Roads and Maritime Services Planning and Development

Assignment 1: Formulation of the projects

Introduction to Building Road and Maritime Services

Roads and Maritime Services proposed to upgrade the Prospect Highway. This Highway is going to construct between Reservoir Road at Prospect and 200 metres north of St Martins Crescent at Blacktown, a length of 3.6 kilometres. For this purpose, a Review of Environmental Factors (REF), the “Approved Project REF” was prepared by Jacobs in May 2014 which is designed for the purpose of upgrading the Prospect Highway. In like manner, this project was determined by the Roads and Maritime too in September 2014.

Subsequently, this work has described the Approved Project REF too for roads and Maritime. In this context, refining of the design has taken place while detailing the design phase and including the various works. Modification of the roads and Maritime services has taken place due to the up-gradation of the Project Highway which will remain supportive to decrease the environmental footprint and to provide an effective commute facility. This project includes a kiss and rides facility for the school grounds of Shelley Public School. It has also included four additional noise walls along the Prospect Highway sections which were described in the Approved Project REF. Moreover, this project has also included the power line relocation while associating it with the clearing of trees within private properties between Bungarribee Road/Leabons Lane and Blacktown Road, Seven Hills. In like manner, modification of the intersection has also taken place at Hadrian Avenue and Keyworth Drive which has supported to provide a roundabout and associated utility relocation. Additional drainage works have also taken place at various locations at the Approved Project boundary and additional road works have also been designed at various locations while extending beyond the Approved Project boundary (Wambui, & Mercy, 2017). Moreover, this project has given focus towards safe entry and exit to properties to and from Prospect Highway. Additionally, an amendment of the signposted speed limit has also taken place on the Prospect Highway from Reservoir Road to Blacktown Road. Furthermore, test excavations have taken place for non-Aboriginal heritage items at Reservoir Road while including the operational on-site detention basins. Acoustic architectural treatments have also been designed for eligible receivers at-property while relocating the Sydney Trains power pole outside the Approved Project boundary.

Nomination of the Company

The budget set for this project is 150 Million $. To accomplish this project, the tender was invited to bid so that the project will be accomplished in the pre-decided budget (Kerzner, 2013). For this purpose, an advertisement is published in the Newspaper and 10 applications of the construction companies are received by the committee. These applicants have shown their interest to undertake this project. Out of these 10 companies, three companies are selected by the committee. These companies are Soma Building Services, Almar Construction and CPB Contractors Pty Limited. While selecting the company, committee has given focus towards various parameters. These three companies are evaluated on those parameters. The major parameters which are included by the committee to judge the best option for giving the tender are as follow:

• Market Goodwill
• Economic Growth
• On-time Delivery
• In-the Budget Project accomplishment
• Quality Material

Table 1: Nomination of the Company

From the above table, it is analysed that Soma Building Services is the best option to give the contract of this project. This firm has passed all the major criteria which are decided by the committee. From the evaluation, it is analysed that giving the contract to Soma Building Services in the context of upgrading the Prospect Highway will remain the most economically advantageous tender. This judgement has taken place on the basis of budget, quality, economic growth, on-time delivery and goodwill which are the major parameters of any project. These parameters remained supportive under this project to select the best organization to offer the contract.

Ways to Build the Road

To build the road, there is a need of focusing on various parameters, such as clear vision, strong development team, aligned scope while focusing towards funding, development of the sustainable plan, etc. (Jalava, Haakana, &Kuitunen, 2015).To build the environmentally friendly road, there is a need of focusing on various parameters. In this context, the following areas should be considered while constructing the road:

• Kiss and ride facility
• Noise walls
• Powerline relocation
• Additional road works
• Keyworth Drive roundabout
• Property access adjustments
• Speed limit
• Test excavations at former Great Western Road

(Source: Feng, Zhang, &Gao, 2015)

Government Help: Subsidy

In the context of subsidy, government plays a major role to provide funds for the purpose of constructing the road as it remains supportive for social welfare and supports to development of new opportunities (Odeck, 2017). This road will support to effective management of traffic while focusing on safety measurements and environmentally friendly practices. So, in this context, government has various schemes which can be applied to get the benefit of the subsidy.

Executive Summary

The proposed project is focused on several elements which have supported refining the design and get it approved by REF. There is a huge focus given towards the installation of noise walls along Prospect Highway, power line relocations, architectural treatments, etc. This project has given focus towards footpath, cycling area and installation of the new roundabout.  This project is designed while focusing on the strategic needs and has included statutory and planning frameworks, community and stakeholder consultation and environmental impacts.

To give a detailed understanding of the project, the overall assignment is divided into three sections. In which, the first section supports offer the information regarding formulation of the project. Furthermore, the second third sections enable to give understanding regarding project optimization and the final feasibility study.

This project aims to increase the concern towards expertise, development, economic growth, income opportunity, public welfare while focusing on improving the commuting facility. At the same time, the goal of this project is to achieve a statutory and planning framework while focusing on community and stakeholder consultation. This project goal is to design the project in an effective manner so that the construction of the Prospect Highway can be taken place in an adequate manner.

To nominate the company, for the accomplishment of the project, the committee has given consideration towards selecting the nominee while critically analysing the various perspectives in the context of the three selected companies which has enabled to select the firm while evaluating several perspectives.

In this project, the researcher has given consideration to various perspectives while handling the contract of the project to the Soma Building Services. For this purpose, the committee has given major consideration towards five major parameters, i.e. market goodwill, economic growth, on-time delivery, in-the budget project accomplishment and quality material. Selecting the firm on the basis of these parameters have supported handling the contract to the adequate firm.

Background, Objective and Goal

Roads and Maritime have proposed to upgrade the Prospect Highway in the context of Reservoir Road to Prospect and 200 metres north of St Martins Crescent at Blacktown. For this purpose, 3.6 kilometres length has been considered. This project is designed while focusing on the environmental factors and it is the “Approved Project REF”. Since 2014, this project development has continued and it is in the detailed design phase. The prospect Highway is a south-north arterial road that connects Blacktown with the Great Western Highway, M4 Western Motorway, Reconciliation Road while connecting the Greystanes Road in the south and the M2 Hills Motorway and M7 Motorway to the north too.

This prospect Highway services are designed to offer services to private vehicles, buses, pedestrians and cyclists. It has also included a B-Double truck route while including various features. For the majority of the road, it has included two lanes in each direction, noise walls, eleven bus stops and shelters, signposted regarding the speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour, street pedestrian underpass, informal stopping area, 14 existing signalised and un-signalised intersections, rear property access, visual amenity, safety measurements, etc. are the major features of this project.

Objective

The objective of this project is to increase the concern towards expertise, development, economic growth, income opportunity, public welfare while focusing on improving the commuting facility.

Goal

The purpose of the project is to describe the modified proposal while documenting the impacts of the project on the environment which will remain supportive to take protective measures to decrease the environmental footprints. Moreover, it also goals to achieve a statutory and planning framework while focusing on community and stakeholder consultation.

Limitations

Although this project has supported to cover wider aspect still there are few limitations of the project, they are:

• This project does not focus on busways
• Additional site compound areas are not assessed in the Approved Project REF

Assignment 2: Project Optimisation

Criteria for Assessment

According to the views of Burke (2013), there are various criteria, which need to be focused on while offering a contract of a project to the companies. In this context, under this project, the following parameters were focused on while selecting Soma Building Services.

Market Goodwill

Goodwill can be defined as an intangible business asset. It arises due to the value of brand name, good customer relationship, solid customer base, skilled employees, effective relationship within the organization, any patents or proprietary technology, etc. (Larson, &Gray, 2013). The goodwill of a firm can be calculated on the basis of subtracting the price paid value acquired by the company from the fair market value of its net identifiable assets. From table 1, it can be analysed that in this parameter, all the three firms have passed this criterion. It reflects that the selected three firms have goodwill in the market.

Economic Growth

Economic growth can be reflected as an increase in the number of goods and services in the population over a period of time(Boud, Cohen, & Sampson, 2014). It enables to increase the capacity and growth of the overall population. Economic growth can be measured in the terms of gross national product (GNP) and gross domestic product (GDP), although alternative metrics can also be used to measure the economic growth of the country.

In the context of these three firms which are nominated for the contract purpose, it is identified that Almar Construction and CPB Contractors Pty Limited are not passed the criteria of economic growth as most of the senior employees are hired by the firm from the diversified market which has decreased the chances of employment for the local citizens. At the same time, Soma Building Services has passed this criterion. In this perspective, it is identified that this firm has recruited local people in the organization which has remained supportive towards the economic growth of the organization. At the same time, this firm also invests a certain percentage of its income in social welfare which supports the upliftment of society.

On-time Delivery

On-time delivery enables to accomplish the project in a timely manner and supports to eliminate the situation of delay (Mir, &Pinnington, 2014). On-time delivery is one of the major parameters of the contract as it supports to delivery of the project in a specific time span. In the context of this project, the decided time frame is 6 months from the side of the committee.

In the context of on-time delivery, it is analysed that Almar Construction and Soma Building Services both passed on this criterion as they have created the market value on the basis of on-time delivery (Kerzner, 2017). However CPB Contractors Pty Limited has not passed this criterion. It reflects that both these firms can accomplish the project in the time span of 6 months. Due to this reason, Almar Construction and Soma Building Services are eligible to get the contract on this parameter.

In-the Budget Project accomplishment

This criterion reflects that the project will be accomplished in the pre-determined budget or not. In this parameter, it is analysed that only Soma Building Services has shown consensus to this perspective as this firm has given assurance to accomplish the project in the pre-determined budget, i.e. 150 Million $. However, Almar Construction and CPB Contractors Pty Limited have mentioned that there is a chance of an increase in the cost.

Quality Material

In this parameter, all three firms are focused on offering high-quality products. In this perspective, it is identified that all the firms give consideration towards material price standard, quality management, environment quality standard, absolute performance management and standard material rate (Heldman, 2015).

Pros and Cons of Selected Criteria

The pros and cons of the selected criteria are as follow:

Soma Building Services firm has passed on all the five major parameters, which are taken by the committee, i.e. market goodwill, economic growth, on-time delivery, in-budget project accomplishment and quality assurance. So, the selection of this option seems to be the best option. At the same time, in the context of Almar Construction, it is identified that this firm has not passed on the criteria of economic growth and in-budget project accomplishment criteria. So, it can create the issue of increasing the budget of the project. Moreover, this project will not remain assistive for the economic growth of local people as it does not employ localities. At the same time, CPB Contractors Pty Limited is not clear on the criteria of economic growth and on-time delivery. So, the selection of this option can also create the issue as it can create the challenge of delay in the project as well as a selection of this option will not remain assistive for the economic growth.

Justify the optimum

Soma Building Services has been selected by the committee to pass the tender as this firm has passed on maximum criteria. In this context, it is identified that this firm has shown a good track record in the context of the last 10 years and has shown a steady growth trend. Market goodwill enables to increase the trust over this organization and supports to analyse the performance and image of the firm in the industry (Hwang, & Ng, 2013). So, in this parameter, it is analysed that Soma Building Services is performing well. Moreover, this company has hired local people which support the upliftment of society. This practice of the firm is supporting the economic growth of the society and assisting in increasing the growth opportunity.

In like manner, it is identified that this firm is capable to deliver the project on time and will also assure that it will accomplish the project within the planned budget, i.e. 150 Million $. While offering the contract to any company, on-time delivery plays a significant role as it allows following the plan in an adequate manner. So, it is analysed that this company will remain highly supportive to accomplish the whole project in a well-defined manner(Svejvig, & Andersen, 2015).

At the same time, in the context of quality, it is analysed that Soma Building Services is highly focused on utilizing quality material. For this purpose, there is a quality check department within the organization that only approve quality raw materials. Additionally, the complete project also goes through the quality check and if any error is found then it resolves by the firm quickly by taking effective actions. Giving concern towards quality parameters is the foremost necessity for the project as it supports increasing the lifeline of the project(Todorović, et al., 2015). Additionally, in the undergone project, this project was designed for highway construction. So, it is essential to give concern towards quality as it will enable to eliminate the situation of accidents.

Moreover, this firm also focused on environmental parameters and give concern to effective waste management. In like manner, the track record of the firm reflects that till yet firm has offered quality construction to its client. So, all these criteria support to increase the trust and reliability of this firm (Serra, &Kunc, 2015). This is the major reason which justifies the reason behind the selection of this firm. It enables to evaluate that this firm will support to accomplish the project in a timely manner, within the budget and will give concern towards quality parameter and eco-friendly practices while focusing towards market goodwill and economic growth.

Draft Conclusion/ Recommendation

Conclusion

From the above study, it can be concluded that while nominating the firm to allocate the project, there is a need of giving concern towards various criteria. In this project, Soma Building Services is selected as it is fulfilling all the required criteria it is a good option. Soma Building Services passed on the criteria of quality, on-time delivery, economic growth, in-budget project accomplishment and market goodwill. So, the selection of this firm will allow accomplishing the project in an adequate manner. Moreover, this section of the project has supported understanding the reasons behind why the other two nominated firms are rejected by the committee, which remained assistive to justify the reason behind the selection of Soma Building Services.

Recommendation

From the above study, it can be recommended that Soma Building Services needs to increase the concern towards environment parameter as it will support towards developing eco-friendly environment. At the same time, the firm should also need to give concern about the utilization of the resources in an effective manner while utilizing the strategy of recycling and reusing. Additionally, giving focus towards adequate use of resources will also support the firm to decrease the cost and to increase efficiency.

Assignment 3- Final Feasibility Study Report

Conclusion/ Recommendation

Conclusion

From the above study, it can be concluded that this project is feasible as it has given focus towards all the perspectives which are needed to be included for the Roads and Maritime Services in the context of upgrading the proposed Prospect Highway. This project has given a detailed understanding of the Highway while focusing on the location. A Review of Environmental Factors (REF), the “Approved Project REF” was prepared by Jacobs in May 2014 which is designed for the purpose of upgrading the Prospect Highway.

This Project Highway has given concern to decrease the environmental footprint and to increase the effective commute facility while eliminating the situation of accidents. It has included the kiss and ride facility, additional noise walls, power line and additional drainage system relocation which are the positive aspects of this project and has also included additional road works at various locations. Moreover, this project also gives concern towards safety parameters. All these features support to conclude that this project has been designed with utmost care which has supported to include various positive arenas,

At the same time, from this report, it can be concluded that the pre-determined budget of the undertaken project is 150 Million $. Furthermore, it has enabled us to understand that to accomplish the project, tenders are needed to be invited and on the basis of application, the nomination of the applicants take place, which is further judged by the project management team on the basis of various criteria. In this perspective, the criteria set for this project are market goodwill, economic growth, on-time delivery, in-the budget project accomplishment and quality assurance. In the context of this project, it is identified that 10 companies have shown their interest in this project, in which, three companies are nominated. These firms are judged on the above criteria and after the evaluation, Soma Building Services is found to be the best option for giving the tender.

Furthermore, this study has also included the ways of building the road which has helped to conclude that this project has used the latest ways for road construction, In like manner, eco-friendly practices have also been taken into consideration. In this context, in this project, various areas are considered, like kiss and ride facility, noise walls, powerline relocation, additional road works, keyworthdrive roundabout, property access adjustments, speed limit, test excavations at former Great Western Road. Additionally, this report has also supported including government help and subsidy as it is a big-budget project which cannot become accomplish without the help of the government subsidy. Moreover, this study has also offered an understanding regarding the objectives, goals and limitations of the study which has supported to provide in-depth understanding regarding the research topic.

Furthermore, from this study, it can be concluded that the selected criteria is the parameters that were essential to be judged to hand over this project to any firm. To give understanding regarding the importance of these parameters, the researcher has given a description regarding those criteria and has evaluated the pros and cons of each option on the basis of those parameters. Furthermore, justification of the selected option has taken place, which has enabled to understand the reason behind the selection of Soma Building Services and has also recommended the ways to improve the efficiency of this company towards the effective accomplishment of this project.

Recommendations

From the above report, it can be analysed that this project has given concern towards wider aspect but still, there are few limitations of the project, such as this project has not included busways and additional site compound areas are not assessed in the Approved Project REF. So, to eliminate these limitation areas, this project needs to increase concern towards including the busways too. Although it will increase the project cost still it will remain assistive to eliminate the chances of traffic as well as accidents. At the same time, it is recommended that there is a need of assessing the additional site compound areas in the Approved Project REF. Giving concern towards these recommendations will remain assistive to increase the positive aspects of this project.

Final Report

The project objective is to increase the concern towards expertise, development, economic growth, income opportunity, public welfare while focusing on improving the commuting facility. Moreover, the goal of this study is to describe the modified proposal while documenting the impacts of the project towards the environment to decrease the environmental footprints while achieving the statutory and planning framework while focusing on community and stakeholder consultation.

This report is based on roads and maritime services proposed to upgrade the prospect Highway. Under this project, the Highway is going to construct between Reservoir Road at Prospect and 200 metres north of St Martins Crescent at Blacktown and its length is 3.6 kilometres. For this purpose, “Approved Project REF” was prepared by Jacobs in May 2014 and the project was determined in September 2014.

This project has also offered a detailed understanding regarding the design phase and has also included various works. This Project Highway has given concern towards decreasing the environmental footprint while increasing the effective commute facility. This project will also remain supportive for the citizens to eliminate the situation of accidents while including the kiss and ride facility too for the school grounds of Shelley Public School. Moreover, additional noise walls and power line relocation are the positive aspects of this project. This project has also given concern towards additional drainage system which has also taken place at various locations at the Approved Project boundary. This project has also included additional road works at various locations. In like manner, this project also gives concern towards safe entry and exit. The signposted speed limit has also been amended to decrease the chances of any kind of accident.

At the same time, according to the views of Odeck (2017), government subsidy plays a major role to provide the funds as the construction of the road is a big-budget project and simultaneously it will remain supportive for social welfare and upliftment of the society. So, government subsidies can be utilized for the funding of this project. Government schemes can be applied on the basis of effective management of traffic, focus towards safety measurements and environmentally friendly practices. To build the road, the latest techniques are used in this project which will support the citizens and will offer them convenience such as, clear vision, a strong development team, aligned scope while focusing towards funding, development of the sustainable plan, etc.

In like manner, to accomplish this project, the budget of 150 Million $ was decided by the project manager. Nomination of the company has taken place on the basis of the evaluation of the firms on five factors, which are – market goodwill, economic growth, on-time delivery, in-the budget project accomplishment and quality assurance (Wambui, & Mercy, 2017). For the assessment of the nominated applicants, it is essential to judge them on these parameters. At the same time, it is essential to judge the pros and cons of each option. On the basis of this analysis, it is identified that Soma Building Services has passed all the five criteria. Due to this reason, Soma Building Services is selected by the committee.

This project has two limitations as well, firstly, it has not included busways under the project and additional site compound areas are also not assessed in the Approved Project REF.

Draft Presentation of the report

The above report remained highly supportive to offer in-depth knowledge regarding building the road and Maritime services. This project has included various parameters such as kiss and ride facility, four additional noise walls, power line relocation, roundabout, associated utilities relocation, additional drainage works, and additional road works designing etc. has also taken place. This project has also given consideration towards safe entry and exit to eliminate the chances of accidents in the context of Prospect Highway. Additionally, a sign for a speed limit is also considered on this Highway. Furthermore, the budget of this project is $150 Million and to nominating the firm to allocate the project, a project manager has invited tender. In this concern, the major parameters which are included by the project manager to judge the firm are market goodwill, economic growth, on-time delivery, in-the budget project accomplishment and quality material. On all these parameters, Soma Building Services remains best so this firm was nominated for the purpose of accomplishing the project. This project has also given consideration towards government subsidy. Moreover, the major objective of this project is to accomplish the project which focuses on expertise, development, economic growth, income opportunity, public welfare and improvement in the commuting facility. However, there is a limitation of not involving busways and not assessing the additional site compound areas in the Approved Project REF. However, this project has given consideration towards multiple parameters which remain assistive to increase the value of this project and this project will remain highly assistive to eliminate the situation of accidents and to improve the commute system.

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