Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

You will all have been waiting eagerly to hear how the execution of my caisson swage repair went. I mentioned in my earlier post the issues with a crane outage and competition for deck space in the laydown area. It also transpires that the HVAC in the Bruce utilities room (see image) where the work will take place is not working, thus making the room a confined space. These issues have conspired to push the scheduling of the C16 back into late September.

Bruce Utilities Room

By pushing the timing of the C16 repair back, it aligned with the scheduled repair of the next caisson, C15. With typical military enthusiasm I claimed this second repair as my own project and it became clear there were efficiencies to be made by completing both repairs back to back. Wood Group, BP’s engineering partner have produced a combined construction schedule and the saving of combining the work scopes is in the order of £200k.

At this point I hit yet more issues as the repair is dependent on an inspection being carried out by the Integrity Engineering team. This inspection can’t take place until the core Bruce engineers remove the pump and its riser, the sectional pipe that connects the pump to the distribution pipework (top right in the above photo). It transpires that the riser from C16 is sat in the racking in the utilities room (bottom left of the photo). Guess where the C15 riser needs to be put?

So what we have ended up with is a series of 3 related projects all with elements of their scope which are similar, taking place as a sequence, in the same place. From what was covered on the APMP course that sounds very much like a programme. Treating the 3 projects as a programme and appointing a programme lead should ensure any issues which affect the other projects are identified and mitigate and may lead to further efficiency savings.

As if my first project growing arms and legs and becoming a programme wasn’t enough I have been tasked to conduct a portfolio risk review for all the projects being undertaken by the Projects and Modifications team.