Tacoma Narrows

Posted on August 18,December 28, by admin

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world. Washington State - USA Project name : Tacoma Narrows Project type : Suspension bridge Date : 1940 (filed under historical failures) Cost : $6.4M in 1940 - $105M adjusted to 2012 costs Synopsis : If you are putting together a list of failed projects from the history books it would be hard to ignore the Tacoma Narrows bridge. At the time of its opening in sum...

UK – FireControl

Posted on June 30,December 17, by admin

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world. Fire Services - UK Project type : Centralize control over fire dispatch functions Project name : FiReControl Date : Dec 2010 Cost :£650 GBP Synopsis : The United Kingdom abandons 9 newly constructed regional fire control centers and scraps plans to reorganize by centralizing fire dispatch functions. In attempt to streamline processes, 46 centers that handle...

US Army – Army Uniforms

Posted on June 26,January 16, by admin

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world. US Army - USA Project type : Design and deploy new uniforms Project name : Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) Date : Jun 2012 Cost :$5B Synopsis : After several years of use the US Army elects to ditch its Universal Camouflage Pattern uniforms because they make troops easier to see rather than less easy to see. Designed to be a standard uniform that would pr...

Department of Homeland Security – Cook Country

Posted on April 5,December 28, by admin

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world. Department of Homeland Security - USA Project type : Integrated security system Project name : Project Shield Date : Jan 2012 Cost :$45M Synopsis : A project aimed at providing live camera links from police cars and other fixed locations to a central command location fails to achieve the desired results. Equipment failures, poor planning and poor training me...

The Fast Forward Freeze-Out

Posted on October 2,April 16, by admin

The following entry is a part of the Pattern Library. The library records samples of the common patterns of behaviour that set the context within which the chances of project failure are increased. Name : The Fast Forward Freeze Out In brief : A sponsor accelerates progress in the planning of a project by freezing out the stakeholders. Failure to engage and understand stakeholder requirements however results in products being produced that fail to meet the needs of the stakeholders....

BC Ferries

Posted on September 10,January 16, by admin

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world. BC Ferries - Government of British Columbia - Canada Project : Fast ferries Project type : Design, build, deploy high speed ferries Date : Jun 2002 Cost :$460M CAD Synopsis : Driven in part by congestion problems being experienced at one of the main ferry terminals in Vancouver British Columbia, the government of British Columbia decided that a new fleet o...

Victoria Police Department

Posted on June 10,December 26, by admin

The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world. Victoria Police Department - Australia Project : LINK Project type : Law enforcement assistance program Date : Apr 2011 Cost :$100M AUD Synopsis : Project aimed at implementing a new Law Enforcement Assistance Program to replace an 18 year old system are suspended for 6 months due to technical and cost related issues. The implementation of a package sys...

Department of Defence – Australia – Landing Craft

Posted on June 1,December 28, by admin

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world. Department of Defence - Australia Project type : Design and development of naval vessels Date : Feb 2011 Cost :$40M AUD Synopsis : Australian Defence Minister scraps a $40M project to build 6 new landing craft for use by the Australian Navy. The boats were to be launched from a larger transport ships (HMAS Manoora and HMAS Kanimbla) which are already in serv...

City of New York

Posted on June 1,December 17, by admin

Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world. City of New York - USA Project : CityTime Project type : Employee time recording Date : Dec 2010 Cost :$540M over original budget Synopsis : City's new time recording system for employees goes 10 times over budget and is delivered 6 month late. The 10 year project was originally estimated at $63M but ended up costing in excess of $600m. Although the system...

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