Project Execution Planning and Management for NSW M4 Motorway Expansion

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Project Execution Planning and Management
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Introduction
Faced with growing traffic, the NSW government has decided to expand the M4 motorway,
given traffic into Sydney is growing at a pace. Because of the complexity of the problem such as
having to keep 140000 vehicles moving through the transport corridor and the sheer volume of the
project, the NSW decided no single company could undertake the construction project on their own.
As such, the bidders had to form a joint venture, setting up a new entity (WestLINK), composed of
three companies to undertake the project. In addition, the joint venture company has hired
additional five consultants, and will work with over 180 specialty sub contractors to undertake the
project. Being a publicly funded project, the NSW must ensure the project is undertaken as per the
requirements; to be within the stated budget of AUD 16.8 billion, and be completed on tome (the
deadline for completion is 2023), for the whole 39 km expansion of the M4 motorway. To ensure
the success of a project, such as the massive M4 project, the owner must select the right person/
entity for the job. Further, there must be a team buy-in and a clearly defined scope. For this project,
there are certain challenges that must be overcome (Jha, 2014). The challenges include keeping
140000 vehicles moving through the project corridor, completing the project within scope and time,
keeping down costs, being able to form a cohesive team, and fast tracking the schedule.
In lieu of these, the stakeholders have consulted APIC Consult, a general consultant on the best
way to manage the project, in the context of the project delivery method and the financial contract
method. The project delivery method refers to a system that an organization utilizes to finance and
organize construction operations for a facility being constructed, through a legal framework with
relevant parties (Lewis, 2011). Financial contractual method refers to the method chosen for
financing the execution of the construction project (Weil, 2017). Having been contracted to advise
the stakeholder on the best way to tackle the project, this paper details, after reviewing the various
project delivery and financial contracting methods, the most suitable way with which to handle the
project. Further, the best procurement method is also determined and advised. To do this, an
evaluation matrix will be developed to evaluate the various methods based on their suitability for
the overall project and ability to overcome the stated project challenges, while ensuring the
objectives of the project are met. To develop the evaluation matrix, this report will first set goals to
use in the evaluation, based on the project requirements and the challenges, and then give scores to
each f the different project delivery methods and the financial contracting types (Levy, 2011). A
weighted score will then be developed for each for all the identified goals , which acts as the criteria
weight, and the best methods proposed for the client (Ehrgott, 2010).
Evaluation Goals

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The goals of the evaluation matrix are matched with the project challenges and the deliverables;
and are shown in the table below;
Goal Criteria Weight
Ability to Handle Project Complexity 10%
Fast track schedule and cost control 15%
Worker and Public safety 10%
Unified and cohesive team 20%
Meet 2023 deadline within stipulated cost 30%
Risk 15%
The criteria weights are awarded based on their importance, as a percentage (Kumar & Dash,
2016); the ability to meet the deadline within the stipulated budget is a very important aspect of the
project, and so is given the highest criteria weight. The success of the project depends on the team
delivering the project; this team must have a unified vision and goal, and work in a synergistic
manner in order to meet the deadline within cost, and so this goal is given the next highest criteria
weight of 20%. Every project has a risk; the ability to effectively manage the risks is crucial for the
success of the project, and so this is given a 15% criteria weight. Fast tracking the project schedule
and keeping down costs is another important goal, and is given a similar criteria weight of 15%.
The ability to keep traffic moving while undertaking the construction works is also a important
aspect of the project that will ensure timely delivery, and so this is given a criteria weight of 10%.
finally, work place health and safety is also an important aspect of any project undertaking to ensure
the health and safety of both workers and the general public, so this is given a criteria weight of
10%.
Weighting the project Delivery Methods
Having established the project goals and deciding on the criteria weights, the next step is to
give weighted scores to the project delivery methods (which are variables in the report0, with
justification. This is in order to develop an aggregate score based on the criteria wight and help
determine the best method for project delivery. The criteria weighting was done in a spreadsheet as
shown in the table below by multiplying the criteria weight with the score awarded to each project
delivery method out of 100 points. The sum for each project delivery method is then computed.