Manawatu Gorge Alternative Routes Project †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Manawatu Gorge Alternative Routes Project. Answer: Summary of the Project The overall project is based on the development of an alternative highway route between Manawatu and Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. The existing highway is currently blocked by extreme quantities of hill slip that has been caused by frequent and continuous land slide in the area. According to a survey estimation, it has been found that removing the slips from the road and rebuilding the viaduct will consume a huge amount of time and will be extremely expensive. Hence, it has been decided that instead of rebuilding the road, an alternative route will be created. After a survey in the area, at least 14 alternative routes were traced and four of them have been selected. However, the engineering team still has not been able to select one particular route but it has been estimated that irrespective of the choice of route, the project will take up to 7 to 8 years and the overall project costs have been estimated at $350 million-$450 million. Triple Bottom Line Analysis In the figure, a diagrammatic representation has been provided for the triple bottom line analysis for Manawatu Gorge Alternative Routes Project. The triple bottom line analysis for the Manawatu Gorge Alternative Route Project is done as follows. Socio-Economic Factors The socio-economic factors that are involved in this alternative route project include business ethics, fairness of trade and basic rights of the workers. During the course of the construction of the alternative route, the organization should ensure sufficient business ethics are followed while the construction is done (Kucukvar Tatari, 2013). Furthermore, the organization, who will undertake the construction of the alternative route, must also provide benefits that are the basic rights of workers conducting the construction work of the road through the chosen route. The fairness of trade must be mainly followed by the proper procurement of resources without fraud or cheating the vendors. Socio-Environmental Factors The socio-environmental factors involved in the alternative route project include following environmental justice and natural resources stewardship. For the environmental justice, the construction company for the alternative route must ensure the ongoing construction work must not result in negative impact on the environment that is the main source of livelihood for the people residing in the area where the alternative route is chosen (Onat, Kucukvar Tatari, 2014). In case the route through the rural area (which is one of the chosen alternatives for the Manawatu Gorge Alternative Route Project) is chosen for the construction of the alternative route, a lot of farms and crop fields are present and hence, the construction works may have negative effects on these areas of Manawatu Gorge. In case of natural resources stewardship, during the construction work of the alternative route, the company may come across some mines of natural resources (Milne Gray, 2 013). It should be kept in mind that natural resources are government property and hence, suitable authority should be contacted in cases of such discovery during the road construction. Environmental Economic Factors For the environmental economic factors, the organization who will undertake the project should ensure sufficient energy efficiency is gained during the construction of the road through the chosen route in Manawatu Gorge and incentives are paid to the authority for the usage of natural resources. Ethical Considerations During the review of the entire project, the engineers need to make several ethical considerations regarding the development of the new route in order to execute the project professionally. These ethical considerations are discussed as follows. Rural Landscape Of the chosen routes, one of the routes passes through a rural area where the existing road is not sufficiently developed. As the construction work is expected to take place over 6-7 years, it is expected that the extensive construction work will disturb the rural life in the area (Nicholas Steyn, 2017). Moreover, the daily rural activities like farming, grain transportation and others will be severely disrupted throughout the time period. Hence, it will be not ethical and professional for the engineers to construct the road at the cost of the daily lives of the rural people. Material Quality and Budget Usage The engineers should ensure the best quality materials are used in the construction process and moreover, the budget should not be misused over time (Milne Gray, 2013). This project will be executed over a huge course of time and will consume a significant amount of budget from the national treasury. Hence, the engineers should deliver the best outcome within the budget and time limit suggested in the project. References Kucukvar, M., Tatari, O. (2013). Towards a triple bottom-line sustainability assessment of the US construction industry.The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,18(5), 958-972. Milne, M. J., Gray, R. (2013). W (h) ither ecology? The triple bottom line, the global reporting initiative, and corporate sustainability reporting.Journal of business ethics,118(1), 13-29. Nicholas, J. M., Steyn, H. (2017).Project management for engineering, business and technology. Taylor Francis. Onat, N. C., Kucukvar, M., Tatari, O. (2014). Integrating triple bottom line inputoutput analysis into life cycle sustainability assessment framework: the case for US buildings.The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,19(8), 1488-1505.