The Base Map That Was Already Obsolete
A county parks department has hired your firm to prepare a master plan for a 38-acre riverside park. The only available base map is a 2011 aerial survey. Since then a 6-acre cottonwood grove has been lost to beetle kill, a new 12-inch water main was installed along the north edge, and about 15 feet of riverbank has eroded. The client has $70,000 for inventory and analysis and wants a schematic design in 10 weeks. Three stakeholder groups disagree about priorities: anglers want a boat ramp, neighbors want quiet trails, and a youth soccer league wants two irrigated fields. A recorded archaeological site lies near the river terrace, but its boundary has not been staked. Your field crew can survey 12 acres per day, and the LiDAR flight is six weeks out. A 2009 Phase I report also flags a former fuel tank near the proposed parking area.
1. Sequence the inventory work for the first four weeks and justify what you defer.
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Sequence by decision impact and permit risk, not by convenience. Week 1: stake the archaeological site boundary with a qualified archaeologist, establish a no-disturbance buffer, and complete utility locates for the water main; set horizontal and vertical control. Weeks 1-2: field-survey the 38 acres at 12 acres per day, which is about 3.2 crew-days, but concentrate cross-sections at the eroded bank and at the candidate soccer-field and boat-ramp areas. Weeks 2-3: sample soils in the field candidates and near the former fuel tank; confirm depth to groundwater. Week 4: prepare a constraints map and a data-gap list.
Defer LiDAR-dependent contours until the flight arrives in week 6. In the interim, use the 2011 topography only for concept diagrams and label it not for design. Defer a tree-by-tree inventory outside the cottonwood grove and development envelope; a windshield survey is enough for schematic design. This protects the 10-week schedule because the archaeological boundary, utilities, erosion, and soils can change the layout, while LiDAR mainly refines contours that are not yet on the critical path.
2. How do you handle the three conflicting stakeholder demands before schematic design?
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Do not put the three demands to a vote. Convert them into evaluation criteria: water access and river compatibility for the boat ramp; quiet, shade, and loop length for neighbors; flat, irrigated acreage and parking for soccer. Collect quick use data: two trail counts, league registration, and a bank-fishing access count. Test each use against area, slope, utilities, and the archaeological buffer.
A soccer field needs roughly 2 to 3 acres per field including buffers, irrigation, and parking, so two fields could consume a large share of the 38 acres and conflict with the river terrace. The boat ramp needs paved access, trailer turning, and a permit; if the bank is eroding, it may not be viable. Present a package with one primary use and compatible secondary uses, show what is lost in each option, and document the decision. That gives the client a defensible choice rather than an unresolved fight.
3. What project management controls would you put in place given the 10-week schedule and $70,000 budget?
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Set a work breakdown with four packages: base and field data; constraints and opportunities; stakeholder process; schematic design. Assign one lead and a deliverable date to each. Keep a risk register with three top risks: archaeological delay, LiDAR slip, and stakeholder escalation, each with a trigger and response.
Hold a 30-minute weekly check against a one-page schedule and protect two weeks of float before schematic design. Use a decision log for every client and stakeholder decision with date, owner, and cost or schedule impact. Put 10% of the $70,000 in a management reserve and do not spend it on optional graphics. Any request outside scope goes through a written change order. Because LiDAR is six weeks out, let schematic design progress on field survey and concept contours, but schedule a LiDAR review before design development.