Background
The research report was designed to provide detailed information about effective transportation of people and resources to Bendee Downs and within Bendee Downs site. The report identifies repair and upgrades on existing transportation facilities for accessing the project site by addressing inherent problems associated with the transportation problem. Transportation is a major problem in accessing Bendee Downs and travelling within Bendee Downs site (Design Projects 1). The problem is further complicated by the remote location of the project. Bendee Downs is remotely located some 120 km from Cunnamulla town in Queensland. Design Projects (1) describes the isolated sites as accessible via the Murra Murra dry weather road from Brisbane the only airstrip nearby, or through Munda Munda dry weather road from the east of Bendee Downs or across a 20 meters wide river by the Nebine Creek which has a lot of cultural significance to the local community. Communication Bendee Downs site is further complicated by overgrown to partially impassable tracks coupled with a small number of vehicles which provide transportation services. Airstrips are far spaced and few. The area under KTOAI remains the only accessible land since 2000 when KTOAI took over some areas. The transportation manager was faced with the challenges of identifying the inherent transportation problem by looking for appropriate means of transporting people and resources to Bendee Downs and around Bendee Downs site. Cultural values were to be factored in upgrading the 20 meter wide river incorporated in the project transportation vision.
Problem statement
To provide effective means of transporting people and resources to Bendee Downs and within Bendee Downs site by utilizing on the available but limited resources while maintaining the vast land facility’s roads in a state of repair to allow easy access by road and air, and to upgrade the Nebine Creek with due regard to its cultural significance was the vision integrated in the transportation problem. Transporting people to Bendee Downs and within Bendee Downs site is constrained by limited resources, a 20 meter wide culturally significant river which needs to be upgraded, poorly maintained dry weather roads with some completely overgrown and impassable roads and a few trucks making internal and international transportation difficulty formed the issue statement.
The methodology was to collect both primary and secondary data upon which an abstract model that provided the most effective transportation alternatives for both internal and international travel in solving the transportation problem.
The goal is to find an effective and reliable way of transporting people while minimizing on cost and optimizing on the available resources.
Aspects of the Project the Participant was dealing with
The problem at hand was to identify the best method of transporting people and resources to the remotely located Bendee Downs and within Bendee Downs in Queensland by planning the best method of solving the transportation problem, identifying those roads in a state of disrepair and planning on the best method of repairing or upgrading them, and upgrading the 20 meters wide river with due consideration to the cultural significance of the river across which Bendee Downs can be reached through the Nebine Creek.
Thus all the available resources were identified by the transportation manager and accurately documented. The project participant collected primary data on the number of tracks available for providing internal transport. The data indicated that there were only 2 four wheel drive vehicles. In addition to that, documented primary data indicated that most of the roads were dry weather roads, impassable during rainy seasons. The river across which the Nebine Creeks crosses was identified to be only 20 meters wide and needed to be upgraded to make river transport one of the most feasible alternatives. The transportation manager identified cultural values attached to the river as a constraint in upgrading the river besides limited resources.
It was incumbent upon the project transportation manager to identify transportation goals and objectives, constraints and the method to optimize on these resources. In summary the transport manager was responsible for formulating the transportation problem in line with the project vision, documenting all relevant information regarding available transportation resources, providing leadership in implementing the proposed changes, asses the state of the roads and proposing the best upgrade methods to use, document deliverables, identify support activities in upgrading the roads and organizing transportation needs in line with the availability of funds and other variables.
Planning activities included identifying and managing transportation resources and requirements, identifying the number of functional vehicles, assessing impassable roads, assessing available vehicles’ carrying capacities in line with the current demand, planning for the best airlift strategies in the transportation sector, and identifying maintenance costs associated with transportation problems. In addition to these, the main objectives included identifying the length of roads in need of repair, integrate cultural values in developing transportation facilities, analyze weather conditions and design and repair roads and related facilities using the collected data, and inculcate a culture of support from the local communities in project design, planning, development, and implementation.
Theoretical Aspects of Transportation
Transportation problem deals with how resources can be optimized in moving people and resources from various sources to destinations. There is a need to transport people and resources into the remote parts of Queensland by road or by air transport, with Bendee Downs site as the destination. The problem to handle is to effectively deliver people and resources to the destination in a cost effective way either through air or land and provide effective internal transportation within the site of the project. Transportation problem can be modeled mathematically to solve the transportation problem.
Abstract model
Transportation problem was mathematically modeled based on primary data that was collected. The data was on the length or road in a state of disrepair, the number of those roads, the distance by road of accessing Bendee Downs project site, number of vehicles in use, statistics on whether, and number of aircrafts and airstrips close by. Suppose the T is a transportation map and the probabilities of using any two roads is X and Y such that the transportation map is T: X>Y, then Ø (X) + Ø (Y) ≤ (X, Y). This is where the transportation problem are integral values of X and Y. This comes to the duality formulation of:
Progress
In addressing the transportation problem, much progress had been done so far. According to project plans, the several kilometers of roads had been identified and documented for repair; work on the identified roads had been initiated and was going on well. The whole length of Ferne road had been reinstated to a dry weather usable road, work on Munda Munda road has proceeded half way through. Of particular interest was laying murram on the dry weather roads to make them accessible.
Problems encountered and how I addressed them
Among the problems encountered included unpredictable weather conditions. Road construction equipments meant for the repair and reconditioning of the dry weather roads could not reach the destination on time. These earth moving vehicles such as wheel dozers and the wheel tractor scrapper were long overdue in arriving thus hampering the repair and road stabilization process. In addition to that, the cultural values of the communities along the access routes were resistant to the process of upgrading the roads. They asserted that certain road points could not be accessed or interfered with due to the cultural significance with which such sites were held. The transport manager however was interactive and was well skilled in negotiation skills. With ingeniously tailored information, community members were convinced of the need to overlook their cultural attachments and embrace a facility that could help improve their lives. In addition to that, upgrading of the river which provides easy and direct access to Bendee Downs project site met with a lot of resistance. Despite the success factors, certain shortfalls were realized in the implementation process including lack of sufficient resources for acquiring specific machinery such as the wheel loader, combat engineering vehicles, caterpillars, pneumatic tire compactor, and a small number of the wheeled front loader tractors. The transportation manager devised and planned well such that some tractors could be moved to areas of real and urgent need. In addition to that, the project was behind schedule.
Greatest strength
The transport manager and stakeholders identified specific strengths inherent in project implementation activities. Key among them included the ability to effectively communicate with the local community and convincing them of the benefits accruing from efficient transport facilities. Team work, self-motivation, and collaboration, problem solving techniques, with limited resources formed part of the key strengths.
Areas of improvement
Specific areas of improvements included embracing open communication as a strategic tool in achieving common goal aligned with the project vision. Interpersonal skills and the ability to adapt to change with the changing environment were identified as key in integrating community values in the development process. A continuous assessment of project implementation was vital. The best identifiable strategy should be initiating the project, planning thoroughly in view of project and resource constraints, controlling the implementation process to identify any deviations from project goals and vision, and executing the plans to stay within schedule. Potential problems needed to be identified beforehand, setting of performance benchmarks, and identifying deviations from the planned activities. Time should be a critical component in planning to help the project stay within the scope of the project charter.
Plans for project completion
A proposal for future project completion included collecting information on the current status of the project, identifying the length of roads not yet worked on, calculating resource requirements in terms of cost, skilled labor, and determining the most effective way of utilizing them and improving access to nearby airstrips from the current level to a much higher level. This could save during and when emergencies occur.
Works Cited
Design Projects. 2010. Web.