pm tools and techniques

Project Management InstituteNashville Symposium

Project Management Tools and Techniques - Building Commuter Rail on a Shoestring

Donelson

Riverfront

HermitageLebanon

Martha

Mt. Juliet

What is Project?

A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.- Temporary: Projects are marked by a definite beginning and end

- Unique: The service or product is different in some distinguishing way from other products or services

What is Project Management?

The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements


Project management can be applied to any project regardless of size, budget, or timeline. Some examples are:– Designing a mechanical device – Managing a marketing campaign – Building a bridge – Putting a satellite into orbit – Setting up an e-commerce Internet site OR…..– Building a Commuter Rail in Nashville TN


Needs and Expectations

of Stakeholders

Time Cost

Scope and Quality

RTA Overview

Regional focus incorporates nine-county region including Davidson County

Carpools, Vanpools, Relax & Ride Commuter Buses

Lead agency for Music City Star – Tennessee's first commuter rail

Project Partners / Stakeholders

Cities of Lebanon

City of Mt. Juliet

Metro Nashville/Davidson County

Wilson County

Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)

the Nashville & Eastern Railroad Authority (NERA)

the Nashville & Eastern Railroad Corporation (NERC)

and the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)

The Big Picture:Regional Transit Network

East Corridor Project Overview

32-mile existing single track section between Nashville and Lebanon

Track owned by a public agency, the Nashville & Eastern Railroad Authority

3 trains daily in peak a.m. and p.m.

Peak period reverse train to Mt. Juliet with off-peak reverse service to Lebanon

Goal of 1,500 daily riders

Baseline?

Completed Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Assessment in 1999

Received a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in 2000

Received approval from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to enter into Final Design in June 2001

Disagreement amount the Board on the scope of the project

Wilson County wanted reverse peak commute

What Baseline?

Estimates for the necessary improvements to accommodate reverse peak commute were double the original capital estimate

No baseline scope, estimate or schedule

When final design kicked off in May 2002, there were “several” versions of the budget floating around

Defined WBS / Scope / Budget

The main objective was to have the Board adopt a baseline budget, scope and schedule

A Work Breakdown Structure was developed

A cost loaded schedule was developed

A baseline scope was adopted

Development of Baseline Documents

This enabled everyone to be working from the same documents and provide a baseline for the Board of Directors

Notebooks were assembled with the baseline documents and site layouts for each station

Allyson’s famous sayings “There is only one budget” and “Hope is not a strategy!”

Set Funding Determines Budget and Scope

Funding for project

– FTA 5309 “New Starts” funds $24,000,000

– FHWA funds for stations 7,373,851

– TDOT assistance 10% of local match 4,098,332

– Local Governments 4,098,332

– Total Budgeted Costs $39,570,515

Scope Must Be Managed During the Design Phase

Scope Management

– With baseline documents – a change control process is needed to monitor and control changes

– A configuration management process was developed and implemented early in the project

Lessons Learned from Seattle – Contract Administration

Lessons Learned / Contract Management

– Lessons Learned were applied from previous projects

– Design to budget terms were put in the Design contract

– Penalties and re-design at no cost clauses were added

– This was useful in several areas – signals and stations

Risk Assessment / Mitigation

Risk Management

– Early in preliminary engineering it was determined that used cars would be acquired from MARC (Maryland Administration for Rail Commuters)

– MARC was retiring the vehicles rather than investing to upgrade to meet the latest Safety Hazard criteria for passenger cars

– A major investment would have to made to bring the cars to Federal Railroad Administration standards as well as meet the Americans with Disabilities Act

Risk Assessment / Mitigation

Initial Cost

Per Unit

Rehabilitation Cost

(Minimal)

Useful Life

(Years)

Annual Maintenance Cost

FRA Complian

ce

ADA Complian

tDwell Time Per Station

Meets Clean Air Standards

Cars

MARC (single level) $20,000 $25K-250K 5 $15K-$20K No No 3 minutes N/A

Coment (single level) $200,000 $25K-250K 7 $15K-$20K No No 3 minutes N/A

Chicago METRA (bi-level) $250,000 $25K-250K 7 $60K-$65K No No 2 minutes N/A

New (bi-level) $1,900,000 $0 40 $63,000 Yes Yes 40 seconds N/A

Locomotives

E9 (used) $150,000 $100K-$1M 5 $84,000 No N/A N/A No

F-40 (used) $250,000 $100K-$1M 8 $84,000 No N/A N/A No

F-59 (new) $3,000,000 $0 25 $75,000 Yes N/A N/A Yes

Team Work/ Communication

QA Consultant former employee of Metra in Chicago

Served as Project Manager for fleet overhaul in 1999 and 2000

Had contacts in Chicago - Put RTA in touch with Metra in Chicago

RTA was able to get “first pick” of the fleet they were retiring

Acquired the passenger cars and coaches at no cost!

Rail Fleet – total cost $575,000

• Three recently rebuilt former Amtrak Locomotives – purchased in October, 2004

• Seven coaches and four cab cars acquired by transfer of federal interest from Chicago’s Metra operation –

received in June, 2004

• Repainting of equipment and ADA compliance refit

Interior Railcar

Bi-level gallery cars with seating on both levels

Each seat can easily be reversed to allow passengers to ride facingeither direction

Can also configure seats for groups

Managing Stakeholder Expectations

Riverfront Station

– The original station concept taken to preliminary engineering was very “minimalist”

– The east corridor is the only corridor that will terminate at Riverfront

– Low budget – limited funds

– During the 30% design review, Metro Nashville determined the Riverfront station should more of a flagship station

– A “presence” in the downtown was desired

Stakeholder Involvement

Meetings held with Metro Nashville

– A series of meeting were held with representatives Metro planning, public works, ADA Compliance, parks, the Mayor’s office and the Civic Design Center

– A new concept was developed

– All parties had buy-in on the new concept

New Concept presents New Obstacles

The revised concept extended the footprint of the station beyond the footprint covered in the Environmental Assessment

A Supplemental Environmental Assessment was needed for the extended foot print

The extended foot print is on “park” property owned by the Army Corps of Engineers and leased to Metro Nashville

New Concept presents New Obstacles

During the Phase I cultural review of the supplemental EA, a “discovery” was identified

The “discovery” was that of a Brennan Foundry, also known as the Claiborne Machine Works

This foundry had a significant role during the Civil War as a munitions plant

Specialized in the production of iron cannons

This foundry manufactured 71 cannons for the Confederate government between 1861 and the fall of Nashville in 1862

Team Work

Based on this information, a Phase II archeological excavation was conducted

Due to the excavation being on Park Land – all Native American tribes had to be notified – FTA handled this activity for the RTA

We were able to use Metro Nashville purchasing department and on-call excavation contractors to expedite the process and avoid the time to competitively bid the work

The archeologist was brought in under the design consultant’s contract

The excavation was completed within 1 week

Team Work

The excavation uncovered the foundation of the foundry and the walls

The excavation determined the foundry was deep enough so that our construction of the station would not impact the historical resource

A Finding of No Significant Impact was Issued by the FTA

Nashville Riverfront – 1880s

Brennan Foundry ca. 1864

Nashville Riverfront

Ferry Building Foundation, Nashville Riverfront

Artifacts from Ferry Building Nashville Riverfront

Team Work

Metro Nashville agreed to pay for “betterment” of the station

The structure is designed to resembled typical train depots at the turn of the century, in Tennessee

Obstacle– FTA Civil Rights Office’s Interpretation of the American with

Disabilities Act Situation

– During PE the project had determined to use the mini-high platform with bridge plates for boarding of mobility impaired passengers

– This is the model used by all commuter rail passenger service implemented since 1992

– There was over $6 million in grant funds that had the potential of lapsing (meaning lost) if the Civil Rights Office did not approve the grant

Operational / Structural Infeasibility for Level Boarding

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) defers to standards defined by the States, including the State of Tennessee, and published as a standard in the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of Way Association (AREMA) guidelines for the safety of railway workers. These are the requirements that the NERC must operate within

Alternatives under Exception 2

Communications

The FTA Civil Rights team came to Nashville

A face to face meeting was held between the Civil Rights Office and the disabled community

A meeting was held between the Project Management Team and the Civil Rights team

Approval was granted on concept and use of mini-high platforms and bridge plates

Lessons Learned –face to face communication is very important

Project Management Tools – Team Work / Communications

Risk Mitigation / Innovative Contracting

Situation

– To avoid further cost escalation due to delays, construction needed to begin in summer 2004

– All federal funding had not been appropriated

– A construction implementation plan and obligation plan were developed to mitigate the risk of beginning construction and then having to “place project on hold” and pay delay claims to contractors

– A plan was developed to phase construction into 2 phases with all work from Nashville to Mt. Juliet in Phase 1 and all work from Mt. Juliet to Lebanon in Phase 2

Risk Transference

Risk Mitigation & Innovative Contracting – To enable the contractors bidding to provide prices good for

180 days, all the steel (rail) was removed from the bid package

– RTA purchased the steel (rail) directly removing this risk items from the contractors so they could provide pricing without the unknown fluctuations of the steel prices

Moving Ahead with Construction

Construction would be awarded in phases

This effectively dealt with the funding obstacles

Construction began on November 8, 2004

Over 145,000 feet of rail was installed

53% of the route is new rail

Situation– All bids for stations came in approximately 45% over the engineer’s

estimates

– The construction market and prices for concrete and steel were extremely volatile at that time

Value Engineering & Contracting Ideas– The contract duration was increased so that the costs could be reduced

– Value Engineering ideas were implemented to reduce the cost by replacing paving with chip and seal, reducing the thickness of the concrete on the sidewalks, reducing the number of shelters and working with a property owner to only acquire the amount of land needed versus the entire parcel

Risk Management

Value Engineering & Contracting Ideas– Changed the typical curb section from full curb and gutter to a post curb

which enabled us to put paving back in at no cost

– The project team also decided to use parking ticket machines for platform ticket sales, which are approximately $16,000 / unit as opposed to standard fare collection equipment used at other properties which range from $100,0000 / unit to $500,000 / unit.

Risk Management

Track Rehabilitation

80% of the rail is now continuous welded rail

Approximately 1 out of 3 ties was replaced

Results; a smoother safer ride with less maintenance

Increased maximum passenger speed to 59 mph

Bridges

3 Bridges Rehabilitated

7 Bridges Replaced

4 New Bridges

Signals

All public grade crossing were upgraded with warning systems between Nashville and Lebanon

Centralized Train Control (CTC) was installed between Nashville and Lebanon

Trains are dispatched out of the Lebanon Yard Office

Stations

All Aboard!!!!

Titans Trains

Appreciating the Riders!

Questions?

Remember to LOOK LOOK both ways,LISTEN LISTEN for the sounds of a train,

stop and yield to any oncoming train –

If we all LOOKLOOK and LISTENLISTEN, we will LIVELIVE!

Operation Lifesaver ®