Omada has been working on the North East Link Project (NELP) for six months now, so it is about time for an update!
NELP detailed design package 1 is the largest project that Omada has ever taken on as primary contractor. Having recently hit some major milestones, we talk to project director Laura Slee (Pictured right) to provide an update on how the team is going.
What key milestones have been achieved and what is coming up?
The Omada NELP project team and our subconsultants have now delivered all design packages to a detailed design stage gate and are progressing well to deliver Final Design deliverables.
How would you rate our team’s performance so far?
Omada’s NELP Management team has been proactive in communicating with the client, providing early identification of where the team requires further time to develop and mature the deliverables to a level that the team is happy with, and importantly making sure these new delivery dates are acceptable to the client. Omada and our subcontractors have then delivered all designs to date either on or ahead of schedule.
What challenges have the team encountered and how have they been overcome?
The NELP Project has a very compressed timeline and our team has shown great dedication to achieving the tight schedule. The project is progressing the Signalling Arrangement Plan to IFC status within 5 months of project start up.
The existing drawings for the geographical relay room have been found to show many inconsistencies with the infrastructure installed. While correlation has been carried out where possible to identify issues in the drawings, more invasive correlation and wire tracing are required to be confident that the drawings are correct. Due to the age and condition of the equipment, the project has taken the approach to undertake this correlation at the start of a long occupation rather than in a small closure to make sure that any impacts can be rectified without affecting the operation of the line.
What have been some of the key lessons learnt already through the project and how have they been implemented?
The Design LOT register and the dates we gave to our subcontractors initially had the delivery date to the client which did not allow for our team to carry out a comprehensive internal review. This then forced our Approvers and Document Controller to work into the evening to ensure that the deliverable was made on time.
We then addressed this issue by moving the dates of our subcontractor submissions to a few days before the client delivery date, this allows our team the time to conduct a comprehensive internal review.