In 1996 the city of Cleveland began a $750 million Plant Enhancement Program. The program’s goal was to renovate and modernize the city’s four water treatment facilities, which are among the 10 largest in the US, and were built in 1856; over 500 million gallons of water are pumped to Cleveland residents daily.
In the following paper I attempt to provide with an overview of the Baldwin Water Work Plant Enhancement Program (PEP) (one of the four water treatment facilities) scope, time plan, costs, and objectives; describe the program’s life cycle stages required to execute all projects involved; indentify and analyze the possible associated risks, and present the respective risk responses; define the controlling and monitoring process of the program; indentify and analyze the framework items of the program’s plan that were critical to reach key achievements. Objectives, Scope of Work, Budget
The first step towards the definition of the Plant Enhancement Program’s (PEP) objectives is indentifying the need that this set of projects attempt to satisfy: developed in 1924, Baldwin Water Works Plant is in need of renovations and improvements. The next step is for the program management consultant (PMC) to comprehend the programs objectives. In this business case, as in many other cases, PMC is not assigned early enough in order to participate in the formation of the objectives; the objectives are established by the program’s sponsor.
Furthermore, in order to understand and validate PEP’s objectives must, the PMC must take under consideration PEP’s public nature; public programs’ objectives “should be aligned with the important priorities in the society and the needs of the users” (Samset as cited in Shiferaw and Klakegg, par. 1, pg. 14).
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According to the need and PEP’s nature, PMC must reach the following objectives: Evaluate and optimize water supply Rehabilitate and modernize water treatment facility, ensuring it is at its highest operational efficiency and safety Develop and implement new plant operating system
Reconstruct facilities resulting in the lowest water rates possible Limit future facilities’ operational and maintenance costs Renovate the existing administration building, while maintaining its historical structure Supply Cleveland’s downtown and eastside communities with clean and safe potable water (City of Cleveland 2010, pg. 20).
Once the PMC has identified the PEP’s objective, it needs to validate these objectives in the scope of work (Kezner 2013, pg. 521).
The Project Management Consultant is responsible for all project activities including planning, design, and construction, and cost, time and quality management.
PMC shall: reconstruct and improve water treatment facilities by replacing plant’s valves and pipes, rehabilitating plant’s filters, and moving from a manual operational system to PLC-based operational system; provide training and hands-on assistance on the new operational system for all employees; meet and exceed existing and future regulations set by the state of Ohio; perform architectural and structural rehabilitation of Baldwin Water Works historical administration building.
Finally, during reconstructions and renovations the PMC shall keep the plant operational. After the establishment of the program’s objectives and scope of work, the PMC must estimate the project’s completion time, and all costs involved; PMC must develop the program’s time plan and budget. One of the most useful tools for accomplishing those two tasks is Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) (Lewis 2007, pg. 56).
The program can be broken down into four levels, as depicted in diagram 1, page 4.
By breaking down the program into specific projects and tasks the PMC can better define costs of the material, equipment and effort needed for the programs activities, and also the time required. In addition to the WBS and in order to calculate roughly the PEP’s costs, the PMC will be using approximate estimate. The PEP’s cost is estimated by analogy to the Morgan Water Plant Rehabilitation program, in Cleveland, OH, which has a similar scope of work and capacity (Shook Construction 2013) (Kerzner 2013, pg. 680).
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The total cost for the Morgan Water Plant Rehabilitation program was $26 million; the Baldwin Water Works Plan Enhancement Program is 15 percent more difficult, taking under consideration the delicate work necessary for the renovation of the historical administration building. These result in an estimated cost of $30 million for the completion of our PEP (Kezner 2013, pg. 680) (www. shookconstruction. com).
Finally, the PMC identifies two types of budgets: distributed budget is defined by the man-hours an required for the achievement of the tasks and subtasks established in the WBS, and the essential materials and equipment needed (i.e. 2,500 tons of 20” by 48” ductile iron piping, 48” electrically activated valves, PLC-Based control instruments, filter medias, slate shingles, crane, drillers, concrete, iron gunnels, masonry, exterior windows); management reserve of $3 million used in case of escalations in construction workers salaries, unforeseen delays resulting during personnel training on the new PLC-Based operating system, risks Diagram 1. Baldwin Water Works Plant Enhancement Program WBS (Shook Construction 2013) (Bowen Associates Inc. 2013).
Involved in the case of the administration building intricate structures disturbance, fluctuations in prices of essential material and equipment (Kezner 2013, pg. 751).
The total PEP’s budget resulting after the identification of the two budget types is $33 million. Life Cycle, Time Plan In addition to WBS and in order to estimate the time plan for the PEP’s completion, PMC must define the programs life cycle. The most commonly type of life-cycle program used for construction projects is the sequential one or waterfall program life-cycle; this is the one that PMC will be using for this specific case.
According to waterfall life-cycle the following program phases are defined: Diagram 2. Baldwin Water Works Program Life-Cycle (Hallows 2005, pg. 84) To better estimate the project’s time of completion or schedule, PMC needs to elaborate on the identified phases. During Phase 1, the PMC carries out a feasibility study; at this phase the program’s goals and objectives, technical aspects, challenges, cost estimates and development schedule are defined. At this stage and because of the project’s public nature, the commitment and participation of local, state and federal authorities are of a high importance.
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The City of Cleveland Water Division provides the PMC with the general guidelines, but it has to participate in the development of the feasibility study in order to make sure that all guidelines have been understood and taken under consideration by the PMC. Furthermore, at this point the project’s financial feasibility is being evaluated. Out of the total of $750 million to be provided towards the city’s four water treatment plants enhancement program, $33 million are distributed towards the Baldwin Water Works Plant Enhancement program. The time required for the completion of the feasibility study is 6 months.
At the end of the study the two projects, Renovation and Reconstruction, under the PEP are deemed feasible and approved for development by the City of Cleveland Water Division (owner).
The end of Phase 1 initiates Phase 2; planning of the PEP. At this stage the scope of work, mentioned before, is established, objectives are refined, deliverables named, budget and schedule defined. In addition, the City of Cleveland Landmarks Commission’s guidelines towards the renovation of the historic administration building are being evaluated and technical characteristics of that task identified.
Moreover, State and Federal Governing Bodies ensure that the program’s objectives and technical aspects are aligned to current water regulations, and that future developments are being taken under consideration. Finally, risks are identified according to the given internal and external challenges, evaluated, and responses are developed. One year for the completion of Phase 2. The PMC then is moving forward with the detail design of the projects and the tasks required in order to reach objectives and deliverables; Phase 3. The two tasks under the renovation project are being developed at this stage (Case Study).
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The PMC develops a facility plan by mapping out and prioritizing all the necessary improvements of the plant’s facilities. In addition a facility planning consultant is hired to conduct evaluations of all existing structures and indentify the Renovation’s scope of work. Then Bowen Associates Inc. is hired to provide detail design of the project, provide material, equipment, civil engineers, architects, and construction workers for the architectural and structural tasks and subtasks depicted in Diagram 1 WBS (Bowen Associates Inc. 2013).
Furthermore, Shook Construction Company is hired for the design of the Reconstruction project. Shook Construction is responsible for providing all material and equipment, civil engineers, architects, electrical and mechanical engineers, and construction workers required for the completion of the project’s tasks and subtasks depicted in Diagram 1 WBS. The time required for carrying out Phase 3 is one year. After the detail design of the two projects’ tasks and subtasks, it is time for the PMC to initiate the implementation of the program; Phase 4.
Both Shook Construction Company, responsible for the Reconstruction Project, and Bowen Associates Inc. , responsible for the Renovation Project, have to work simultaneously for the completion of Phase 4, in order to reach the deadline set by the PMC. During reconstruction, the plant moved from a manual operational mode to a PLC-based operating system that resulted in water usage optimization. Furthermore, construction and renovations crews have to work heavily during the months when the city requires the least amount of water, while ensuring there are no power outages during the months when water demand is at its highest.
Finally, during removal and replacement of piping and valves, the plant will completely close down for a total of ten days. The total time required for Phase 4 is 6 months. The final Phase of the PEP is training of plants personnel. During this phase the program management team together with Shook Construction Company’s electrical and mechanical engineers, provides training classes and hands-on assistance on the new PLC-based operating system, for all employees.
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The time required for Phase 5 is six months, resulting in a total of 3 years and 6 months for the completion of the PEP. Risks Identification & Responses We choose to assess and analyze risks associated with the PEP, attacking each of the programs life-cycle phases; Life-Cycle Risk Analysis (Kezner 2013, pg. 887).
The following risks and responses are identified and developed respectively: Feasibility Study: The City of Ohio Water Division has budgeted a total of $750 for towards the Plant Enhancement Program of Cleveland’s four water treatment funds.
The PMC faces with an external challenge that is to estimate costs of technology, material, equipment and human resource requirements of the Baldwin Water Works PEP and draw a strategy and budget having in mind the feasibility of both Baldwin Water Works program and the city’s remaining three plants enhancement programs; That demands that the PMC work together with the city’s executives in the city’s office, and use of Microsoft’s web-based SharePoint software, which promotes coordination and facilititates the sharing of information and knowledge between the PMC team and city’s officials (Diebel and Catalano 2012, pg 63).
Planning: One of the challenges that the PMC has to deal with at this phase is an internal technical challenge, which is to rehabilitate facilities resulting in lower water rates, and limited future operational and maintenance costs. The PMC chooses to transfer this challenge by hiring a construction and engineering company, which will be responsible for the Reconstruction project. Furthermore, the PMC needs to meet and exceed, existing & future water regulations set by the state of Ohio and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); an external risk.
Once again the PMC needs to work side by side to the agency’s officials ensuring standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) are understood and included in the program’s planning (EPA 2013, SDWA).
Design: Designing the renovation project and its architectural and rehabilitation tasks is an external challenge, given that the plant’s administration building was declared a historical landmark in 1970. The PMC needs to make sure that the City of Cleveland’s Landmarks Commission guidelines for restoring the historical building are understood and taken under consideration during the design phase.
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Again the SharePoint software can be used for the efficient exchange of information between the PMC, Bowen Associates Inc. and the commission; this Web-Based portal enables each party to function effectively within its own area of expertise and at the same time interact with the other groups to work collaboratively (Diebel and Catalano 2012, pg 63).
Implementation: The first main internal challenge is the site’s limited space for both contractors to work.
The PMC team decides that Shook Construction crew will cut through a 24-inch thick concrete wall, 28 ft bellow ground to route all material and equipment necessary for the reconstruction project. Another challenge is that the water facility is kept operational during construction. The PMC decides that both crews will work heavily during the months of low water consumption, and reconstruct and renovate each of the facility’s wings sequentially, in order to attack this challenge. Training: The final internal challenge is to train plant’s employees in order for the implementation of the computerized operating system to be quick and efficient.
In order to attack this challenge the PMC team together with Shook Construction company engineers provides training classes and hands-on assistance for all employees, which may result in a smooth transition from the manual mode to the PLC-based operating system. Monitor & Control The PMC team will develop a management cost and control system, which will be separated into the following cycles: planning cycle (planning and control); operating cycle (cost and control) (Kezner 2013, pg. 738).
Planning and control of the program is a very useful tool for the PMC to manage scope change, and/or scope creep. During the planning phase the PMC has developed a detailed description, schedule, and budget of the program’s projects, tasks, and subtasks defined in WBS (Diagram 1).
The planning phase’s end results need to be documented and signed by the city, state and federal government officials, and then converted in a pdf. file format (only the administrator can modify pdf. files) in order to be communicated to the two project contractors.
In this way the PMC can eliminate the risks of scope creep. Furthermore, at this stage the PMC will define types of scope change requests and the reason for the change, and whether change is essential or not (Khan 2006, pg. 15).
PMC will use an earned value management system (EVMS) during the operating cycle. EVMS is a comparison of the actual work performed, in each of the WBS tasks and subtasks, versus the actual work scheduled to be performed at that given point of the program; schedule performance.
Moreover, the PMC will compare the actual costs incurred at that given point versus the budgeted cost (cost performance).
In order for the MPC to efficiently track cost and schedule performance at anytime, a specialized “dashboard view” in SharePoint is created, were both contractors submit information about the progress of their projects. Site inspections on regular intervals and weekly meetings are also used for monitoring and controlling the program (Diebel and Catalano 2012, pg 63).
Finally, the PMC will produce monthly reports of the program’s performance for local, state and federal government officials. Key Achievements & Conclusions By identifying the key achievements of the Baldwin Water Works Plant Enhancement Program case study, we understand how vitally important is the successful planning phase of the program for its victorious completion. During the planning phase the program’s objectives, scope of work, budget, and of course risks and responses to them are identified and evaluated.
The detail and successful planning of the PEP resulted in the following key achievements: the program was completed $2,884,075 (approximately 10 percent) below the awarded amount of $33; reached milestones on or ahead of schedule; complete close down of plant lasted four days instead of the 10 days given by the customer; reconstruction and renovation was completed eight months early. Another key aspect of the program’s successful is the design phase.
During that period the two contractors for carrying out the reconstruction and renovation projects are chosen by the PMC; selection process was crucial for the successful completion of the program and the achievement of key objectives. During implementation phase both contractors had to work simultaneously in order to carry out the tasks and subtasks defined in the WBS. Efficient communication between contractors and the PMC, through SharePoint and weekly meetings, proved to be the main factor for the successful completion of tasks and subtasks, ahead of time schedule, and bellow budget.
