This month, Prof. Howard Weiss discusses project planning. Howard is a recently retired Temple U. colleague.
A massive coastal restoration project in Louisiana could test whether new wetlands can be created
faster than they’re disappearing under waves and rising seas according to Scientific American (Mar 11,
2021). The goal is to deposit land-building sediment to restore much of the 2000 square miles of marsh along the Louisiana coastline that has already been lost and the forecasted 4,200 additional square miles that will be lost over the next 50 years if no action is taken.
This $1.5 billion project was first proposed over 7 years ago and is in the second step of Project Planning, “Define the Project,” as indicated in Figure 3.1 of your Heizer/Render/Munson textbook. The goals have already been set
Time: Over one year, beginning in late 2022
Cost: $1.5 billion – $2 billion
Performance: Redirect more than 12% of the Mississippi River’s flow into a marsh over the next 50 years. The capacity will be 75,000 cubic feet per second.
The project definition stage is very complex as seen in the following steps that must be described for
this project:
Planning process including general description of implementation
Analysis tools used including cost/benefit analysis, benchmarking
Stakeholders involved in planning
Authorization for goals
External operating environment factors and effect on plan
Formulation of objectives variables
Building strategies including capacity, organizational structure, resources needed, timeline
Accountability – identify performance indicators for each objective
Fiscal impact of plan including operating budget and capital outlay budget
This is not the first coastal restoration project. The projects are of two types – restoration projects and
risk reduction projects. Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CRPA) has begun over
150 projects in 20 parishes (counties) and over 60 miles of barrier islands. Of course, as we have seen in Chapter 8, “Location Strategies,” attitudes and pollution are important considerations. Project opponents argue that
the fish industry would be greatly affected because the balance of fresh and sea water would change.