Question: Sydney, Australia's M5 East Tunnel was constructed under strict budgetary and schedule requirements, but given the massive traffic delays now hampering commuters, the requirements may have been excessive. Due to an inexpensive computer system with a high failure rate, the tunnel's security cameras frequently fail, requiring the operators to close the tunnel due to inability to react to an accident, fire or excessive pollution inside the tunnel. The tunnel was built to handle 70,000 vehicles a day, but it now carries 100,000 so any glitch can cause immediate traffic snarls. A managerial risk analysis, including the risk of overuse, might have anticipated these problems and mandated a more reliable set of computers once the costs of failure had been included.
When the project was finished, do you think it was considered a success or a failure? Why?
Which risk management subprocess might have identified the danger in using a cheap computer system?
What type of risk analysis approach would have been most appropriate in this situation?
How does a project manager guard against the danger of short-term success but longer-term failure?