Part 5  -  Challenges, the Laws of Physics, Project/Construction Management and Reality

 

Access to Work Space

Getting painted into a corner may leave no way to finishing work without disturbing completed work.    While project/contract progress can be accelerated by working on multiple locations, the construction management team must ensure that the work is performed and integrated with other work and that the area is accessible for completing remaining work.

Construction management services work with contractors to develop means and methods for construction, establish supply chain and logistics for materials, monitor work in the sequence planned, and to implement work-arounds for unplanned field conditions.   In many rail transit projects, the work area is within an existing operational asset that is being replaced, upgraded or expanded.   These projects are normally constrained by fixed property lines with contract work zones that have trains running through the area. 

The core business of rail transit companies is transporting people and commodities from a current location to a new location.   This core business is a relied upon service and it is essential to regional and national commerce in countries throughout the world.  As a result, the execution of projects need to be organized and executed in a manner that maintains transporting services with little to no impact on commitments.   This includes work flow that allows access and assures constructability of work as progress changes the condition of the asset. 

On large project, there may be multiple contracts that share work zones or that overlap at critical points.   This increases the construction management effort for stimulating and maintaining contractors’ progress and for coordinating the logistics for:

• Realistic space, layout and segregation of secure staging areas
• Reliable access for movement of manpower, materials, tools and equipment
• Adequate temporary facilities for personnel, emergency services, fire protection and material storage
• Assignment of protective services to comply with government laws, regulations and codes.

Scheduling multiple contracts is possible using available software tools.  It can easily make adjustments to scheduled activities, manpower and equipment that can be used to manage contractor progress across a program of projects with interdependencies for predecessor and successor activities between contracts.  It can also manage milestone and schedule constraints.

Scheduling experts can increase work hours, increase manpower, accelerate material deliveries, and add construction equipment.  Unfortunately, scheduling tools can not create work space.   

Reality

Putting fifteen people in a telephone booth may increase the call minutes per square foot but it will drastically reduce the quality and effectiveness of telephone conversations and lead to rework as calls need to be redone due to background noise and mistakes from cross-talk. 

CM office is responsible to manage and coordinate contractors’ access to work areas and to manage the contractors’ creation and maintenance of safe and secure temporary facilities, material storage and staging, and of parking areas for employees, company vehicles and construction equipment.