Project Management: Cpm & Gantt

1a) Network Diagram & Gantt Chart:
Critical Path

The critical path for the Nottingham Rugby Stadium project is:

Clear site – Drive support piles – Pour lower concrete base – Build roof supports – Construct roof – Install roof – Inspection

This means these activities have no slack and therefore any delay in them will lead to the whole project being delayed.
Project Duration

The project commences on the Monday June 2nd 2008, and finishes on Friday January 14th 2011, which means work covers 670 days.
Milestones

Milestones are shown on the Gantt chart with a pink star, and on the network diagram as a diamond shape. These are the key tasks at which the project team should assess its progress.

The first milestone is clearing the site. This is the first activity of the project and therefore it would be wise to check that the project is still on course after this and to make sure the site is completely cleared as the rest of the project depends on this.
The second one is pouring the lower concrete base. This would be a good milestone because a lot of activities depend on it e.g. the crucial roof, and also progress will not have been checked since clearing the site.
The next milestones are pouring the main concourse/constructing upper steel bowl as these both finish together and the whole infrastructure and interior of the stadium depend upon them being completed so it would be sensible to check progress here.
The construction of the roof should be a milestone as because the roof is such a long, significant feature of the stadium, West Construction must check the progress before they install it.
Constructing the steel canopy should also be a milestone because then all the seats, boxes, etc can be checked before the lighting goes ahead, and also West Construction do not want a repeat of Wembley Stadium’s issue of having to re-install the seats.
The final milestone is the inspection as the entire project’s progress can be assessed here.
At all

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