A Cold Climate for Projects
From the PM Network Blog
by Cameron McGaughy,
Aaron Smith, Deryn Zakielarz, Jill Diffendal
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Date
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan of cold weather, especially in April. If you live in the northern part of the United States, chances are that as I am writing this, you’ve experienced snow in the last few days. Yes, in April.
There are some parts of the world where cold is an everyday reality. A project that took place in such cold is the cover story of this month’s PM Network®. The Arctic region is one of increasing economic importance, as oil and gas development start to ramp up. The only way to get supplies to the Canadian Arctic port of Tuktoyaktuk (aside from flying) was via an ice road only open four months per year.
The Canadian government has had a permanent road in mind for 50 years. Recently, the 137-kilometer road linking the Arctic with Inuvik, Northwest Territories, was completed. Challenges for the project team were many: equipment had to run 24 hours a day because of the cold; the road had to be built without destroying the natural landscape that is the cultural heritage of indigenous communities; the impact on wildlife had to be taken into account; and the road couldn’t damage the permafrost, lest it become a boggy mess each spring. Early thaws of the permafrost forced the project team to cut eight weeks from the four-year project timeline.
The project should reduce the cost of living for Tuktoyaktuk residents and save the government the annual cost of building and maintaining a winter road. The government will monitor environmental impacts to help it optimize future infrastructure projects in the Arctic.
Have you been involved in projects taking place in extreme climates? Please let us know in the comments.
Posted
by
Dan Goldfischer
on: April 02, 2018 11:22 AM |
Permalink
Comments (11)
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Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates
New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
This seems like a very interesting issue. Will go through it soon. Thanks for sharing.
Must be a very scenic drive up through that road. Would be nice to check it out one day.
Michael Delaney
Partner| Delaney Management LLC
West Chester, Pa, United States
Thanks for linking the article on the road, found it very interesting. I did several small projects in Fort St John, Fort McMurray and Barrow Alaska. The extreme cold weather had enormous impact on requirements, scheduling and of course resources, which added interesting challenges.
Must be a challenging journey to completion.
Really admired your honesty, same here, not a fan of cold either. Interestingly i came across a colleague who goes skiing twice a year but would (always) be the first one moaning when the heating isnt working in the office during winter! Ski? Cold? Moan?... i simply dont get it. Anyways, back to your post. I have read through the Apr18 magazine and can only express how amazing the team that made the highway project in canada a reality after 50years journey, wow! On your question, no never involved, although can imagine myself as a tourist, one day! Thanks for sharing.
Very interesting reading and visualisation of the scenic road. Thanks
That's interesting. Thanks for sharing.
M. Aslam Mirza
CEO & Principal Consultant| PM-Strategists Corner
Houston, Texas, United States
Very interesting!! Not fond of cold either and can imagine the challenges: stay in extreme cold, accomplish the advancements, stay focused and complete the assignment.
Unique circumstances and unique experience. Thanks for sharing.
Dinah Young
Project Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William County
Springfield, Va, United States
I remember way back in High School one of my teachers talking about how they need to build roads different when you are building on top of permafrost. It was interesting to see how they are doing it today.
OK. Am I the only one who the first thing I thought about was how are they going to keep the road plowed and accessible throughout winter? Is that infrastructure in place? The plows, the drivers, the sand/salt for the road...
I did like the Risk Management work that was done on this project. And to forced flexibility. Sounds like that project manager was constantly making adjustments to account for nature, etc.
Thanks for your writing but I love cold weather
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