Abstract

Boston’s $14.9 billion dollar Central Artery/Tunnel Project, commonly known as the Big Dig, was the largest, most complex, and technically challenging highway project in American history. Larger than the Panama Canal, the Hoover Dam and the Alaska Pipeline projects, it was built through the heart of one of the nation’s oldest cities.

 As the country’s largest and most complex infrastructure project, the lessons learned from the Big Dig present an excellent template for identifying, assessing, monitoring and controlling risk. This presentation will provide an overview of the nuts and bolts of developing a risk management program for a large mega project including an analysis of common and unique risks on mega projects, risk allocation, risk sharing and transfer and state of the art mechanisms to help project managers address the challenges and complexities of project risk to prevent disastrous failures and assure project success. The Big Dig had many successes, but also many failures.

 What were the biggest mistakes on the Big Dig? How could these problems have been overcome? According to the Big Dig’s engineers and independent consultants, damage was all but inevitable based on the huge risks undertaken. The Big Dig’s former risk manager will describe the innovative techniques utilized to address these daily concerns, and the lessons learned from this unique undertaking. The Big Dig’s story is an invaluable lesson: How can America invest in infrastructure—and do it smart? 

Speaker

Bio:
Virginia A. Greiman, PMP, Professor of Project Management, Boston University

 Professor Greiman has more than 20 years of experience in international project finance and development in both developed and transition economies and is a recognized expert in mega project management and finance, risk management, legal reform, and privatization. She is an Assistant Professor at Boston University in project and program management and planning, and holds teaching appointments at Harvard and Boston University Law Schools and the Kennedy School of Government. She previously served as Deputy Chief Legal Counsel and Risk Manager to Boston's $14.9 billion dollar Central Artery/Tunnel Project (The Big Dig) and as international legal counsel to the US Department of State, the US Agency for International Development and the World Bank in Eastern and Central Europe, Africa and Asia on privatization, infrastructure development and legal reform projects. Prior appointments include serving as United States Trustee to the U.S. Department of Justice where she oversaw the reorganizations of Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant and the Bank of New England. She has published extensively and lectures internationally on project management and risk management, project complexity and infrastructure development. She is a certified PMP and a member of the legal bars of Virginia, D.C. and Massachusetts.

Career Networking LCI

Topic: Strategic Networking