Nichols successfully provided the highways department of the Hong Kong government with strategic, political and project management support to ensure the West Kowloon Expressway Project was delivered on time and on budget.
Challenge
The Highways Department of the Government of Hong Kong appointed Nichols to provide Construction Management Support Services for the West Kowloon Expressway project to deliver access to the airport.
Experience
We advised and assisted the Highways Department in establishing and implementing policies in respect of liaison with other government departments and interfaces with other contracts and authorities.
We established effective ongoing communications that contributed to a coordinated approach to contract negotiations and cost control on all airport access highway contracts with which we were involved.
By adopting a ‘Supplementary Agreement’ concept with the contractors we were able to anticipate and mitigate potential delays that would otherwise have been irrecoverable and expensive. We established a policy of protecting the programme through actively seeking to resolve problems by giving fair attention to the contractors’ rights. In so doing, works programmes were well protected and disputes kept to a minimum.
Working with the client to promote innovation, we designed and implemented the famous E11 contract. It was the first system integration contract of its kind and was a unique concept at that time in Hong Kong.
Benefits
Nichols successfully provided the client with strategic, political and project management support and guidance. Particularly significant was our assistance in effective management of the interfaces between all of the government contracts adjacent to the West Kowloon Expressway and particularly those with the Mass Transit Railway Corporation.
The E11 contract we utilised in this work has subsequently become a regular feature of all future airport access works.
The West Kowloon Expressway was the last highway section of the airport approach works to be started, our contributions helped to ensure that it was one of the first to be opened.
