Project Management with Reference to the Construction of the Roman Aqueducts
The Roman engineers were the first in history to discover that proper management of men and resources could greatly decrease the time it takes to complete a construction project. The management structure the Romans employed on their many public construction projects was very simple, but very effective in communicating information through the appropriate channels. Coupling this management structure with previous experience, the Romans were able to increase the efficiency of their endless labour force. Given that no scriptures on the topic of project management have been discovered, it is hard to know whether the Romans knew exactly what they had achieved. However, even though they are more complex, the processes used today can be quite easily compared with the evidence we have found on Roman engineering methods.
The Romans used a simple system for managing large public construction projects. They are referred to as public projects because the Roman writers were men of power and status, and as such would not write about small projects carried out on farms, according to the presentations by Dr. J. Humphrey. Public projects were well funded by the state and because the state was involved, all of the slaves from conquered lands were available for use in construction, transportation or quarry and fabrication processes of a project (Monteleone, Yeung, Smith, 2007). The best way to describe the different levels of importance and power in a project is to quote the works of L. Sprague de Camp:
Roman engineering was mainly civil engineering: the building of roads, bridges, public buildings, and other permanent structures. A consul, senator, or other magistrate commanded the whole of such a governmental enterprise. Under him the architectus or engineer, in his turn, bossed a crew of minor technicians: agrimensores or surveyors, libratores or levellers, and others. In addition, private builders without special technical training practiced, for private landowners, the
The Romans used a simple system for managing large public construction projects. They are referred to as public projects because the Roman writers were men of power and status, and as such would not write about small projects carried out on farms, according to the presentations by Dr. J. Humphrey. Public projects were well funded by the state and because the state was involved, all of the slaves from conquered lands were available for use in construction, transportation or quarry and fabrication processes of a project (Monteleone, Yeung, Smith, 2007). The best way to describe the different levels of importance and power in a project is to quote the works of L. Sprague de Camp:
Roman engineering was mainly civil engineering: the building of roads, bridges, public buildings, and other permanent structures. A consul, senator, or other magistrate commanded the whole of such a governmental enterprise. Under him the architectus or engineer, in his turn, bossed a crew of minor technicians: agrimensores or surveyors, libratores or levellers, and others. In addition, private builders without special technical training practiced, for private landowners, the
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