6PLANNING AND SCHEDULING
Planning, in general, means laying out of activities
in an orderly sequence in advance, defining
the project methods/ principles and prescribing
the ultimate disposition of the results to be
accomplished. Proper and effective planning can
lower the project costs and construction period
significantly through efficient mobilisation of
labour, equipment and materials. This ensures
that the resources are used to their maximum
productivity. In executing gravity ropeway projects,
it is also necessary to adopt comprehensive project
planning steps which should cover the following
areas:
Planning the project work
Planning the human resources and
organisation
Planning the financial resources
Planning the information system
Planning aims at achieving successful project
completion by using time and resources effectively.
Project planning requires both operational and
strategic thinking including timely decision
making. It is characterised by creativity, innovation
and ability to think rationally and prospectively.
Project planning is a multi stage process and is
enumerated as:
Establishment of objectives
Establishing assumptions based on facts
Establishing the logical sequencing of
activities
Searching and evaluating alternative course
of action
Identification of time and resources
Assignment of responsibilities and
Finalisation of project plan
There are a number of factors affecting how, when
and in what order the works can be carried out. A
checklist of these factors is as follows:
Performance of staffs
Availability of labour, equipment and
materials
Holidays, festivals and other seasonal
variations such as weather conditions
Access to site
Availability of funds
Site geology and topography and
Social mobilisation and public relation
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