The purpose  of this  assignment  is to reinforce the  advantages  of logical planning  and scheduling of engineering projects using an actual engineering project (i.e., Middleborough Road Rail Separation Project completed in 2007).  Detailed project information has been given  in  Week  1  assignment  briefing  lecture.    You  might  also  like  to  gain  additional information from the following websites:

. Middleborough Road Project – Vicsig

. Middleborough Road Rail Separation Project – You Tube

. Middleborough Rd –Rail Separation – Geotech

. Middleborough - KBR

You are required to report on a project plan for the Middleborough Road Rail Separation Project for the detailed design & construction stage, using Microsoft Project. A clear concise report should cover the following:

.    Provide a graphical program of the project using CPM together with a narrative to explain assumptions used and the sensitivity of the critical path i.e., how the critical path  reacts  to  changes  in  the  current  durations  and  relationships.  The  program should include the fifty (50) sub-tasks shown in Appendix A which are based on the activities described in the briefing notes for Middleborough Road Rail Separation Project and grouped under the major task headings shown in Appendix A:

1.   Advance Works,

2.    Weekend Occupation Works,

3.    Major Shutdown Works and

4.    Completion Works.

You should include sensible linkages between the sub-tasks in the four major task groups and across major task groups where needed to show the program logic. You will have to make a reasonable estimate of the duration for each of the 50 sub-tasks used in your program staying within the overall durations for major tasks shown in Appendix A. Note that the preparatory works require only 4 weekend occupations within the 6 weeks allowed in the summary project schedule. You should allow a two-week "float" after the 4 weekends to allow a provision for unexpected delay so as not to miss the “locked-in” start date for the 4-week shutdown period.

.    Using PERT analysis, calculate the expected completion date for the project taking consideration of some of the risks described in the briefing notes and assuming a notional delay amount for each of the risks used in your analysis. The report should provide  a  Gantt  chart  plus  a  narrative  describing  the  PERT  analysis  and  the assumptions used, together with a schedule of start and finish dates for each of the 50 tasks.

.    You  are  to report  on the  labour requirements  for the project using a histogram format based on the program you have prepared in the first part of this assignment. The total labour-hours used for the time-related tasks in the project is 116,740 and the allocation of the cost of the labour component for each major task is shown in Appendix A below.   You should estimate the labour hours for the major tasks in proportion to the costs given. Then, for each of your selected sub–tasks by sub- dividing the labour hours given for each major task into your sub-tasks. You will have to make a reasonable estimate of the sub-task labour hours taking account of the following:

o The Advance Works are undertaken during a normal 40 hour week.

o The Weekend Occupation Works are undertaken on four weekends within the total time allocated for this major task. A total of 48 hours per weekend is available each weekend made up of 6 shifts @ 8 hours per shift with the first  shift  starting  at  04:00  am  on  Saturday  morning  and  the  last  shift finishing at 04:00 am on Monday morning. (see appendix B).

o The Major Shutdown Works are undertaken on a 24-hour basis, with each worker working on an 8-hour shift per 24 hour day.

.    Using the resource allocation tool in Microsoft Project, present a revised program for a uniform (levelled) labour force for each major task, describe the impact of this option on the project completion date and identify the critical path for this option.

The Assignment Report should include at least the following sections:

Document Status

1. Executive summary

2. Introduction and Purpose

3. Project Planning and Scheduling

4. Resource Planning

5. References

6. Appendix: Meeting Minutes

.    The Document Status section should include the date of the report, the names of the document authors plus a "Team Photo".

.    The "Executive Summary" should include a description that summarises the key elements of each section of the report.

.    The Introduction & Purpose section should describe the assignment and its objectives.

. References should include a list of reference documents, stakeholders and/or specialists consulted to undertake the assignment.

ADMINISTRATION:

You are to undertake this assignment in the groups that were allocated for Assignment 1. Please identify the group members and your tutor in the submissions. This assignment is worth 20% of the subject result and should contain no more than 15 pages excluding the cover page and appendix.

Submissions must be lodged no later than 5 pm on Friday, 20 October 2023. The submission instructions are as follows:

A soft copy of your Assignment Report (in PDF format) together with your MS Project files (in a zipped folder) should be submitted on CANVAS LMS by one of the group members.  The  links  to  upload  your  report  will  be  provided  on  CANVAS/Assignment section.  Please  rename  the  title  of your  submission  to  reflect  your  tutorial  and  group number (e.g., Tutorial 06_Group03).

Prof Lihai Zhang

Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne

APPENDIX A – Major tasks, suggested Sub-tasks & labour hours for major tasks.