Process Management in High-Speed Two Rail Link Construction Assignment Sample

Process Management in High-Speed Two Rail Link Construction

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Introduction - Applying Process Modeling Techniques to Complex Infrastructure Projects

The respective construction project is the development of a high-speed two-rail link in the UK which is to be completed within 10 years. The valuation of the project is around 86000 dollars. In the study, there is a description of the nature of the construction project along with the mention of all the phases that it went through. Moreover, it contains the description of the tasks that are to be done in all stages, involved members, and the duration as well.

Key terms

IDEF0: the term is popularly known as integration definition for process modeling which is counted to be public domain methodology. The main use of IDEF0 is not only modeling business rather its processes as well.

Pre-construction: the phase before the construction starts is known as pre-construction which is basically the planning phase.

UML: The UML is a modeling language that is developmental and generally purposed and is used for construction projects as well. The design of the construction project cans be visualized through UML.

2. Discussion

2.1 Task 1

2.1.1 Overview on the project

The High Speed two links is a huge project that is done with the purpose of creating “high speed railway links” that help to link between London as well as major cities of the North of England along with the midlands. The cost of the whole project which has been decided is “10 billion” of pounds since it is a major construction project for the nation of the United Kingdom (BBC, 2021). The major aim of the concerned project is to decrease the journey timing of the people so that the people of the respective nation are able to reach their destination as early as possible. Additionally, it can be claimed that the project High Speed Two (HS2) aims to provide a lot of jobs to the people of the nation during the construction of the project. The concerned project aims to provide a lot of jobs to the people along with this it are very beneficial for the economy.

The massive project access provides a lot of employment to the employees as well as it assists to grow the economy of the nation. The concerned project is facing a lot of mounting as well as delay concerns in the aspect of extracting the route along with spiraling the costs (Fesenko et al. 2018). The respective construction project HS2 connects the pathway of “London with Birmingham, Manchester followed by Leeds”. The concerned project is its first phase which links “London with the West Midlands”. The second phase of the respective construction project is to extend its pathway to Crew. The final phase of the concerned project is to extend the HS2 to Leeds as well as Manchester. The High Speed Two project is very beneficial for the people as well as for the nation since it generates a lot of employment for the people as well as decreases the journey timing.

2.1.2 Justification of Iconic Nature

The High Speed Two (HS2) project is ionic since it is a major project that is done in the UK for the development of the concerned nation. The respective project has a “high visibility” as well as has a huge impact on the community of the concerned nation. On the other hand, it can be claimed that the respective project is iconic since it also has a great impact on the economy of the respective nation (Hoekstra, 2020). Additionally, it also contributes to the GDP of the respective nation since the employees of the nation are getting employment in the respective project. 

2.1.3 Key project information

Table 1: Key project information

2.2 Task 2

2.2.1 IDEFO diagrams

A high-speed two-rail link construction project network was approved by the UK government by 2020 and it will reduce the journey times. This construction project also impacts the transport infrastructure and increases the economic benefits. This construction project mainly involved the IDEFO plan that helped to understand the project infrastructure and this project also helps passengers to transport in a short time. These planning diagrams are also involved in the four stages and are firstly involved in the design planning process that is mainly designed by the design managers and design team members (Sacks et al. 2020). On the other hand, these models help to optimize the design fault and this planning process also redesigned the project management services. The diagrams pre-construction planning model and level 12 models also help to build the project and help in the construction process. On the other hand, the preconstruction model can develop the understanding of project requirements and design managers' roles in the construction process.

The pre-construction phase of this construction project also involved different phases that are designing, planning, procedures, and testing quality determination phases. Based on the pre-construction framework it is also understood the project design and its managing as well as constructing process. The IDEFO level 0 diagram is a significant type of diagram that helps to understand the project context and also helps to understand the project construction process. This diagram also develops the proper structure for project design and increases the high-speed two-rail link project in the UK. On the other hand, this project plan focused on the passenger's experiences (Babalola, Ibem, &Ezema, 2019). In the project plan speed quality and rail station, details were also followed and checked all information. Project managers develop the design for project management and construction guidelines are also created. This diagram also understood the investment rates for this project and the project schedule and plan of the construction team list. Design requirements are also involved in this pre-construction plan.

The first level of IDEFO is considered to be level zero which is the preconstruction phase for the development of the construction project of HS2. In the respective diagram, it can be visualized that there are four different sections which are comprised of an enormous number of countable stages that are to be done during the development of HS2. All the activities are being categorized into four sections as they are comprised of certain kind of similarities amount them (Vicente, Severino & Santos, 2019). The different documents of construction projects of HS2 include strategic brief, architectural designs, cost estimations, as well as project strategies. The other part of the diagram also consists of important information about the concerned projects which are project regulations, funding limits, risk analysis, project requirements, and finally funding limits. In the development of construction, the permission of legislative bodies is an important aspect and thus their permission is needed to be taken (Babalola, Ibem & Ezema, 2019). As a result, the crucial section of level 0 of the IDEF diagram is composed of governmental bodies, train operating companies, local authorities as well as England’s highway agency. The final section of the following diagram is another import section of the diagram namely effective transit fee, design ideas, financial approvals, and project planning. Each of the stages of this diagram is relevant enough to develop the pre-construction stage of this high-speed railway project effectively. In order to develop effective design ideas, there is a b need to include skilled professionals here to ensure that the planning phase must be accurate to execute the project successfully. From the viewpoint of Raouf & Al-Ghamdi (2021), the IDEFO diagram is beneficial enough to provide a clear overview of the core aspects of a construction project. With the help of it, it can be possible to highlight each essential activity more clearly that needs to be taken into consideration for managing the entire project successively.

In order to develop appropriate project regulations, there is a b need to keep the focus on the rules and regulations of the UK government regarding construction consequences (Tanasi? et al. 2021). It is essential to take permission from the local authorities as well to ensure that no such legal issues are raised during the construction procedure. An appropriate strategic brief needs to be incorporated within the project context as well to ensure the fact that the project activities must be conducted through strategic perspectives severely.

According to the IDEFO level-1 model, high-speed two-rail link projects can be developed based on the four steps that are design planning, design information and drawing the outline, design issues optimization, and construction planning. Based on the four steps in the IDEF model this project can develop the design by the design team and managers and also develop the schedule that is required for this construction project management. This level of IDEF planning diagram also creates important features for understanding the design enhancing process and building the knowledge required for construction requirements (Vicente, Severino & Santos, 2019). On the other hand, construction requirements and rail station site information are also involved in the design planning steps (Marinelli, 2021). As per the project management, the second step of this model is also involved in the design list and requirement list planning process and also depends on the stakeholder's feedback and constructive team members' feedback. On the other hand, the design optimization process also helps to understand the design issues and their implementation in the project management system that optimizes the constructive issues (Raouf & Al-Ghamdi, 2021).

High-speed two-rail link project management is also ready for the construction process after the design optimization process.

Level 1 model can improve the design fault and plan the redesign process and design team members in ad managers are also involved in this planning process. All environmental requirements and financial investment information are also included in the diagrams. All the steps are creating the construction knowledge and making desirable understanding in the project management (Zhang et al. 2019). The information modeling technique of IDEF level 1 provides a beneficial value for the capability of representing data interdependency. Moreover, it provides information on the way the data are stored as well as used for construction project purpose. Data analysts, as well as data modeler, is provided by level 1 IDEFO as through it they are able to represent the data that are required during the process of requirement-gatherings.

The above-conducted IDEFO level 1 diagram is suitable enough to provide a clear overview regarding the ongoing activities and it is more updated than the IDEFO level 0 diagram (Tanasi? et al. 2021). Based on this, it is possible to gain a clear overview that in which particular areas, the project activities are taking place at present. Here, it is also essential to get b input from the project workers in order to ensure that the project activities must be completed within the proper time frame. Risk analysis is also conducted here based on which it is possible for the project stakeholders to gain a clear overview regarding the upcoming risk factors of the high-speed railway project in the UK (Vicente, Severino & Santos, 2019). Moreover, it is also possible to gain a clear overview regarding the project outputs. 

2.2.2 Selection of four processes through UML diagrams

The four processes which are selected here are preparation and briefing, strategic definition, technical design and cost plan (Lima, Tavares & Nogueira, 2020). A detailed overview of each process with a proper figure has been provided below:

This UML diagram is suitable enough to provide a clear overview for the preparation and briefing for the high-speed railway project in the UK. Additionally, if any issue can occur during the planning, then the required strategic actions are also provided in the diagram to deal with the issues (Huang, McGinnis & Mitchell, 2020). Initially, the project team is responsible for providing the detailed project brief, and after analyzing the project brief, it has been divided into four particular aspects such as project outcomes, sustainability outcomes, and quality aspirations along with special requirements. From the viewpoint of Ding et al. (2018), quality aspirations are essential for a project as through this, it can be possible to measure the impacts of the ultimate outcomes of the project. Special requirements of the client have been taken under consideration as well in order to ensure that the project must fulfill all of the demands of the client (Huang, McGinnis & Mitchell, 2020). All of these are then analyzed as well and if the analysis can be done properly then, progress needs to be conducted. However, if the analysis is not well justified enough then it will be returned in the previous phase. Feasibility studies have taken place after this and after proper analysis, project aspects have been generated related to this high-speed railway project.

The project aspects have been divided in different areas such as technical features, legal elements, economic features, secluding elements along with operational elements. The review has been done after that by the client and if it is not satisfactory, then it will return to the previous phase whereas if it is appropriate, then site information needs to be collected (Ding et al. 2018). After that, a site survey has been done to identify the developed time plan and cost estimation for successfully executing the entire project. The client must review this and after getting confirmation, the final preparation of the project brief, feasibility study report, and site information document need to be prepared. If a review is not done, then it is essential to back to the previous phase. Then, the closure of this activity will be conducted.

The above activity diagram is for the cost plan where the planning has been developed by the design team with four perspectives particularly. Under these perspectives, resource planning, estimation, cost budgeting, and cost control are included (Dudley & Banister, 2018). All of these need to be examined and after that, project strategies have been developed in order to execute the activities of the high-speed railway project successively. If it will not be examined, then it will back to the previous phase. Project strategies are associated with communication, resource identification, and reporting and each of them needs to be reviewed properly by the stakeholders whereas if the review will not be done then it will return to the previous phase (Huang, McGinnis & Mitchell, 2020). Outline specifications have been made after that to highlight the main consequences of this railway project. It is then divided into different areas such as objectives, expected features, budget, and deadlines. All of them need to be reviewed properly again by the stakeholders and in case of not doing so, the previous stage will be repeated again in this HS2 project (Mudumba et al. 2022). If the confirmation is gained from the stakeholders then final preparation of the project's strategies, outline specifications, and cost plan need to be made.

Based on the above figure, it has been identified that this diagram is suitable enough to identify the core steps of the technical design. Here, the design team is responsible for building the systems and it is divided in two particular areas such as technology and structural systems (Yu et al. 2019). In this case, a review needs to be conducted by the client and government bodies. After the review, a design program has taken place to incorporate the best possible design for developing this high-speed railway project. Innovative roof design is also included in the plan and it is expected that with appropriate team collaboration, this project will ensure great success in the upcoming era as well. This program is based on detailed design, engineering analysis along with references. After proper examination by the government bodies, preparation is taken place regarding relevant documents and “building regulation application” (Huang, McGinnis & Mitchell, 2020). If the examination will not be done, then it will return back to the previous phase. After the preparation, the review will conduct again and after that, preparation of the building system, design program and submission of building regulation application will be taken place.

Verifications need to be done on a b aspect to gain such effective outcomes in this regard as well. However, local iterative techniques have been taken under consideration here that is mainly involved with innovative digital engineering to gain effective outcomes. Based on the “UK infrastructure context” and sponsor requirements, it can be expected that the HS2 project can be able to ensure the right balance between cost, wider benefits along with railway performance (Naulleau & Swetchine, 2020).

As per figure 6, it has been identified that specific locations, capacity requirements, journey times, service reliability along with the specific schedule are considered the drivers of the project scope (Brock & Goodey, 2022). These drivers are also suitable enough to ensure the appropriate design optimization as well. The above stated project scopes are highly effective to enhance the effectiveness of this project in the upcoming era successfully.

In this activity, client and project team are mainly responsible to ensure the appropriate strategic definition for this HS2 project. Here, initially, it is essential to consider the requirements of the client regarding enhancement of the rail capacity and how this project can facilitate the connection between the significant British cities (Lima, Tavares & Nogueira, 2020). After that, a review needs to be done regarding the requirements by the project team and if it cannot be done, then it will return to the previous phase. After that, project risks need to be identified and it needs to be divided into three particular areas such as protests, capacity of the supply chain, and environmental impact (Harris et al. 2020). If the risks are properly analyzed then progress regarding site appraisals can be conducted and if not, then the previous phase will be repeated. Site appraisals are mainly developed with site context, local facilities along with planning history (Nikologianni et al. 2019). These are essential to execute the project successfully without facing any such hazards. Again, the review needs to be conducted by the project team and after that, preparation regarding client requirements and site appraisals needs to be done. If the review is not done then it will back towards the site appraisals. Moreover, site regulations and procedures, supply chain optimization plans and labor, and site, as well as sub-contractor plans, have been taken under consideration here also (Chishti et al. 2018).

2.2.3 RIBA plan of work

The work of the RIBA plan is issued by the “Royal Institute of British Architects” (RIBA) which holds the huge construction projects and completes them in a proper manner. Additionally, it can be stated that the RIBA plan is divided into seven stages which are the strategic definition, briefing as well as a preparation (Architecture, 2020). Additionally, the stages also include concept design, spatial coordination, and technical design, costing along with manufacturing, handover, and use. The first stage of the strategic definition deals with the various types of requirements of the client such as what types of materials are required for the purpose of construction. In a contrary to this, the requirements of the clients also include the quality of the materials that are going to use for the respective project (Taghinezhad et al. 2021). On the other hand, it can section on the requirements also includes deciding on the appropriate price for the respective project. In the initial stage, appropriate decision-making plays a very significant role in order to proceed with the project. As per the views of Bosch-Sijtsema & Gluch (2021), the first stage includes the brief of the project that needs to be approved by the client in order to proceed with the project of HS2.

According to the views of Du Plessis&Oosthuizen(2018), the appropriate brief of the project also includes the spatial requirements as well as quality aspirations in order to do the concerned project in a proper manner. The preparation of the plan, as well as the briefing of the plan for the construction, includes various stages such as agreement on the appropriate budget of the project. On the other hand, the next stage of the RIBA plan includes the concept of designing the project in a proper manner in order to understand the pathway to complete the work in a proper manner (Taghinezhad et al. 2021). Designing the project also helps to include the important steps that are overlooked during the initial stage of the project. The third stage of the RIBA plan deals with spatial coordination which undertakes the design studies, cost exercises as well as engineering analytics in order to test the analytical concepts of the respective project.

The first stage of the RIBA Plan of Work is stage 0 which is known as the new stage of the construction project. In the respective stage, the project is defined as well as strategically appraised before the creation of a detailed brief. The second stage is stage 1 in which planning is done by clients along with authorization of restrictions and main requirements. The information that is present in the respective stage is the name of the project manager, clients, and communication channel details (Zhu et al. 2020). Stage three is concept design where alterations based on architectures suggestion are done during project planning. The changes that are made are provided to clients as well in order to gain their approval. The developed design is the next stage which contains information such as materials used, methods used, external requirements, and investigation of materials needed. The final pre-construction stage is technical design after the construction project's approval is gained along with cost estimation.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the overall context that the HS2 project is suitable enough to deliver the best possible outcomes for the nation as well as for the community. This project is in the execution phase at present and it is expected to be completed within 2029-2033. The IDEFO diagrams are suitable enough to provide a clear overview of the pre-construction phases through which it is possible to get a clear overview regarding each essential activity for making this project a successful one. The UML activity diagrams are also relevant enough to develop the knowledge area regarding the core processes of the IDEFO processes such as design planning, detailed design, and design optimization along with construction planning. Moreover, from the RIBA plan, it has been identified that the research is in the manufacturing and construction phase and it is essential to monitor this phase properly to get the best possible outcomes. Thus, from the entire context, it can be concluded that the HS2 project can be able to achieve the main goal within the estimated timeline.

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