Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project, a 7.8 mile system of bridges and underground highways and ramps, is the most expensive public works project ever undertaken in the United States. The original cost estimate of $2.6 billion has already been exceeded by $12 billion, and the project will not be completed until 2005, seven years late. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), the public steward of the project, requested that the National Research Council carry out an independent assessment of the project's management and contract administration practices, with a focus on the present situation and measures that should be taken to bring the project to a successful conclusion. This report presents the committee's findings and recommendations pertaining to cost, scheduling, and transitioning from the current organization dominated by consultants to an operations organization composed largely of full-time MTA staff. The report recommends that MTA establish an external, independent, peer-review program to address technical and management issues until the transition to operations and maintenance is complete; begin a media campaign now to teach drivers how to use the new system safely; and develop, immediately implement, and maintain a comprehensive security program.
- COMPLETING THE “BIG DIG”
- Copyright
- Acknowledgment of Reviewers
- Contents
- Acronyms and Abbreviations
- Executive Summary
- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Cost and Schedule Procedures
- Schedule Management
- Cost Management
- Cost/Schedule Tradeoff
- Value Engineering
- Contract Administration
- Claims Management
- Contingency Management
- Cost Recovery
- Reporting and Controls
- Senior Management’s Information Overload
- Schedule Analysis
- Oversight for Management Consultant
- Integrated Project-Management Oversight
- Independent Peer Review
- Transition from Construction to Operations
- Public Education
- Strategic Thinking
- Security
- 1 Introduction
- BACKGROUND
- ENGINEERING CHALLENGES
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- EXTERNAL OVERSIGHT
- NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL INVOLVEMENT
- MEETINGS AND BRIEFINGS
- REFERENCES
- 2 Cost and Schedule Procedures
- INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND
- COST AND SCHEDULE CONTROL
- Value Engineering
- Fast-Track Construction
- Managing Cost and Schedule
- CURRENT STATUS
- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Schedule Management
- Cost Management
- Cost/Schedule Tradeoff
- Value Engineering
- REFERENCES
- 3 Contract Administration
- INTRODUCTION
- CONTRACTING AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
- CLAIMS AND CHANGES
- Claims Management
- Modifications
- Cost Recovery
- CONTINGENCY
- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Claims Management
- Contingency Management
- Cost Recovery
- REFERENCES
- 4 Reporting and Controls
- INTRODUCTION
- REPORTING
- CONTROLS
- OBSERVATIONS
- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Information Overload for Senior Management
- REFERENCES
- 5 Oversight of Management Consultant
- INTRODUCTION
- OVERSIGHT
- PEER REVIEW
- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Integrated Project-Management Oversight
- REFERENCES
- 6 Transition from Construction to Operations
- USER TRANSITION
- MANAGEMENT TRANSITION
- A Strategic Approach to Transition
- SECURITY
- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Public Education
- Strategic Thinking
- Security
- 7 Conclusions
- Appendix A Committee to Review Project Management Practices Employed on the Boston Central Artery (“Big Dig”) Project
- Appendix B Statement of Task
- Appendix C Presentations to the Committee
- Appendix D Documents Submitted to the Committee by MTA and IPO
- Appendix E BOARD ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE CONSTRUCTED ENVIRONMENT
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