Project Management Experience & Challenges

This solved assignment delves into the author's experience as a Consulting Civil Engineer on a Government Health Building project in Lebanon. The text outlines the project objectives, budget, timeline, and key challenges faced during execution, including communication gaps and delays. The author details their contributions to mitigate these issues through strategies such as weekly progress meetings, an internal reporting system, and the use of Excel for activity tracking. The assignment concludes with a reflection on the author's role in overcoming critical situations and their impact on the project's success.

CE 1.1 Project Information
Name of the project: Governmental Health Building
Location of the project: Lebanon - Beirut
Project Duration: From June 13 of 2014 to September 13 of 2014
Organization: Dar Al Handasa Nazih Taleb for consulting
Role and Designation during the time: Consultant Civil Engineer (Intern)
CE 1.2 Project Background
CE 1.2.1 Characteristics of the project
The Government Health Building project was under the municipality of Ghobeiry. It is
situated in Lebanon- Beirut. This project involved Dar Al Handasa Nazih Taleb consulting
group. The main project contractor was Maamar Contracting. The Sky management company
was assigned by the municipality for the purpose of project management. This project began on
June 13 of 2014 and ended on September 13 of 2014. The total area of the Government Health
Building is 7000 square metres. The total cost of this project was USD 7 million. The
government health building project has two basements, seven floors, one ground floor and roof.
It also has water supply system, sewage, fire extinguishing system, lighting system, elevators and
fire alarm system.
CE 1.2.2 Objectives developed for the project
Government Health Buildings are developed for the purpose of serving the health of the
people at a free of cost. These costs are funded by the government. This project was developed in

Lebanon, Beirut. This project was developed for the purpose of improving the health condition
of the people in the area. The objectives of the Government Health Building project are:
 To design and fabricate the health building structure
 To promote better health and well being of the society
 To help the local people to avail proper health service with no expense
CE 1.2.3 My area of work
I was the Consultant Civil Engineer of this Government Health Building project from
June 13 of 2014 to September 13 of 2014. I had to report to the Senior Site Engineer. Being the
Consultant Civil Engineer, my area of work was to inspect the civil and structural works that was
being carried out in the project site. I was mainly involved in the design and construction of the
building. I had utilized my civil engineering knowledge and skills for ensuring safe, well-
resourced and timely completion of the project.

Head of the Department
Senior Site Engineer
Team Member Consultant Civil
Engineer (Myself)
Team Member
CE 1.2.4 Project Group
Figure 1: People involved in the project
CE 1.2.5 My responsibilities throughout the project
I had various responsibilities in the Government Health Building project. Being the
Consultant Civil Engineer, my main responsibility was to carry out the design and construction
of the building. I had to carry out the inspections of the civil and structural work. I had to carry
out this work in coordination with the project contractor for giving approval of the RFI of the
detailed plans and activities that were to be performed. I had to review the specifications and
plans of the project. I also had to review the material quantity that was required for the building
construction. I had to report this to the Senior Site Engineer. I had to supervise the Performed

Filed Test like the Borehole for the purpose of determining the type of soil and its bearing
capacity. I also had to supervise the density of the field for back fill material wherever required. I
was responsible for supervising the moisture content, plastic limit, liquid limit, specific gravity
as well as the absorption ability of the soil. I also had to carry out the slump tests and check the
compressive strength of the field. The Senior Site Engineer had given me the responsibility to
monitor the progress of the jobs and also to update the project schedule I had to compile the data
of the results of the inspection that was carried out. I was responsible for maintaining and
reviewing the status of all the project-related correspondence like the field reports. The
inspection of the entire Government Health Building project was under my responsibility.
CE 1.3 Distinctive Activity
CE 1.3.1 Engineering knowledge and skills applied in the project
I have utilized my civil engineering skills and knowledge for building the Government
Health Building. The most important skills required for this project were the analytical as well as
critical thinking abilities. I have applied specific construction skills and knowledge that I have
gained from University. I have applied my knowledge for incorporating safety features in
building the Government Health Building in order to avoid any costly accident. I have also
utilized my strong communication skills for motivating the workers and also to communicate
with the Senior Site Engineer. I have utilized my critical problem solving skills to overcome any
construction issue that took place in the site. I was able to select the correct equipments for
carrying out the construction project. I have applied my designing skills to present a well planned
structure of the health building.

CE 1.3.2 Accomplishment and task performed
This project was accomplished with the help of proper planning. There were regular
meetings, site inspections and progress monitoring that led to the accomplishment of this project.
The baseline time schedule of the project consisted of 1336 activities. These activities included
milestones, shop drawings submittals and approvals, mobilization and de-mobilization, submittal
as well as approval of method statements, procurement, construction, transformer room work and
inspection and finally the close out of the process. The project time schedule and summary is
given below:

Figure 2: Project Schedule
CE 1.3.3 Personal Workplace Activity
I was working under the supervision of the Senior Site Engineer. I was supervising the
work progress and understanding the reason behind the delay of the project. I was also
responsible for carrying out the project time schedule as well as shop drawing. I had developed a
communication plan to overcome the coordination gap. I had designed a simple Excel sheet for
monitoring and controlling the processes in the project. I was responsible for conducting the
progress meeting on a weekly basis between the main contractor, subcontractor and us. In order

to execute the activities that required low budget commissioning process, I had linked these
activities with a finish to start relationship with the testing and commissioning process. I had
learned to make use of various logic techniques to recover the delay.
CE 1.3.4 Identified issues and their solutions
1.3.4.1 Issues
The communication gap between the project team members of the contractor was one of
the main issues that led to the delay of the project. There was unprofessional work plan from the
contractor. The delay was mainly due to the shoring system and also in the concrete work. The
delay was also from our side. The first E.O.T was submitted and mentioned the following
reasons for the project delay.
 The QA/QT manager did not give the approval concerning the material results for
soil classifications. This had stopped the work for around 12 days.
 There was delay in giving approval for design drawing of the steel of the core
walls. This delayed the overall project by 18 days.
 Delay in the approval of waterproof material delayed the schedule by 31days.
 Because of these delays, Maamar got 45 days of extension.
The second extension of the project deadline was due to the stopped payment from the
owners. This had affected the critical path by 150 working days. The supply of the site materials
were stopped due to this reason. As a result of E.O.T 2, the project had set a new milestone finish
date; the deadline was set to be on 3-Dec-2017.
1.3.4.2 Solutions

I had developed a communication plan and conducted a meeting with the engineers of the
contractor. It consisted of an internal reporting system. Weekly progress meetings were
conducted for coordinating and helping each other to avoid site delays. Excel sheet was designed
to keep track of the activities. A method was used to decrease the duration of the critical path by
decreasing the duration of each activity and by increasing the resources required. More labours
were hired for emergency situations.
CE 1.4 Project Review
CE 1.4.1 Project Overview
The Government Health Building project was executed in Lebanon, Beirut for the well
being of the society. This project had started in on June 13 of 2014 and ended on September 13
of 2014. USD 7 million was the estimated cost of this project. The total area required for
carrying out the Government Health Building is 7000 square metres. Maamar Contracting was
the main project contractor. The main objective of this project was to promote a healthy
environment and to facilitate the people with health facility at no expense.
CE 1.4.2 My contribution to work
I was appointed as the Consulting Civil Engineer (intern) for carrying out this
Government Health Building project. I had inspected the site on a daily basis for assuring full
compliance with the specifications and plans as per the contract of the project. I had also made
the design of the layout of the site. I had designed an excel sheet to keep the track of the
activities and developed communication plan for overcoming the issue of communication gap
and project delay. I could solve and handle several critical situations at the project site. My hard

work and capability had surprised the construction manager. He insisted to hire me after
completion of my graduation.