The Erasmus Bridge: Success Factors According to those Involved in the Project
This paper describes a case study of a successful major transport infrastructure project that was conducted in the Dutch City of Rotterdam. There is a lot of literature on unsuccessful infrastructure projects and the subsequent lessons learned. In contrast there is hardly any literature on successful infrastructure projects. This paper will contribute to filling in this scientific gap. The case of the Erasmus bridge, which connects the banks of the Meuse River in Rotterdam is described in this paper. This bridge is a success story for three reasons. The first two reasons for success are that the bridge was built on time and within budget. The bridge cost about 163 million euro (1996 prices), with a budget of 165 million (1991 prices), and was opened on the precise date as planned. Its main goal was not to solve a traffic problem or to expand the existing network. One of the main reasons for constructing the bridge was that the bridge should function as a landmark and that is the third reason for success. The bridge has indeed become a trade mark for the city of Rotterdam. Based on interviews with people involved in the project, the main reason for success appears to be the culture of realistic estimating at the municipality of Rotterdam by an estimation culture that was aimed to be as accurate as possible. Two elements are crucial, as the interviewees have explained (1) a refusal to make lower estimations in order to help getting the required funds from local or national government and (2) the ability to make very accurate cost estimations. In order to be able to make accurate estimations in turn requires experience; experience with doing estimations, building bridges, with problems associated with major projects and experience with dealing with contractors. All of these ingredients, according to the interviewees, were available when planning the Erasmus Bridge and contributed to making this bridge a success story.
- Record URL:
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Corporate Authors:
Association for European Transport (AET)
1 Vernon Mews, Vernon Street, West Kensington
London W14 0RL, -
Authors:
- de Jong, Mig
- Annema, Jan Anne
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Conference:
- European Transport Conference, 2010
- Location: Glasgow Scotland, United Kingdom
- Date: 2010-10-11 to 2010-10-13
- Publication Date: 2010
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 11p
- Monograph Title: European Transport Conference, 2010 Proceedings
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Bridge construction; Construction projects; Contractors; Cost estimating; Project management
- Uncontrolled Terms: Landmarks; Success
- Geographic Terms: Rotterdam (Netherlands)
- Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Highways; I53: Construction of Bridges and Retaining Walls;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01353843
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Oct 19 2011 12:52PM