Introduction
Civil construction projects are extremely complex and expensive. They are undertaken to develop the infrastructure of regions and play very important role in economic development. These construction projects are parts of the infrastructure development plan governments of different countries take and commence under the supervision of relevant ministry. The traditional yardsticks of measurement of the success of such complex projects are cost and time of completion. However, with the stakeholder considerations and sustainability gaining strength in the field of project management, the project management and the project owners (usually government bodies) today consider these factors as criteria to measure success of projects. The paper would measure the success of a chosen project based on these parameters. The project chosen for the study is second phase of Dubai Water Canal Project which was executed and completed success under the ownership of Road and Transport Authority, Government of Dubai (dubai.ae 2018). The company which undertook the construction of the prestigious project of total contract value USD 105 million was China State Construction Engineering Corporation which has its headquarters in Beijing, China (chinaconstruction.ae 2018).
Background of China State Construction Engineering Corporation and the canal project:
China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited
China State Construction Engineering Corporation is the largest civil construction company globally which is owned by the Government of China. The construction company is able to float its assets on the Shanghai Stock Exchange as China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited. The construction company has operations in the Americas, Asia, Middle East and Africa. The construction company has a network of funds all over the world which provides it with continuous supply of funds to undertake and execute projects worth millions. China State Corporation Corporation operates high-end construction projects in different parts of the world under the supervision of its respective branches. These projects bring the state owned construction company under the influence of several stakeholders like the project owners, suppliers, financial institutions, investors and the society (Sutrisna and Kumaraswamy 2015). The considerations of these stakeholders today form important criteria of measuring its projects (chinaconstruction.ae 2018).
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Figure 1. Share price of China State Construction Engineering Corporation
(Source: bloomberg.com 2018)
Background of the Dubai Canal Project:
The Dubai Canal Project is the one of the most prestigious infrastructure projects undertaken by the Road and Transport Authority of Dubai. The project has both infrastructural and aesthetic significance to Dubai. The second phase of the project was executed by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation and was inaugurated by His Highness Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, Dubai. The canal covers a length of 3.2 kilometers and stretches Business Bay to drain into the Arabian Sea through the Jumeirah Beach Park. The project was executed in the joint venture format between RTA, Meydan and Meraas. The canal has three bridges traversing it. The first bridge is a pedestrian bridge of 120 meters in length and six meters wide. The bridge hangs over the canal from metals. The second bridge has an S-shaped layout of 205 meters long and 6.5 meters wide. The China State Construction Engineering Corporation used an oval arch technique rising 50 meters over the water surface below. Concrete pillars support steel cables which hold the bridge (khaleejtimes.com 2018). The third bridge was built in form of twisted steel bracket hanging from steel columns. The bridges have elevators and escalators to help pedestrians climb easily while second bridge has cycle tracks to facilitate travel by cycle. The entire construction project involved over 4600 workers who worked under the leadership of four prime contractor companies and three scores of subcontractors. The construction of canal project was completed in five parts and has a positive impact on the environment. The canal project enabled the Government of Dubai improve the quality of water of the entire water way (dubai.ae 2018).
Discussion of standard criteria:
The standard criteria for assessment of the performance of projects are cost and time limit within which the projects are completed. The owners of the projects in the documents inviting tenders mention the target time within which the project has to be completed. The bills of quantities or BOQ contain the breakdown of the entire along with the associated costs. The tender documents also mention the eligibility criteria which the tendering firm, should satisfy in order to bid for the tender. The owner of the project decide the success rates of the projects based on the actual time taken and cost incurred to complete the project.
For example, in the selected Dubai Canal project the owner of the project is the Government of Dubai while the contractor here is China State Construction Engineering Corporation. The contract carried a value of USD 105 million with a tenure of 30 months. An official publication of the Road and Transport Authority, Dubai clearly shows that the work was stretched beyond the scheduled time. It is evident that the job stretched beyond the target time due to interruptions by traffic. The construction of the bridges over the canal were confronted with technological challenges which resulted in extension of the completion period. Thus, it can be inferred from the discussion that the standard criteria of measuring the success rates of engineering projects. It can also be inferred from the report of the RTA about the Dubai Canal that the project was not completed within time due to certain hindrances like traffic and use of complicated technology (rta.ae 2018).
Critical identification and justification of the selected criteria:
The following the new criteria which decide the success rates of the engineering projects at present.
Stakeholder responsibility:
Schoonwinkel and Fourie (2016) mention that the impact which engineering projects have on the stakeholders should be considered as an important criterion to measure their success. The multimillion constructions projects are usually initiated by the governments to improve the infrastructure of their jurisdictions. Suhail et al. (2015) further point out that today complex projects require use of techniques like Agile to manage their executions. Thus, the firms undertaking the projects have to acquire services of technological experts. The construction works like bridges and canals are meant for benefit of the people. Thus, the people are the primary consumers towards whose benefit the projects are targeted. The civil construction projects attract colossal expenditure and need funding from the bank. The main firm contracting for the project hire services of other firms which function as subcontractors. The construction projects require implementation of high-end machinery. This attract services of firms which lend plants to project management companies. The entire process of the execution of projects attract services of engineers, auditors and several other professionals. Thus, it can be inferred from this discussion that civil engineering projects influence several stakeholders. The two standard criteria mentioned above namely time and budget fail to encompass these aspects. Thus, it can be justified that the success rate of civil construction projects should also be considered from the point of view of stakeholders’ interests.
Environmental impacts:
Mok, Shen and Yang (2015) point out that civil construction projects attract immense environmental issues. This is because civil construction projects result in release of immense quantities of sludge and construction wastes. They involve use of chemicals of different types some of which have devastating impacts if released into the environment. The sludge is capable of blocking water ways and causing land pollution (Aziz and Abdel-Hakam 2016). Thus, it can be justified from the discussion that the owners of the projects must consider the environmental impacts to judge the success of the projects while taking delivery from the contractors after completion of the same.
Future revenue generation:
The civil construction projects do not only attract huge expenditure during their execution but also form sources of revenue to their project owners post completion (Kagiri and Wainaina 2017). The civil construction structures like bridges facilitate movement of passengers and goods from one part of the nation to the other. Thus, they play important role in movement of goods from producers to users. It can be inferred that the civil construction structures though attract expenditure in the initial phase, their importance in revenue generation in the economy by facilitating movement of resources cannot be undermined. Thus, the success of the civil engineering projects cannot be undermined just because they have exceeded the budgeted expenditure. This economic importance of civil construction structures justify their consideration in measuring success of civil construction projects.
Critical analysis of the project based on the criteria:
This section would apply the three criteria recognized above namely, stakeholder responsibility, environmental consideration and future revenue generation to analyse the success of the Dubai Canal Phase 2 project (chinaconstruction.ae 2018).
Stakeholder responsibility:
The engineering projects like the Dubai Cannel do attract immense number of stakeholders which makes the ethically and legally obliged to them. The project of Dubai Channel as discussed above attracted three subcontractors, two contractors and around five thousand employees. The project attracted immense funding of around USD 105 million which was supplied by the banks. Thus, success of the project and subsequent payment of money is important for the business generation of the banks financing it. Similarly, the contracting companies which invest in the project are also dependent on its success for their revenue generation. Similarly, the professionals like auditors and engineers are also dependent on the success of the civil engineering projects for their professional growth. Thus, it is evident that the Dubai Canal Phase 2 project had immense stakeholder responsibly. It can also be inferred from the fact that it has been completed successfully it has enabled the construction company and sub-contractors to earn high revenue.
Environmental impact:
The Dubai Canal Phase 2 has a strong impact on the environment post completion which justifies environmental impact as one of its criteria of success in spite of the fact it exceeded both time and budget estimates. First, as Mok, Shen and Yang (2015) point out, construction of bridges undoubtedly release immense amount of dust and chemicals during their construction. Construction of bridges release colossal amount of solid wastes whose disposal has detrimental impacts on the environment. However, Mortimer,et al.(2014) overrides this fact pointing out that the environmental benefits of bridges are far greater than the loss they do to the environment by the pollution. This statement can be totally justified by the environmental benefits which the project is bearing at present. The Gulf News bearing testimony to the fact points out that the canal post completion of the project is allowing water transport. The bridges over the canal allow smoother transport, thus reducing petrol consumption (gulfnews.com 2018). This has surely benefitted the environment of the nation immensely. The bridges have cycle paths which allow cyclists to cover longer distance. This encourages transport by cycle which is extremely friendly. The project has led to improvement in the quality of water which once again justifies the success of the project in benefitting the environment in spite of the cost overruns (dubai.ae 2018) The environmental benefits which the Dubai Canal is bearing post completion only justifies its success rate.
Revenue generation:
The revenue which the Dubai Canal is bearing completion only reestablishes its success in spite of cost and time overruns. This fact is strongly supported by an article published by the Gulf News which reports that investors are pumping capital into business closer to the waterfront (gulfnews.com 2018). Thus, the project is helping the business establishments to attract more capital and become financially strong. The bridges enables easier transports of goods, thus making them available to the consumers more easily. Thus, it is helping the business organizations to earn more revenue. The canal has increased the demand for cruising, thus boosting the cruise industry. This discussion bear sufficient testimony to justify the success of the canal project which surpasses the cost and time overruns.
Conclusion:
The discussion can finally be concluded by the fact that mere time and cost overruns are no more the standard measuring rods of success of projects. The benefits which projects bear in terms of stakeholder benefit, environment and revenue generation post completion are far stronger criteria to reinforce their success.
References:
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