Work Breakdown Structure - Coursework Example

Name of the student) (Name of the institution) (Date of admission) Introduction Work breakdown Structure (WBS), in project management and systems engineering, is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of a project into smaller components. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into manageable sections (Rees 2011).. For proper planning and project management, work breakdown structure is very essential and necessary. Project management on the other hand is the discipline of carefully projecting or planning, organizing, motivating and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria. In order to achieve aims and objectives of project management, work breakdown is used and in most cases, other tools like gant charts are used to explain and give direction in project management. Simac & Elto (2011). defines a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a decomposition of all the work necessary to complete a project. A WBS is arranged in a hierarchy and constructed to allow for clear and logical groupings, either by activities or deliverables. The WBS should represent the work identified in the approved Project Scope Statement and serves as an early foundation for effective schedule development and cost estimating. Project managers typically will develop a WBS as a precursor to a detailed project schedule. The WBS should be accompanied by a WBS Dictionary, which lists and defines WBS elements. Construction of Abutment An abutment can be defined as a retaining structure normally designed and put up at the edge of a bride to act as support. They often necessary to act as resistant as well as transfer excess weight that may be caused by the lateral earth pressure. As results of ongoing construction at Toll Bar End, an abutment with a double pile foundation will be the most appropriate one considering the fact that the area has an A45 Stonebridge highway that is westbound between Toll bar and Stivichall and needs widening as from the Northern Kerb line. With the proposal of having an underpass linking A45 Stonebridge Highway to the A46 Coventry Eastern Bypass at Toll bar End junction, the retaining wall with abutments at both sides should be constructed in such a way that highway is able to withstand the pressure of the motorists plying the route especially next to the underpass structure. Components of such an abutment The Back wall:-These are vertical walls that support sprouting from the abutment seats and act as support for the expansion joints of the bridge Abutment Top Surfaces: Abutment seats at bearing locations shall be level. For seat abutments, the remaining exposed top surfaces shall be transversely sloped to provide adequate drainage. Approach Slab Seat: Provide a minimum 12-in approach-slab seat. Use restrainer units for all approach slabs that are not otherwise connected to the abutment or super structure (Rees 2011). Just like gravity retaining walls depend on their own weight and any soil resting on the concrete in resisting lateral earth forces. They are generally economical up to 10 feet in height fore cast concrete structures (Rees 2011). The walls are often having a short height as compared to other retaining walls such as cantilever retaining wall. The figure below gives a clear example of abutment bridge wall The work Breakdown Structure for the Construction of the Bridge Abutment From the instruction given, the work breakdown for the construction of the bridge is given below Estimation of the footing Checking of the Stability Determination of the critical reaction from the beam seat; It involves the calculation of the nominal loading on each 1m length of the abutment beam Estimating the length of the back wall; this will depends on the recommended maximum height of the trucks and motor vehicles to use the underpass Estimation of the footing; the footing heel and toe depends on the width of the highway to be constructed Retaining wall and beam seat design Abutment structures are structural elements that are connected to the ground and are designed to withstand the material pressure of the earth or other loads that may be above it at a given time. They are in most cases a combination of steel, concrete, masonry stone, soil, blocks or even pieces of wood firmly fixed together. Following the surveillance findings as well as the public opinion, a number of issues as raised by the relevant bodies must be adequately taken into consideration prior to deciding on the most appropriate retaining structures to be put up. Among the issues that need to be scrutinized is the type of soil, that is, whether the soil is sandy, clay or loamy (Richardson & Lee 2011).. However, the constructing a standard abutment structure is very costly and thus adequate measures needs to be in place to manage the entire construction phase. It’s therefore advisable that adequate resources are of financial or labour must be sought in advance so as to manage the construction phase to the end Activity scheduling The table below shows the activity scheduling of the project. It gives inputs, methods and tools and expected results Input Methodology & Tools Expected Outcome Enterprise Environmental requirements Judgment of the Experts Duration of each activity estimate Firm process assets Analogous estimation Activity based updates Alignment of the project scope Parametric estimation Activity based updates List of construction activities Three-point estimates Duration of each activity estimate Activity based updates Reserve analysis Duration of each activity estimate Activity/Date 2/11/2015 16/11/2015 25/11/2015 9/12/2015 4/1/2016 11/1/2016 Labour Required Determination of the critical reaction from the beam seat              100 Estimating the length of the back wall             70 Estimation of the footing              100 Back fill load calculation at “at-rest” lateral earth pressure               Determination of the limit States of the Bridge abutment              50 Setting up of the Abutment Structure             50 The duration estimates are often carried based on the idea that there are adequate resources to enable completion of the project in queue. The casual labors will be working 5 days in a week Determination of the limit States of the Bridge abutment Part II Activity following each other This is a diagram showing nodes representing activities connected by arrows which indicates the dependencies. It normally works in such a way that an activity begins only after completion of the previous activity. For instance activity (1.1) has to be completed before the commencement of activity (1.2) a) New Completion Date (Attached-Gantt Chart-PM 2) 1.1 1.2 1.3 Path 1 R 2.1 2.2 2.3 Path 2 ES-Earliest Start time of an activity EF-Earliest Finish time of an activity LS-Latest Start time of an activity LF-Latest Finish time of an activity Therefore, Float will be as follows:- Path 1 (Longest critical path duration-Shortest critical path duration) (10 + 7 + 10)- (7+4+7) =9 days Path 2 (Longest critical path duration-Shortest critical path duration) (7+5+5)- (4+3+3) =7 day b) Five ways to Amend the Project (Attached-Gantt Chart-PM 2) Change is an inevitable part of a project, so working out in advance how best to handle change requests will make the whole process much easier. The time taken in every activity will have to be reduced so as to have enough time for the succeeding activities (Richardson & Lee 2011). The available work force can be combined so as to have a maximum output in one activity before proceeding to the next activity, that is, Project Manager A and B both pool their teams together to have one activity acted upon at once. The project managers can outsource some activities such as transportation of materials to the construction site in order to enable them get ample time to work on the necessary activities. The team managers should hire or buy effective and enough working tools to enable the casual labors work with speed in order to complete the job within the shortest time possible. The project management should consider increasing the workforce based on the ground that the project owner is aware of the delay that the contractor was subjected to, prior to the project commencement depending with the requirement of the project. Reference Rees, J. (2011). Bred of Heaven: One man's quest to reclaim his Welsh roots. Profile Books. Richardson, G. N., & Lee, K. L. 2011. Seismic design of reinforced earth walls. Journal of the geotechnical engineering division, 101(2), 167-188. Simac, M. R., & Elton, D. J. (2011). Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Walls as Integral Bridge Abutments. In Geosynthetics (Vol. 29, No. 2). Read More