Construction Project Management - Connecting the UK with Europe - Coursework Example

Boring from one end of the English Channel would ensure that the tunnels would progress without major concerns for aligning tunnels to each other. In contrast, if boring was initiated from either end of the English Channel, it would be technically demanding to ensure an accurate alignment of the tunnels when the tunnels met in the middle of the English Channel. The other constraints such as costs of extra machines for boring also had to be balanced against concerns for a time required to complete the project.

This and other such aspects of the Channel Tunnel project required that project management expertise and technical expertise be employed to execute the project. Once the project was initiated, the technical risks on the job were managed well enough including some famous overkill such as the useless procurement of new equipment when old equipment was just as effective. As the project progressed, it was affected negatively by two factors inimical to project management – cost variances and schedule.

On the one hand the technical risks associated with this iconic project had been well managed and dealt with but on the other hand, a new set of risks had been left alone to be dealt out on their own. Largely the risks left out of the initial planning phase included dealing with government bureaucracy and the associated delays and changes to project scope. While the Channel Tunnel project can be seen as a major achievement in terms of technical progress but it is otherwise a pure project management failure.

There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that the Channel Tunnel project was less than a Pyrrhic victory. The initial costing for the project was estimated at some $5.5 billion but the eventual execution cost the project team some $14.5 billion. There was little change in the overall scope of the project but there were myriad changes in the details of the project scope. It was decided initially that the Channel Tunnel would consist of 32 miles (51.5 kilometers) tunnel under the sea to serve two railway links separately.