Megaproject Management: Lessons on Risk and Project Management from the Big Dig

Author's Perspectives

There are many reasons for writing about megaprojects, but perhaps one of the most significant is to share the important lessons learned for future projects so that the workers, engineers, contractors, government policy makers, project management professionals, and the communities impacted by these large-scale projects will benefit from the challenges that others before them faced. Having served on the Big Dig for the better part of nine years, as both deputy chief counsel and head of risk management, I am grateful for the opportunity of working with a devoted team of professionals who everyday faced unprecedented risks, made difficult and often unpopular decisions, and, despite the public criticism, burdens, and numerous hurdles, implemented those decisions because it was the right thing to do. As James Tobin, in his popular book Great Projects, notably writes, “Americans have admired their engineers from afar. But few have learned much about them.”

Hopefully, this book will enlighten the reader not only about the many technical marvels of the Big Dig but, more important, about the day-to-day obstacles, challenges, and uncertainties faced by the engineers and many other participants in this megaproject. Rarely are the successes of these mammoth projects noticed, as the stories that are told are too frequently focused on what went wrong. The goal of this book is to provide some balance.

I am most appreciative of the participants in the Big Dig and other megaprojects ...