Executive Summary
Dulles Corridor Extension is a complex capital intensive project to be completed in accordance with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) standards under the Project Management Plan (PMP) prepared by WMATA. Project implementation will be carried out by the Airports staff according to established engineering standards for the rail line to be in harmony with Metrorail standards to fit into the desired 103 miles rail extension. PMPT provided technical and management guidelines in the design and construction of the project.
Background
The two phases of the project included the first route with 11.6 miles long extension to Wiehle Avenue and the second phase on Route 772 with an extension to Dulles Airport (Dulles Metrorail Project Overview 1). The Airports Authority was one of the grant recipients with full grant agreement provided by the Federal Grant Agreement Authority according to the (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 2). Several agreements, memoranda of understanding, and amendments with a number of interested parties culminated in the August, 29 2008 “Initial application for an FFGA and related documentation” were submitted (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 4). The main advantage with PMP was its expertise and ability to manage large capital intensive projects coupled with demonstrated ability to address a variety of issues regarding environmental matters and corporate social responsibility issues. The design and implementation programs integrated in PMP incorporated project management plans in design and construction providing quality assurance, quality control, and safety measures (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 6).
Project Management Organization and Staffing
Stakeholder approaches to project implementation determines the timeliness and cost effectiveness of a project. Based on the functional organizational chart, various stakeholders’ participatory roles included the Project Sponsor and Grantee a role by the Airports Authority which was the “federal grant applicant and recipient and will have direct responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Design-Build contract, the Final Design scope of work, the baseline schedule, the design and construction budget” (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 7). According to Dulles Metrorail Project Overview (1) other stakeholders included the WMATA providing technical support, System Acceptance related to exhaustive testing and certification procedures, and operations and maintenance issues (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 8). Other stakeholders were DTP mandated with the design and construction with Fairfax Country as a local funding partner (Dulles Metrorail Project Overview 1).
According to Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project (13), the organizational chart provides a detailed account of the diversification of roles played by the Airports Authority Project Management. These include the Executive Project Director responsible “for overall management, direction, control, and coordination of functions required to deliver the completed Metrorail system” (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 15). In addition, others in the management team included the Project Director with the responsibility of overseeing project completion in particular responsible for service delivery, and the design and compliance to set benchmarks as envisaged in the (Dulles Corridor Proposal 1). The project director works with a team of experts on all aspects of design, construction and implementation and oversees “complex issues and opportunities for increased safety, quality, efficiency, and cost savings” (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 16). The Deputy Director on project implementation was entitled with the responsibility of overseeing real estate matters, provision of permits, environmental mitigations, overseeing the project before and after feasibility studies, coordinating various stakeholders, monitoring and evaluating performance related issues and scheduling of all design and construction tasks. The Deputy Director for Design was responsible for assessing, evaluating, and maintaining performance, schedules, corporate agreements, and maintaining design budgets within the appropriate budget (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 17).
According to Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project (18) other management staff included the deputy director of Project Finance responsible for overseeing financial matters regarding project implementation costs, developing, evaluating, coordinating, project finance activities and funding partners. The senior Project manager for design was responsible for coordinating project activities with all affected agencies by ensuring project complies with design and budget forecast. In addition, Dulles Metrorail Extension (1) asserts that project Administration was to provide support activities on staffing, personnel issues and administrative interfaces (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 18). The project Quality Assurance and Quality Control Supervisor was responsible for implementing among other quality issues, safety standards such as project audits. Other management staffs included the contracting officer, contracting administration officer, Manager of Rail communications, Grant Administrator, Senior Project Manager for Construction, and the Office of the General Counsel while the Human Resources Management comprised Project Management Support Services.
Design and Engineering Oversight
All aspects of design including “Construction documents for the civil, structural, architectural, mechanical/electrical/plumbing, and systems design required for the Project” was the responsibility of Dulles Transit Partners (DTP) (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 25). Design, modifications, benchmarking, technical reviews, and interface design between scopes was the sole responsibility of DTP. The Business diverse officer was responsible for ensuring DTP complied with the Airport Authority’s requirements in addition to overseeing contracting and sub contracting issues, among other responsibilities (Dulles Metrorail Project Overview 1).
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Organization
Another body of interest was the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Organization (WMATA). This government agency provided technical advice on the final design, construction, and other support activities culminating in full ownership of the project. According to Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project (30), other responsibilities included “several deliverables: railcars, the communication link to central control, making the necessary upgrades to central control, supply of non-revenue vehicles, updating the system signage, supply and installation of the fare collection equipment, and Art-in-Transit” (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 30) with the organizational structure illustrated hereunder.
In addition, (WMATA) incorporates issues of designing transit elements, reviewing of design drawings, coordination of technical and related interfaces, and repair and maintenance issues such as the provision of spare parts and other equipments for the construction process, manual reviews, and training schedules (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 30). The organization’s experienced project managers were positioned at strategic points of interest to ascertain Quality Assurance and Quality measures and standards were adhered to (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 33). WMATA was solely responsible for milestones and other deliverables in the form of railcars in addition to others.
Project Controls Description
Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project (44) provides detailed description of the project in terms of management approaches, functional tasks, budget schedules, installation and testing approaches in addition to revenue collection activities. Besides all these, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project (44) contends that the project was identified as the only viable local alternative with various modifications culminating in the final project design that was adopted for construction. Illustration:
With a capital cost of $3.044 billion, the construction process was to commence with the construction of the first phase under the able guidance of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The project budget amounted to $ 2.916 billion “(including approximately $100 million spent on PE, Supplemental PE, and
Development activities) and $283.8 million in financing costs through 201” (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 56). Mary (4) asserts that the financing plan contains detailed information on sources of funds, financial forecasts, and other funding strategies (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 56). According to Dulles Corridor Proposal (14) quarterly financial reports will be demanded and provided through the Financial and Transit Administration (FTA), and how cost overruns were to be harmonized and shared among stakeholders. In addition, WMATA had other measures to ensure efficient funds utilization and cost evaluation methods before and after project completion.
Program and Project Management Responsibilities
The project management structure’s roles and responsibilities are sub-tasked according to each stakeholder. According to Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project (61), FTA/PMOC was entitled with task approvals, Airports authority prepares, WMATA, VDOT, and Fairfax County provided review support (Dulles Metrorail Extension 1). DTP provided expertise in support activities as allowed under NEPA. All these were in view of notice of intent, project management issues, design and development matters, review of designs, construction management, certification and benchmarking, and testing and commissioning activities (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 61).
Project integration activities were carried out by WMATA acceptable with Adopted Regional System (ARS) mandated with ensuring approval right were adhered to, conflict resolutions were done efficiently and effectively, and other reviews such as design were carried out effectively. In addition, WMATA was mandated to call weekly meetings to verify compliance with the set standards and requirements termed as access meetings, project coordination meetings, Track Rights meetings, and other routine supervisory roles (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 66).
Management and Project Controls
Project scope incorporated control components for ensuring project success. Adherence to the standards and requirements were scrutinized by WMATA through continuous evaluations and compliance by monitoring for any deviations to the project scope. According to (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project Timeline 1), these included technical scope controls, Quality Assurance and Quality control measures, schedule control, progress payments, cost estimations, Cost Control and Job Accounting Systems, Tracking Federally Eligible Project Costs, Change Orders and Claims, Contingency Management and Control, Indexing Commodity Cost Controls, FTA Project Management Oversight, Document Control, and Progress Reporting and Report Management (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 100).
Labor Relations and Policy
The policies covered employee issues regarding Wage Rates, Job Classifications, Wage and Hour Requirements, Federal, State, and Local Regulations, No Strike Agreements, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program. Such policies covered the most important asset in design and construction as the human resources formed the fundamental component in the construction process.
Risk Assessment
An evaluation report by the Airports Authority on risk aversion and management was based on risk scope, agreements, real estate acquisition, Allowances, Design process among others (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 80).
Risk assessment and evaluation form an important component in designing plans for risk aversion procedures.
Environmental Analysis and Mitigation
Project environmental impact assessment is vital and covers Environmental Impact Statement, Environmental Assessment and Amended Record of Decision, Supplemental NEPA Documentation, Mitigation Measures and Monitoring, and Transportation Management Plan (Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project 85).
Other Issues
Other issues covered included Procurement/Contract Administration, Design Program such as configuration management issues, and management of design among others. Real Estate Acquisition, Community Relations, Construction Management, Intergovernmental and Utility Agreements, conflict resolutions, Safety certifications, Planning for Operations Start-Up, General Joint Development Program, and project management procedures. Upon completion, the project could be a success.
Works Cited
Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. 2008. Web.
Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project Timeline, 2008. Web.
Dulles Corridor Proposal, 2006, Web.
Dulles Metrorail Extension. The Washington Post, 2009. Web.
Dulles Metrorail Project Overview: Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. 2010. Web.
Dulles Metrorail Project Overview: Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, 2010. Web.
Mary, Peters, E. U.S. Department of Transportation: Federal Transit Administration. 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington DC, 20590, 2008.