Project Planning Approaches and Techniques: A Poster Analysis

Learning Outcomes Assessed

Learning Outcomes Assessed:

LO1: Compare and contrast project planning approaches and techniques

Assessment Brief:

Design a Poster highlighting the approaches and techniques used in Project Management. Specifically, your assessment should include: -

Task One:

 A suitably annotated Poster

 An analysis of the approaches and techniques utilised within Programme Management.

 Supporting notes including a Reference List (to be given to the assessor at the time of presentation).

Task Two:

Presentation Skills

Secondary Research Level HE5 - It is expected that the Reference List will contain between ten and fifteen sources. As a MINIMUM the Reference List should include two refereed academic journals and three academic books

Submission Instructions:

In Module Guide, see Section 12 Guidelines for the Preparation and Submission of written coursework, which will give you details on how to submit your work electronically. You are required to submit only electronic copies of your written assessments, unless your Module Tutor advises you otherwise.

Advice:

·Do not cut and paste phrases or paragraphs from published sources. You should seek to use your own words to explain concepts and theory.

·If you wish to refer to specific quotes from published sources, then you must use full Harvard presentation. See BISSTO for clear guidance.

·Do not share work with other students.

Specific Assessment Criteria (See page 4 for General Assessment Criteria)

The plan will be to a very high standard. It will provide a comprehensive definition of personal development and an overview of the required elements of a personal development plan. Further, the work will exhibit a thorough appreciation of academic sources and the application of criteria to determine a suitable citation.

The poster will be to a very good standard. It will provide a very clear definition of personal development and an overview of the required elements of a personal development poster. Further, the work will exhibit a very good appreciation of academic sources and the application of criteria to determine a suitable citation.

The poster will be to a good standard. It will provide a good definition of personal development and an overview of the required elements of a personal development poster. Further, the work will exhibit a good appreciation of academic sources and the application of criteria to determine a suitable citation.

The poster will be to a satisfactory standard. It will provide a definition of personal development and an overview of the required elements of a personal development poster. Further, the work will exhibit a reasonable appreciation of academic sources and the application of criteria to determine a suitable citation.

Assessment Brief

Students who do not meet the requirements of a third class grade will not successfully complete the assessment activity.

Assessment Case Studies: There is extensive information available online covering these projects. You should use them to construct your proposal answering the brief above.

The Millau Viaduct is a multi-span cable-stayed bridge that links Paris to Barcelona in order to prevent gridlock on Millau’s roads in summer. It is the tallest cable-stayed bridge in the world. Michael Virlogeux created the original concept in 1991; however the design was dismissed as being unfeasible.

A modified version of the original design was adapted by Sir Norman Foster and approved by the authorities. It pushed the boundaries of what was possible, being built across one of the deepest valleys in France. With mudslides reoccurring in the local geology along with deep caves, it made it a very challenging build.

The build began in 2001 and took only three years to finish. It was three months ahead of schedule and had a nearly perfect health and safety record. GPS checks had to be regularly carried out to ensure complete precision. A tolerance of around 1cm per 4m casting ended up in a misalignment of as much as 6m. Winds were another common concern, especially when the positioning of the decks was taking place. Engineers would have to wait for three-day weather windows when the wind speeds were lower, in order to carry on working. These obstacles were overcome efficiently in the process of completing the bridge.

Palm Islands (Dubai)

The Palm is one of the largest manmade islands. It took five years of planning and land reclamation to finish in 2011. In order to start the process, the reclaimed land needed to be protected by the strong currents and wind by creating a breakwater. Rock was used despite the fact that it was difficult to source and expensive. It helped encourage the creation of a natural reef. The breakwater created is 11.5km long and goes down 50m and was the first ever ‘curved’ breakwater.

When it came to land reclamation, there were many difficulties. The shape of The Palm made it difficult to achieve accuracy when placing the sand. There were no fixed points of land to survey from so to overcome this, engineers used a differential global positioning system. This allowed them to check the accuracy of the placement of sand to within 1cm. The sand then had to settle before it could be built on. This is a natural process, which normally takes millions of years. However, a process called vibro-compaction was used to make the settling process speed up.

Task One

A project manager would have been responsible for ensuring the safety of this sand for building on. Once the land had been reclaimed, a state-of-the-art vacuum sewerage wastewater treatment plant, underground power lines and a monorail were constructed. Once finished, there were homes and hotels were available for 65,000 people.

Three Gorges Dam (China)

The Three Gorges Dam is a multi-purpose scheme created to bring huge benefits to flood control, power generation and navigation. The main structure consists of a dam, spillway structures, power plants and navigation facilities. The preliminary design was approved in 1993 and the construction was divided into three phases, to allow for easier management of such a huge project. The total construction period lasted 17 years.

In phase-I the river was closed. In the second phase from 1998 to 2003, it was marked by the reservoir initial impoundment. The first batch of generating units for electricity was tested and the double-way five-stage ship lock open to navigation. The final phase involved all 26 generating units being put into operation. This marked the completion of the project.

During the process of constructing the dam, there was a huge focus on management innovation, project quality and quality management. There was multi-level quality supervision and control systems in place to ensure the quality standards were met. As a result of these systems, the progress the project made was much more efficient and the quality standards were much higher.

Crossrail

The concept of the Crossrail is not a new one. It has taken 35 years of careful planning and development for it to finally break ground in 2009 at Canary Wharf. Since then there have been a few changes in order to review extra savings on the construction of the Crossrail. This meant that the central section of the Crossrail services would now open in 2018, rather than the original agreed date of 2017. This would be followed by phased introductions of the other services available on the route.

The Crossrail Act 2008 gave a confirmed route from Maidenhead and Heathrow to Shenfield and Abbey Wood. This meant that new rail tunnels and stations under central London were required to be built. The cost of the project is shared between the Government, TfL and the business community. Nearly forty-years after the original plans were proposed, the first eight tunnel boring machines were put on path to tunnel from Royal Oak Portal towards Farringdon.

The project managers for the Crossrail are responsible for providing support to the project sponsors and must ensure that the project is delivered on schedule, within budget and to the standard agreed.