Timeframe:

November 2019–June 2021 

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Hoffcon services provided:

• Project management

• Business improvement

• Construction engineering

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Hoffcon's role:

• Systems and process management

• Methodology for bridges and some tunnels

• Programme and quality solution

• Engineer's representative

• Carbon emission reporting

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Identified issues:

• KiwiRail split the project into smaller areas which were delivered by different contractors under NZS3910 contracts. If managed in a traditional way, the administrative effort for managing the contracts would have been very high.

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Benefits of having Hoffcon on the job:

• Reduction of administrative effort by 80% by using clear and consistent process.

 

Overview:

Significant government investment enabled KiwiRail to improve rail connections in Northland, supporting the transfer of freight from road to rail and reducing transport emissions. The Northland Rail Upgrade consisted of 5 new bridges, 13 tunnel upgrades and 54km of new track. The estimated project cost was $205 million.

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Approach:

Project management and systems management 

The key to the Northland Rail Upgrade project running smoothly was to eliminate as much administrative effort as possible. To do so, Hoffcon implemented clear and consistent processes and set up systems to manage information in an easy and consistent format throughout the design, tender, construction and maintenance phases. The consistent format was applied to every system used on the job, which meant not only information could be easily found, but reporting could be automated.

 

Automation included:

• Daily progress tracking of Requests for Information (RFIs)

• Daily progress tracking of quality documentation such as inspection and test Plans

• Claims and project financial tracking

• Carbon emissions tracking

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Hoffcon's systems specialist, Naz Khatun, developed the claim process with the wider project team, which involved setting up a claim tool to enable automation. This meant it was easy for the team to process and review claims and significantly reduced the administrative effort required by the wider team. Naz was able to administer 50 to 60 contractor claims, subcontractor and consultant invoices per month. On a traditional project, this might have required six people.

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By having clear process, project financials were far easier to track and reports were developed that roll up financials to a summary level, while being able to drill down into details of an asset if required, meaning the project managers and team members have up-to-date data to base decisions on. Reporting included linking the original budget with the ongoing claims to know exactly how far through the budget they were at any point in time and forecasting accurately an end spend.

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Microsoft Teams was used as the one place for project documents and collaboration, and was set up using a consistent format. This allowed collaboration across contractors, client, subcontractors and design consultants and access to all documents on one platform (based on permissions, of course), including quality documents, claims, variations, notices, requests, processes and training content. The benefit was seen throughout the project as parties had access to the information they needed without having disconnected conversations via email.

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Early on, Hoffcon worked with the asset owners to understand what information they need for maintaining the assets long-term. The Microsoft Teams solution was set up to capture the information in the right format throughout the construction process. This, combined with clear process and training, meant quality information was uploaded as works progressed across all the contracts, which resulted in a short handover timeframe.

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At its peak, more than 600 people worked on the project. This meant training was critical to ensure the various teams understood the processes and felt comfortable using the systems in their day-to-day work. To reduce the training effort, processes and how-to-guides were accessible by the wider team (via Teams) for reference at any point throughout the project. Naz trained the personnel across the various teams and was on hand for the duration of the project to assist with any questions that came up.

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Hoffcon's way of working was proven on this job. It showed how implementing smarter solutions can change the future way of working in construction, saving many administrative hours and reducing costs.