Front End Planning Tool: PDRI for Infrastructure Projects

RT-268 defined an infrastructure project as a capital project that provides transportation, transmission, distribution, collection, or other capabilities in support of commerce or the interaction of goods, service, or people. The central premise of the research team’s effort is that project teams must work collaboratively (i.e., achieve alignment) on the right projects and perform the right work (i.e., define scope) during front end planning. In the context of systems, an infrastructure project in this definition provides the needed services and connections that enable industrial facilities and buildings to function effectively. If any of these vectors are disrupted, the entire system will fail to function effectively unless redundancy is provided. The diagram below illustrates this concept, showing the connection of industrial facilities and buildings (i.e., nodes) by infrastructure such as pipelines, electrical distribution, canals, rail, and highways (i.e., vectors). (RS268-1, p. 3)

RT-268 established the PDRI element weights by using input provided by 15 owner organizations and 21 contractor organizations from the infrastructure sector. A complex statistical analysis of the data was conducted to determine the numerical weights assigned to each element. (RS268-1, p. 13)

In order to test the usefulness of the PDRI–Infrastructure, and to determine its target value, it was tested on completed projects to verify its viability as a predictor of project success. This analysis revealed a significant difference in performance between the projects scoring above 200 and the projects scoring below 200 prior to detailed design and construction for the PDRI–Infrastructure. (RS268-1, p. 13)

Two key points on the use of this PDRI tool for Infrastructure:

• Assessments should ideally be performed more than once during front end planning (RS268-1, p. 18).
• PDRI scores will improve as planning progresses, but they may vary on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis as team members realize that some elements are not as well defined as initially assumed. It is important to score the elements honestly in order to gain the benefits of the PDRI–Infrastructure as a diagnostic tool. 

The PDRI–Infrastructure was developed as a point-in-time tool, with elements grouped by subject matter and not in time-sequenced logic. It is recognized that there is an embedded logic in the descriptions. Certain elements must first be defined before others can be defined. For instance, Section I elements address the need to perform the “right project,” Section II elements help the team to develop the “right product,” and Section III elements focus on the “right approach” to performing the project – all in the context of needed scope definition. The figure below outlines the logic at a section level for PDRI–Infrastructure (RS268-1, p. 18).