The Chunnel Project

Initiation Phase
Project Management Area
Scope Management
Time Management
Cost Management
Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Communication Management
Risk Management
Procurement Management
Integration Management

Inception
Phase
2
3
2
2
3
3
2
2
2

Highlight of strengths
Time estimate for tunnel completion was correct. Tunneling is projects core and was
completed 3 months earlier.
Chunnel Project carries strong financial backing through equity investments from
two Nations and a consortium of over 200 banks worldwide.
The whole project was on cost plus margin basis where related business partners
were not entitled to a loss on their projects.
Governments influence in the project was minimal given the monitoring and this
resulted in the monopolized control over the project for 55 years.
Opportunities for improvement
Improper scope definition and the entire air condition of the project were left out,
causing scope increase of US$ 200 million.
An immense number of stakeholders presented huge communication challenge
throughout.

Development Phase
Project Management Area
Scope Management
Time Management
Cost Management
Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Communication Management
Risk Management
Procurement Management
Integration Management

Development Phase
3
3
2
3
2
3
3
2
3

Highlight of strengths
Planning for the technical equipment was a strength for this phase of the project.
The comprehensive research on the soil sample also gave the project team a lot of
technically sound data and observations.
Schedule planning was adequate and the delay in project completion was due to
factors beyond managements control.
Quarterly progress report to all the investors proved to be a great tool for keeping
the project on track.
IGC having a free hand on the project resulted in good quality control.
Opportunities for improvement
The scope was not fully assessed and proper precautions to prevent scope creep
were not in place. Also, the IGC was given the scope control without the ability to
approve additional funding raised many problems.
Banks were given too much control in this project.
Talking about the technical side of the project, risk assessment could have been
done in a better way.
At the start of the project, the momentum and pride associated with the project
were incredible but there were not enough provisions in place along the life of the
project to keep that momentum going.

Implementation Phase
Project Management Area
Scope Management
Time Management
Cost Management
Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Communication Management
Risk Management
Procurement Management
Integration Management

Implementation Phase
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

Highlight of strengths
With the consortium of construction companies implementing the project, it was
aimed that project to be completed at the minimum cost and the profits to be
generated under the BOT agreement for 55 years.
Opportunities for improvement
Again, the scope was not clear and there was not proper research prior to the scope
of the project being laid down. Same was the case for the subcontractors bidding for
the projects. The scope was not clear for them as well.
Fixed price contracts were being used to tie in the subcontractors to conform to the
specified budgets. Given the level of risk and uncertainty involved in this project,
any legal claims had to be in favor of the subcontractors had there been any event
confirming that the claimed variations were due to the unclear scope of work.
The impact of delay in the delivery of the project was far greater than that of a
simple cost overrun. Even then the costs were targeted to kept to minimal rather
than focusing on timely completion.

Closeout Phase
Project Management Area
Scope Management
Time Management
Cost Management
Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Communication Management
Risk Management
Procurement Management
Integration Management

Closeout Phase
2
3
2
4
2
1
3
2
3

Highlight of strengths
The time delays were brought forward from earlier phases and closeout phase was
rushed in meeting its deadline.
Good quality was measured for the project by the end of this phase. The tunnel
operated successfully and the workplace accidents during the project were less than
the industry average.
The variations proposed by the relevant stakeholders were executed in a good way
and staying without any cost overruns.

Opportunities for improvement

Scope for the close out phase was subject to a lot of variations signifying that the
research was not carried out properly.
Towards the end of the project, there was a lot of debate as to the cause of the cost
overruns. This explains a lot about the communication problems.

Summary of project
Project
Management Area
Scope Management
Time Management
Cost Management
Quality Management
Human Resource
Management
Communication
Management
Risk Management
Procurement
Management
Integration
Management

Incepti
on
2
3
2
2
3

Develop
ment
3
3
2
3
2

Implement
ation
2
2
2
2
2

Closeou
t
2
3
2
4
2

Averag
e
3
3
2
3
3

2
2

3
2

2
2

3
2

3
2

Strengths
The project had a strong financial backing and minimal governmental involvements
in the pricing. This is a great strength speaking commercially.
The ICG was given control which played its role in maintaining the quality.
Improvements
Banks were given more than necessary control over the project which resulted in
operational difficulties.
Scope definition was poorly carried out throughout the entire phase of the project.
This resulted in significant cost overruns and time delays
Lessons
The scope should be well defined and well research. All the possible unknown
unknowns must be considered deeply. From the example of Chunnel project, the air
conditioning was missed during the scope definition. This represents the level of
detail considered during scope definition.
Also, it is a lesson that appropriate control be given to relevant stakeholder. For
example, in this case, Banks and ICG were given excessive control which leads to
operational difficulties.