Civil Engineering Projects
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- See also
See also Project Execution, Project Development, Project Definition, Project Life Cycle and Phase Models, Project Delivery Methods.
See also Program Management in Civil Engineering, Project Management ...
Basic considerations
Semantic, Epistemic and Logical frameworks
The semantic, epistemic and logical frameworks for the concept of civil engineering projects have multiple issues arising largely from interchangeable usages and lack of definition.
Semantic framework
- The semantics problems largely revolve around distinguishing between civil engineering programs, projects and portfolios of projects. [Note 1]
Epistemic framework
There are frameworks for distinguishing different types of civil engineering knowledge as well as that of related disciplines and sciences, as well as knowledge components and knowledge architecture.
The key aspect of civil engineering knowledge is its hierarchical structure and the process or sequential nature in which its knowledge is developed and, most importantly, how it is applied. Its models are grounded in underlying knowledge domains.
The key characteristic in this analysis is that knowledge models can be developed as ontologies or taxonomies with critical differences between the two.
Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification without necessarily requiring a hierarchical structure. Taxonomies are not, by themselves, very useful for problem solving outside of the formal education process.
Ontologies, on the other hand, are the study of the basic nature, essential properties, and relationships. Disciplines or professions like civil engineering construct ontologies to limit complexity and organize information and thereby increase the value of knowledge for solving problems.
- Civil engineers are skilled at constructing engineering ontologies that control complexity, organize data, produce information and knowledge. These ontologies are useful for solving engineering problems, sequencing critical decisions and sharing and reusing knowledge, thereby allowing the civil engineer to demonstrate mastery of the professional's role in project execution and delivery.
Given this development, an onto-logic knowledge model for civil engineering projects requires underlying Discipline Specific Foundational and Technical Outcomes as well as Project Foundational, Project Specific Technical and Execution outcomes.
Logical framework
The logical framework for civil engineering projects has several key concepts.
Practice frameworks for Civil Engineering Projects
PMIBoK
PMI defines a project as:
- "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result." [1]
PMI notes that temporary does not mean the duration of the project is short. Projects may provide tangible or intangible outcomes. Projects may contain repetitive artifacts in processes; PMI notes that this does not change "the fundamental, unique characteristics of the project work." (ibid.)
Commentary:
- The term is defined in a very loose, generic context and hardly reflective of actual civil engineering practice. Civil engineering projects are sets of activities and processes that are organized and directed towards a common purpose, objective or goal. More to the point, they result in a tangible result, a physical facility. They are undertaken by a project sponsor and assigned to a project office held responsible for project execution. [Note 2]
This is a much stronger but narrower definition than that envisaged by PMI.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
In its Quality Management System standard, ISO defines a project as a:
- "unique process, consisting of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve an objective conforming to specific requirements, including the constraints of time, cost and resources." [2]
Commentary:
- None.
American Society of Civil engineers (ASCE)
Although ASCE does not define "project" explicitly, the concept of the project is deeply embedded in ASCE's vision of civil engineering. Project is mentioned in the ASCE Vision 2025 document many times; civil engineers are described as providing the "essential underpinnings of design and project oversight." [3]
Civil engineering will continue to be focused on "the definition, selection, and implementation of projects." [4]
Commentary:
As noted above in the PMI discussion, civil engineering executes projects in a much more structured and prescribed manner than many of the projects envisaged under PMI’s Body of Knowledge. However, there is nothing in either the PMI or ISO definitions that is incompatible with the notions ASCE espouses in its 2025 vision for civil engineering.
In this sense, the PMI and ISO definitions are more abstract than the concept as practiced by civil engineering. Simply put, civil engineering executes projects within a much deeper but still narrower spectrum of practices than most PMI or ISO projects.
This is the result of unique aspects in the practice of civil engineering such as:
- Physicality
- Labor specialization
- The unique role played by engineering design
- Physicality – the property of being a physical object or process
Civil engineers execute physical projects. They may start out as planning concepts or fundamental research, but they all result in the application of resources (tangible and intangible) to modify the built or natural environment. Software starts out as a human thought product and remains a thought product.
Civil engineering, like other disciplines such as mechanical and electrical engineering, is about physical projects that in themselves may have advanced technology but in the end are physical objects. In this sense, engineering is transformative. In physical object domains, there is no “co-location in the cloud”; things must be physically integrated under constraints such as the urban environment. Civil engineers play a key role in physically integrating projects.
- Civil engineers transform thought into physical objects that exist in many places in the global economy and then integrate them into the executed project.
- Labor Specialization – the division of labour
Software development is a relatively homogeneous workforce composed largely of professionals with some technical support. Project execution for civil engineers means producing designs using multidisciplinary and multi-skilled teams that are then logistically and physically integrated by crews whose work is predominantly craft in nature.
This means that project phasing becomes more fragmented along the lines of division of work and labor specializations. This adds complexity due to regulatory environments for manufacturing physical goods, transporting them into confined assembly areas, and the requirements for using labor in most jurisdictions.
- Civil engineers practice in heterogeneous project team environments that are multidisciplinary, with multiple levels of specialization in the team and a tendency towards blurred professional responsibilities.
- Engineering Design
Project execution in the built environment has a heavy emphasis on public safety and welfare that is not present in many software development projects. A closer parallel is in the area of medical devices that use software controls, where there are strong regulatory controls on reliability.
With the physicality and specialization properties, civil engineers play a key and regulated role in developing designs to be implemented by other specialized teams and physically integrated on site, and then systemically integrated into the customer facility for acceptance. This imposes a functional structure to project execution that is unlike most software development.
- Project execution in the built environment must be accomplished in functional, cascading phasing. The project is conceptualized, then designed, procured, mobilized, physically integrated, systemically integrated into the facility, and then accepted by the customer.
Given this, project life cycles in civil engineering are predominantly predictive or plan-driven early in project execution. This remains true as the life cycle is decomposed level by level to contract packaging. Below this level, the phasing becomes a mix of predictive and adaptive development.
While there is flexibility in overlapping phases and decomposing phases into sub-phases, contract packages and work packages, the fundamental process must remain the same:
- Any individual work element at any level must be scoped, designed, procured, mobilized, physically and systemically integrated, and accepted by the customer.
Any one functional item might be performed by one individual or by a team of civil engineers working for multiple organizations with different contractual responsibilities, but in the end the design must be integrated to a point where it can serve as a basis for procurement and construction.
- With this core role of engineering design in project execution, civil engineers must be skilled at maintaining the integrity and adequacy of the design throughout a variety of project phasing modes and at any depth of sub-phasing, from contract packaging down to individual work packages.
- Civil engineering adds value above and beyond its reserved core roles in design by predictably and reliably integrating procurement, construction, and commissioning considerations into the executed project.
Programmatic frameworks for Civil Engineering Projects
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
(Under construction.)
Department of Defense (DOD)
(Under construction.)
Department of Energy (DOE)
DOE's program guidance notes that all DOE projects have a:
- "single, vital commonality: the preparation, documentation, approval, implementation, and verification of project requirements." [5]
These requirements define the framework for going forward with the detailed descriptions and design necessary to meet the project performance (products, deliverables) established in the Mission Need Statement (MNS).
- Requirements define and describe the extent to which a function(s) must be executed, and are generally measured in terms of quantity, quality, coverage, timelines, safety, environmental, products, deliverables, etc. (DOE, ibid.)
Department of Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
(Under construction.)
Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
FTA's PCM has instances of reference to requirements, while PMI uses the term extensively and ASCE has fewer explicit uses. In ASCE’s Body of Knowledge the term “project phase” or “project delivery” is not always used explicitly, which can be problematic for stakeholders and sponsors. FTA does not define the term in the same way PMI does in the PMBOK.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
(Under construction.)
Regulatory framework for Civil Engineering Projects
Legislative framework for Civil Engineering Projects
Limitations of the definition
(Under construction.)
Working definition of the term
- "A project is a unique process consisting of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve a defined set of objectives, conforming to specific requirements, including the constraints of time, cost and resources."
Civil engineers practice within a narrower subset of the class of all projects as discussed above and so therefore:
- "A civil engineering project is a unique set of activities and processes that is organized and directed towards a common purpose, objective or goal. It is undertaken by a project sponsor and assigned to a project office held responsible and accountable for project execution under constraint." [Note 3]
Beneficial Outcomes
(Under construction.)
See also
Wiki article on project.
Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes are about what skills, knowledge, and abilities can be demonstrated when the content in this article has been mastered by the reader.
Notes
- [Note 1] Semantic distinction between civil engineering programs, projects, and portfolios (originally indicated by a note marker).
- [Note 2] Definition derived from the concept of programs in OMB Circular A-109 (Major Systems Acquisition) and related sources.
- [Note 3] Civil-engineering-specific refinement of the ISO/PMI project definition.
References
- Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), 5th ed., 2013, Glossary, p. 552.
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ISO/FDIS 9000:2005, Sec. 3.4 "Terms relating to process and product", p. 11.
- ASCE, The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025, 2006, p. 3.
- ASCE, The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025, 2006, p. 59.
- Project Management Practices, Engineering Support and Requirements Generation, Analysis, and Use, Sec. 2.0 Requirements Generation, Rev. E, June 2003.