Crane Rail Refurbishment at Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi

Baseline schedule

A baseline schedule was set-up during the pre-construction phase. Rakhi is responsible for weekly schedule updates, tracking progress and sharing project updates with the client. The construction phase of the project started in May 2021 comprising 13 phases with a contractual duration of 56 days for each phase. Every week, progress is marked against the baseline and the budgeted costs. “Despite the initial delay in the first three months, we have made remarkable progress on the project. The first phase took about 90 days to complete; whereas Phase 3 was finished in just 35 days, and we are now aiming to finish the upcoming phases in approximately the same time” says Rakhi. This means that the project is forecast to finish well in advance of the stipulated completion date.

Project challenges

There was a considerable delay at the beginning of the construction phase.

The client has stringent Planning & Document control requirements along with lengthy procedures.

Abu Dhabi and the Netherlands have different time zones. In UAE, Fridays are non-working whereas Sundays are working. This created a gap in the reporting process, initially. Rakhi works remotely for the project (from the Netherlands) and sometimes works on the weekends as well.

The brighter side

We were able to plan for anticipated risks in advance, which had a positive effect on overall team performance. Good communication between the team members (despite the distance), has been very helpful. As a result, we have managed to shorten the duration of project phases to 35 days, compared to the contractual 56-day period.

Great communication with the project supervisor and project manager has helped reduce the reporting gap and allowed the team to work more efficiently. “While visiting my family in India (over the winter), I still worked on the project and the communication with the site team was great. The team members are just a (WhatsApp) message away and are always available for a Teams meeting whenever required. I receive site photos and daily reports and feel very much connected to the site team! It is amazing to see people working from different corners of the world on the same project and contributing their best!” says Rakhi.