NOMINATION FOR THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI) PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD INTEGRATED DISPOSAL FACILITY (IDF)
CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. (CH2M HILL) is pleased to nominate the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) project for the Project Management Institute's consideration as 2007 Project of the Year, Built for the U.S, Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of River Protection (ORP) at the Hanford Site, the IDF is the site's first Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)-compliant disposal facility. The IDF is important to DOE's waste management strategy for the site. Effective management of the IDF project contributed to the project's success. The project was carefully managed to meet three Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) milestones. The completed facility fully satisfied the needs and expectations of the client, regulators and stakeholders. Ultimately, the project, initially estimated to require 48 months and $33.9 million to build, was completed four months ahead of schedule and $11.1 million under budget. DOE directed construction of the IDF to provide additional capacity for disposing of low-level radioactive and mixed (i.e., radioactive and hazardous) solid waste. The facility needed to comply with federal and Washington State environmental laws and meet TPA milestones. The facility had to accommodate over one million cubic yards of the waste material, including immobilized low-activity waste packages from the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), low-level and mixed low-level waste from WTP failed melters, and alternative immobilized low-activity waste forms, such as bulk-vitrified waste. CH2M HILL designed and constructed a disposal facility with a redundant system of containment barriers and a sophisticated leak-detection system. Built on a 168-area, the facility's construction met all regulatory requirements. The facility's containment system actually exceeds the state's environmental requirements for a hazardous waste landfill. Effective management of the IDF construction project required working through highly political and legal issues as well as challenges with permitting, scheduling, costs, stakeholders and technical issues. To meet the customer's needs and deadlines, the project was managed with conscientious discipline and application of sound project management principles in the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge. Several factors contributed to project success. Extensive planning and preparation were conducted, which was instrumental to contract and procurement management. Anticipating issues and risks, CH2M HILL prepared well defined scope and expectations, particularly for safety. To ensure worker safety, the project management team incorporated CH2M HILL's Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) into the project and included safety requirements in contracting documents and baseline planning. The construction contractor DelHur Industries, Inc. adopted CH2M HILL's safety program to meet the procurement requirement for a comparable ISMS safety program. This project management approach contributed to an excellent safety record for a project with heavy equipment in constant motion and 63,555 man-hours worked. The project manager worked closely with ORP and Ecology to keep them involved in project decisions and head off any stakeholder or regulatory concerns. As issues emerged, the project manager addressed them expeditiously to maintain a rigorous schedule. Subcontractors and project contributors were held to contract commitments for performance of the work scope and requirements for quality, budget and schedule. Another element of project success extended to early and continual involvement of all interested in the project scope. Due to the public sensitivity of constructing a landfill planned for radioactive waste as well as offsite waste, there were many stakeholders and it was important to secure their agreement on scope and time frames. The project had multiple participants involved in quality assurance surveillances, audits and inspections, including the construction contractor, CH2M HILL, ORP, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and independent certified quality assurance and engineering inspectors. A QA manager and safety manager were on-site during all project activities. Completion of the project provided a safe and reliable facility that will help DOE ORP meet the growing need for environmentally compliant, on-site disposal of solid waste generated in the cleanup project. Furthermore, the project helped DOE save money and meet TPA milestones ahead of schedule. In the following pages, we detail the tools and techniques used to manage the IDF project. We had a highly competent project management team. Their skillful management of the construction and the stakeholder and regulatory issues resulted in successful project outcomes and lessons learned. We believe their performance merits special recognition.
- Research Organization:
- Hanford Site (HNF), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE - Office of Environmental Management (EM)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC27-99RL14047
- OSTI ID:
- 899769
- Report Number(s):
- CH2M-32652 Rev 0; TRN: US0702050
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2006 PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI) 02/09/2007 RICHLAND WA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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AWARDS
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