The Collaborative Project Delivery Partner Approach

The best principles of solutionfocused program management are found in the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) approach. It has proven successful in other parts of the world and has now made its way to the U.S., where its benefits are being demonstrated on projects. The PDP approach starts with a strong emphasis on safety, quality, client and stakeholder engagement, and enhanced collaboration through nurturing positive behaviors and teamwork. At project onset, significant efforts go toward creating a ‘safe space’ for all where complex issues are exposed and discussed. Then the best and brightest ideas are fostered towards practical solutions, technical and others, with a strong, innovative approach that allows for rigorous risk management.

Consultants bringing a depth of resources with a wide range of skills deliver these principles deliberately and with purpose to meet project objectives while maintaining quality and on-schedule/on-budget performance. They constantly align, focus and refocus best resources on project outcomes, while deploying, in a collaborative manner, the full range of skills: technical excellence, commercial, legal, financial and construction through full transparency in decision making.

Two cornerstone projects for the regional economy—Amtrak’s Hudson River Tunnel (through Gateway Development Commission as the project sponsor) and Amtrak’s Frederick Douglass Tunnel plan to leverage the PDP approach as an innovative and best outcomes-driven program management model. “We have an opportunity to enhance our solution-focused program management even further by integrating a PDP culture of openness, collaboration and transparency via carefully selected and deliberative implementation of our best processes within PDP’s framework,” says Gay Knipper, HNTB’s leader for complex projects.

Knipper outlines the PDP approach:

• Prioritizing soft behavioral skills through organizational development and implementation of strategies that allow flexibility over time enhanced by knowledge transfer. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are defined for their alignment with the various delivery participants to achieve project outcomes and drive success.

• Establishing transparency with a baseline by which KPI are measured using inputs from a wide range of skills—construction, interface management, operational impacts and commercial among other technical disciplines.

• Fully integrating a strong technical team with commercial, legal and financial aspects. Risks are intentionally allocated to the parties best equipped to manage them. Best resources are readied with solutions for a range of possible outcomes in consideration of technical, commercial and financial issues.

• Nurturing deliberate project delivery culture through openness, robust collaboration, innovation and technical excellence, where the best resources are consciously prepared, appropriately engaged, and focused and refocused, to achieve project outcomes.

“This is what we do every day,” said Sanja Zlatanic, HNTB national tunnel practice lead. “Tunneling and underground projects are among the riskiest engineering practice areas. Our experts provide the state-of-the-art engineering and deploy practical solutions with safety as a primary objective. The only way to successfully conquer great challenges is to rely on team contribution, while practicing both perseverance and mutual respect.”

Outside the region, HNTB is providing program management services for the BART Silicon Valley Extension. Phase II of the multibilliondollar program will consist of a 6-mile extension through downtown San Jose and terminate in Santa Clara, and will include a 5-mile, single-bore tunnel and three underground stations. HNTB’s scope of work includes program management, engineering management services, project controls, project management, conceptual engineering, procurement/contracting strategies and guidance on aligning the project for federal funding. HNTB also has provided critical solution implementations and consulting around their long-term sustainability within Valley Transportation Authority’s enterprise architecture. ◆