there would be a solution for eradicating the situation of flood whenever the
drainage system overflows because of heavy rain.

5SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
Since, the project is defined by three particular constraints which are scope, budget
and time, the development of the system fulfils all this constraints and it is aligned with the
strategy of the organisations.
Reflection on the synthesis/analysis of the project and discussion on the problem(s)
associated with users, stakeholders, projects, and organizations
I believe that project to develop the system for alerting about several blockages and
problems regarding overflow of the storm water drain is extremely necessary for the people
in Yarra Community. The collaborating organisations are aware of the problem and this is
why they are trying to provide a solution regarding the issues that the people living in the
area are facing. The problems associated with the users are often aligned with the outcome of
the project if they are not serving well. On the other hand, the project would provide solution
to all the associated problems that has been existing within the community when heavy rain
occurs. Understanding of the problem and trying to solve it with critical measures is aimed by
all the three organisations with the development of the system. The smart drainage system is
also a state of the system that is not much heard of. The innovative product is not just looking
for providing a heightened reputation to the organization but also trying to fulfil the corporate
social responsibilities by helping the community, as per my perceptions.
Conclusion
Therefore, in conclusion it can be said that the development of the system with the
help of information technology and cloud computing technologies that is been formulated by
the three collaborating organisations to develop alerting facilities for the overflow of roadside
drainage systems for the overflow alerts on storm water drain is an effective and collaborative
project that will provide solutions to the people living in the area. Thorough description of
every aspect of the project has been provided in this particular essay which has made it easier
to understand why this can be considered as a project and what facilities are being provided

6SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
to the stakeholders of the project with the development of the alerting system. It would
definitely provide solution whenever there is a chance of heavy rain and overflow of the
storm water drain so that control measures can be taken accordingly. Not just that, it can also
provide a scope for the future to develop a permanent solution to the problem for flooding.

7SMART DRAINS INITIATIVE TO REDUCE RISK OF FLOODING
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