This means construction on the project could potentially begin as early as mid-April 2021. For Mneimne and his team, the real work on the project now begins. As soon as the proposal was accepted, Mneimne travelled to India to meet with the client and begin mobilizing the construction management team; one of the main tasks of this visit is appointing a new project director for the construction management phase of the project. Selecting the right leadership for a project of this magnitude is certainly in the highest order of concerns; in addition to being a large and expen- sive project, it carries the added rigor of living up to the project’s expec- tation to be the world’s largest and most sustainable net-zero campus. Mneimne believes that this begins in the “black and white”, meaning that their plans are engineered to meet the expectations. With such a large and technologically advanced project in their path, each step of the plan has to be done not only in a timely manner but also perfectly. This means support from a number of key areas. The first level of this support comes from laboratory engineers in the United States. These engineers are tasked with specifying materials and ensuring they are implemented and meet the proper specifications. The next level of support is architectural, and, because this project con- tains “elaborate architectural features”, Mnimne believes this level is critical. For this support, the team is again turning to Singapore-based Ong & Ong who will deploy their architects to monitor the construc- tion of these unique features. Finally, the last level of support is management, which is a specialty for Mnimne and his team at Hill International. With concerns such as contractual negotiations, jobsite safety, quality assurance, and schedule management, there is a lot at stake in this project. On top of that,
Mnimne and his team are dealing with contractors who haven’t neces- sarily worked on a project of this scale, so there will be a lot of close work along the way. Despite the challenges posed by such a large undertaking in a smaller construction market, the team at Hill International is prepared to meet the coming challenges. Hill International will be working with Indian company Shapoorji Pal- lonji on the $300 million construction package.
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April 2021
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