Big Dig

A stakeholder is a person, group, or organization that has a direct or indirect stake in an organization because it can be affected by the organization’s actions, objectives, and policies. In a business, there are many people and organizations who are able to support and have responsibility to keep the business survive. Stakeholders are one of them. They are people who have an interest in the activities of a firm or business, however, they do not have to own any finance in that business. There are two types of stakeholders –Internal and External stakeholders.The external stakeholders in construction project are: Local, and National authorities and government, Social organizations, Political organization, Local communities, the General public, Environmentalists, Interests groups, Real estate owners, Nearby residents, Trade and industry, Social Services (schools, Hospitals etc. ), Media, anyone else who believes he or she has a stake in the project. Internal stakeholders are: Project owners, Client organization, Project Management team, Customer user, Suppliers contractors’ subcontractors, Employee, Financiers, and Creditors.Major stakeholders for the big dig project are: the Massachusetts Highway Department, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), the Metropolitan Highway System (MHS), Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff (B/PB), and the General public. The main direct stakeholders who are benefiting from the completion of the project are the Boston commuters. The main objective of the Big Dig project is relieving highway traffic congestion, reducing traffic jams in Downtown Boston, and decreasing the accident rate. The elevated Central Artery had been designed to carry up to 75,000 vehicles per day when it opened in 1959.However, the size of traffic continued to increase, with traffic mounting to 200,000 vehicles per day, and approximately 190,000 of those going over the Charles River crossing in the 1990s. The two tunnels under Boston Harbor b etween downtown Boston and East Boston/Logan Airport were facing the same problem. The accidents were concentrated around exits from the elevated highway onto local streets in downtown Boston, and this was linked to the lack of an ‘Inner Belt’ highway that was supposed to complete the Central Artery design.Such an Inner Belt was never built because of community opposition to the construction of an additional highway, which would have required displacing thousands of residents and businesses. Through the years, it became clear that without major improvements to the Central Artery and the harbor crossings, the congestion was only going to get worse. The annual costs from this congestion were significant, including wasted fuel from idling due to still traffic and related deficiencies to air quality, as well as charges for delayed deliveries.All of these were estimated to cost $500 million per year. In addition, Boston's North End and Waterfront neighborhoods were cut off f rom the downtown, limiting these areas' ability to participate in the city's economic life. The success factors are the contributions made by the management towards a successful project. These can be classified into five groups as follows: †¢The project manager: Having a project manager is not going to guarantee the success of a project. The person needs to have an array of skills under his arm to use during the project.He must guide the rest of the team to successfully complete all the objectives. †¢The project team: Project managers are very lucky if they have the option to choose their project team. More often, their team is inherited to the project from various sectors of the organization. The team needs to consist of variety of skills and experience. Collectively as a team, success is easy to achieve with proper guidance. All members of the project team must be committed to the success of the project and the overall mission of the company. Project: The scope and timel ine of the project are crucial. For example, if a project is urgent, the critical factor in that case is time. †¢The organization: Top management support is the principal success factor for many independent research groups. The organization needs to provide support to both the project manager and the project team. †¢External environment: External environment can be the political, economic, socio-culture and technological context in which the project is executed.Factors like the weather, work accidents or the government’s favorable or unfavorable legislation can affect the project in all of its phases. External constraints should not affect the project. Back up plans need to be in place in case daily tasks cannot be carried by the team. Yes, the project is successful. The economic impacts of the projects are as follows: †¢There has been approximately 62% improvement in the traffic flow, which exceeded project expectations. †¢A 12 percent reduction in citywi de carbon monoxide levels was achieved. Improvements and substantial reductions in traffic delay is providing approximately $168 million annually in time and cost-saving for travelers. †¢Average travel times from the I-90/I-93 interchange to Logan Airport during peak periods have decreased between 42% and 74%, depending on direction and time of day. †¢Average afternoon peak hour northbound travel time on I-93 through downtown has dropped from 19. 5 minutes to 2. 8 minutes. †¢The opening of the I-90 connector to Logan International Airport has added 800,000 residents to the 1. million who can access the airport within a 40-minute drive of their home. Overall, the project is successful as can be seen from the above economic impacts of the project. The major objective to relief the traffic has been successful and there is a much better traffic flow now. This project gives us a good idea about the success criteria used here and gives us a practical example of the required contributions by the management and employees to make the project successful.