SSRIP - Safe System Road Infrastructure Project

The Safe System Road Infrastructure Program (SSRIP) is a$450m subset of the $1.4b Towards Zero program aimed at improving road safety across regional Victoria. The project is being delivered by Regional Roads Victoria and funded by the TAC. The project's initial stage began in early 2017 and is expected to be completed by September 2019. The project's key personnel have been involved in the SSRIP project since its development and planning phase, through the procurement phase, and are now coming towards the end of the project delivery phase.

The team's initial engagement was in the development phase of the SSRIP Top 20, where they helped define the scope of upgrades required on areas of the road as defined by the TAC. They then outlined a design brief tenable concept designs to be produced, engaged the design consultants, and managed them through the production of the concept designs. They then commenced detailed cost planning against the concepts to perform a check against the already allocated budget.

The team's approach added significant value to the project, as the early assumptions made around scope and budget for each particular project were, in some instances, materially different and required those projects to be analyzed more closely. Once the re-feasibility analysis was completed, and the concept designs were agreed between VR and the TAC, the team undertook a detailed risk analysis, which identified the three top risks in the delivery of the top 20; the aggressive project timelines, wire rope supply, and civil contractor market capacity.

To mitigate the risk associated with wire rope supply, the team developed a master schedule that was resource-loaded and constrained by the wire rope supply capacity. They also altered the standard procurement methods to ensure certainty in the supply chain, which was chosen after extensive market engagement and analysis and was the best option to overcome the supply issue. The team managed the civil contractor market capacity issue by setting up a panel of contractors, which helped to accelerate the overall program by removing front-end work associated with undertaking separate contracts forever piece of work.

The team's pre-delivery team then focused on procurement, starting with the tender prep for the detailed designs, evaluating the tenders, and awarding designs. They then essentially undertook a similar process with the award of the construction contracts, albeit through a 'works order' type process with selected panel members.

Once contracts were awarded, the delivery team took over and was responsible for the successful delivery of the projects. During the peak of delivery, the team consisted of 16 people in roles ranging from PMs, PE's, SE's, Surveillance Officers & Stakeholder ManagementSpecialists spread across regional Victoria. The consultants were directly responsible for the delivery of over $200m of these projects, which required them to interface with hundreds of stakeholders across regional Victoria.

The team's senior leadership set up a scoring system whereby the contractors were scored against a series of key performance indicators(KPI's) and ultimately ranked against each other. This ranking system was part of the broader procurement strategy associated with setting up a panel of contractors and was included as part of the assessment prior to issuing anyworks orders.

The team also implemented rigorous processes around cost forecasting and programming, to ensure the desired outcomes were met and exceeded, and that the wider delivery team was accountable for the outcomes of their respective packages. This was implemented by holding monthly forecast reviews in an open forum, which ensured that risks, opportunities, and lessons learned were openly communicated within the team.

As part of our regular liaison efforts, we engaged with adverse group of stakeholders, including TAC, VicRoads Regions, Local Councils, Schools, School Bus Companies, Emergency Services, and Local Farmers, among others. However, one stakeholder group that was particularly sensitive and deserving of special attention were the families of roadside fatality victims who had erected memorials along the roadways to honor their loved ones.

As much as we respected the emotional significance of these memorials, we also recognized the importance of improving road safety and reducing the likelihood of future fatalities. As such, we often needed to relocate these memorials to accommodate our road upgrade projects, which focused on enhancing safety in the areas of highest risk for accidents and fatalities.

We were acutely aware of the potential impact of these relocations on the families and worked closely with them to ensure the process was handled with sensitivity and respect. Our goal was to balance the needs of all stakeholders and strive for the best possible outcomes in terms of both safety and sensitivity.

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