APM announced as Crossrail learning legacy partner

Crossrail have confirmed that the Association for Project Management will be a learning legacy partner and will help to share insight from Europe’s largest construction project.

The award-winning APM will lead on the theme of project and programme management with other associations and professional bodies sharing lessons learned on a wide range of topics including health and safety, procurement, engineering and the environment. 

With over £400bn of infrastructure projects identified in the Government’s National Infrastructure Plan it is important that initiatives like this seek to collate knowledge and share good practice with the wider industry.

APM has worked on a previous scheme with the Olympic Delivery Authority as one of their official learning legacy partners in sharing the lessons learned from the construction of the London Olympic Games.

Some of the early lessons that have been learned from the Crossrail programme will be shared in the first tranche of learning legacy materials.

This includes technical papers, peer-reviewed case studies and procedures, all of which have been made available on a dedicated website. Further material will be published every six months during the rest of the project.

The resource was launched on Friday at an industry event in London, which was attended by Steve Wake, APM chairman; Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail chief executive; Tony Meggs, chief executive, Infrastructure and Projects Authority; and Alison Munro, managing director - development at High Speed 2 (HS2).

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail chief executive, said: “Passing on the lessons and good practice that we have learned at Crossrail is an absolutely essential part of raising the bar in the delivery of major projects. 

“With an unprecedented number of infrastructure schemes around the corner, now is the time to start sharing what we have learned so the UK can build on its reputation for delivering safely, on time and on budget.”

Steve Wake, APM chairman, said: “APM is excited about being a legacy partner for Crossrail. Getting a project’s legacy right is one of the major conditions of success.

“Without that bedrock of information, it’s almost impossible to achieve long-term results. Our members are very interested in what works, but also what does not work in projects. It is great to hear that the Crossrail Learning Legacy will cover both of these.

“Britain is the best at doing this type of work. This is a tremendous opportunity to teach, set an example and take our expertise out to the rest of the world.”

Tony Meggs, chief executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) and keynote speaker at the APM Conference 2016, said: “The IPA is wholly committed to ensuring the UK's delivery of major infrastructure projects is achieved efficiently and effectively.

“The creation of a learning environment is vital to improving project performance, and we see Crossrail's Learning Legacy as an impressive example of best practice. 

“We encourage all project professionals to draw on this excellent resource; the more we can learn from the experience of others the closer we will come to flawless project execution."

The sharing of knowledge and lessons learned is seen as vital to the delivery of future projects, thereby helping to raise standards and increase project success.

Alison Munro, HS2 Ltd managing director – development, said: “Projects on the scale of HS2 only come around once in a generation. That’s why it’s vital that we learn from Crossrail and apply the lessons to drive efficiency in our own build to help deliver the highest quality for all our passengers, stakeholders and communities along the line. 

“And, in turn, we will pass on the lessons we learn, to the projects of the future.”

Crossrail Limited will be working with a broad range of industry partners to disseminate the information through an ambassador programme, including events and webinars. 

This will allow the people building the projects of the future to hear directly from the people who have delivered Crossrail infrastructure.
 

Image: © Crossrail Ltd.