Business Case for Pattullo Bridge Replacement and George Massey Tunnel Replacement Projects
BC government along with Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure and the city governments is planning to invest $3.5B and $1.4B on two major infrastructure projects in Metro Vancouver. These include 630m long George Massey Tunnel Replacement project and 1,221m long Pattullo Bridge Replacement project. George Massey Tunnel, which is 55 years old is about to reach the useful age and has seismic resistance level below current standards that require urgent rehabilitation. Pattullo Bridge, which is 81 years old does not meet the required demand and is vulnerable to seismic events, high winds, marine collisions and river scour, and many bridge components have surpassed their useful lives. Under “BC on the move” initiative, these two infrastructures are being replaced by new bridges and the goals and objectives defined in success criteria for two new bridges are quite unique to the demographics of projects.
Success Criterions of New Bridge Infrastructures
Both aging infrastructures are being replaced by new bridges, however, the database of evaluation criteria used to analyze alternative options seems not to be fully aligned. The success criterions for Geroge Massey Tunnel Replacement as mentioned in the report submitted by WSP are (1) Transportation Efficiency (2) Safety (3) Agriculture (4) Environment (5) Jobs and Economy (6) Social and Community consideration (7) Financial cost and risks. The success criterions of Pattullo Bridge Replacement project as mentioned by BC Ministry of Transportation are (1) to provide a structurally sound bridge crossing to maintain critical load (2) improved safety for all users with modern lane width (3) improved connectivity, reliability, and modal choice. From these success criterions, it seems that the goal of Pattullo bridge replacement is on applying the concept of complete streets on the new bridge and encourage active transportation besides regional development. However, the goal of the George Massey Tunnel replacement is on the environmental and economic development of the region.
Strategic Analysis of Replacement Options
Following the above-stated success criterions and the goals, different replacement options were analyzed by the Ministry and City governments. The capacity of Pattullo bridge is 3100 to 3200 vehicle per peak hour (63,000 vehicles per average day), but demand is 3800 vehicle per peak hour (77,000 vehicles per average day). Similarly, the capacity of George Massey Tunnel is 2,500 vehicle per peak hour (50,000 vehicles per day) but demand is 80,000 vehicles average day. To meet the growing and future demand, different options were evaluated using Net Profit Value method. The control accounts used for NPV to generate Multiple Account Evaluation (MAE) are:
• Collision cost savings
• Travel time savings
• Traffic disruption during construction saving
• Vehicle operating saving
• Travel time reliability
• Improved seismic resiliency
• Goods movement benefits
Replacement options considered for the Pattullo bridge replacement include (1) rehabilitation of 3-lane Pattullo bridge (2) rehabilitation of 4-lane Pattullo bridge (3) New 4-lane Pattullo bridge (4) New 5-lane Pattullo bridge (5) New 6-lane Pattullo bridge (7) New 4-lane Surrey-Coquitlam bridge with a rehabilitated 3-lane Pattullo bridge. The analysis is reproduced below.
Out of these 7 options, the 3rd option of constructing 4-lane Pattullo bridge was selected for further analysis and Option 3: Moderate B was selected by BCMOTI with a benefit-cost ratio of 2.01.
Replacement options considered for the George Massey Tunnel replacement are (1) Maintain Tunnel (2) Replace Tunnel with new bridge (3) Replace the existing Tunnel with a new tunnel (4) Maintain Tunnel and build new six-lane crossing along Highway 99 Corridor (5) Maintain Tunnel and build a new six-lane crossing in a new corridor. Quantification analysis and qualification evaluation of these 5 replacement options are presented below.
These 5 replacement options were evaluated based on 7 criterions mentioned above and qualitative results are shown below.
The project progress report of George Massey Tunnel Replacement project is also a huge resource for the project management professionals. The capital infrastructure projects including bridges, ports, aviation, and transit need a strong combination of project management and technical skills coupled with business intelligence including database analysis and big data analytics. The business case analysis shows that horizontal diversification of engineering skills is required for the proper management including budgeting, scheduling, scope management, risk analysis, stakeholder engagement, and communication management. Business Intelligence is a huge step forward in the project management of capital infrastructure projects. The database of all project specifications can be analyzed and presented in tables or charts as shown above using MS report builder and SQL Server reporting services. This tri-specialty expertise in civil engineering, project management, and business intelligence is what make the projects a success!
