The Powerlines Underground Project (PLUG) was a key project to relocate 52 electricity pylons into two 6km tunnels to create space for the 2012 Olympic Park in London. The £250 million project involved over 1.5 million man hours and was completed by 420 workers over 424 days. Some challenges included a change in client, many stakeholders, limited time, and various technical difficulties. The project was successfully completed on time through factors such as teamwork, flexibility, and commitment from all involved teams.

1. Project Management (EN3800)
Case Study On Powerlines Underground Project
(PLUG)
Lebari Zerubbabel dumka (1320812)

2. BACKGROUND
• The powerlines underground project was a key project to create space for
the Olympic park in London 2012. It was part of the projects that made up
the whole Olympic project.
• A complex and risky project, involving tunnelling and overhead line and
pylon removal.
• The project was to relocate a 52 electricity pylon into two 6km tunnels.
• Done as a long term modification for transformation of east London.

3. Key facts of the project
• Total cost of the project £250 million
• The tunnelling involved over 1.5million man power
• On the two main sites there were 420 workers
• The project was against the norms of industries in terms of its lifespan
• 424 days were used to complete the tunnels.
• The project was managed by Arup.

4. PHASES OF THE PLUG PROJECT
• Concept and feasibility :
Identifying the vision of the project, the feasibility challenges and identifying how the available resources
would be used to manage the whole project using proper management strategies,
• Definition:
The various task were properly defined by ODA, what was to be achieved, time of completion of different
sections and setting up of the different control measures to enable success.
• Implementation – pylon removal, cabling and equipping, tunnelling
and substation construction.
• Handover of assets and the close out of the project:
At this stage the project was tested the underground power line was switched on and confirmed working
• Completion and close of the project: project review

5. Challenges posed by plug
• Change of client from LDA to Olympic delivering authority
• The high number of stakeholders
• Limited time
• It required a large number of approvals
• Technical challenges

6. CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

7. KEY DECISIONS THAT LED TO SUCCESS
• Changing the hierarchy of the project organisation and governance
• Formation of a steering team to oversee the project
• Having a project government plan (PGP) to guide the relationship between
• having the different company managers working together under a single
complex building .
• Clear communication; to have full review every day according to the PGP
• The introduction of a thorough risk management procedure

8. SUCCESSES FROM PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The completion of the plug project was a success for great britain,
and all the professionals in the olympic delivery authority (ODA).
Despite the unforeseen contamination and gasworks, the different
teams across the project were able to bring about a solution to be
able to deliver the project with consideration of the switchover
date in 2008. This made the Olympic park creation possible. (1)

9. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the plug project was a successful project and was completed
on time and was done to budget. This project was done sucessfully based on
some success factors such as;
• Teamwork
• Ability of workers to adapt to change
• Flexible nature of the workforce
• And commitment of the different teams involved

10. Reference
1. Anon, (2015). [online] Available at:
https://www.apm.org.uk/sites/default/files/Powerlines%20Undergrounding%20Project,%2
0London%202012.pdf [Accessed 29 Oct. 2015].
2. Arup.com, (2015). Powerlines Undergrounding (PLUG) | Arup | A global firm of
consulting engineers, designers, planners and project managers. [online] Available at:
http://www.arup.com/Projects/London_2012_Powerlines_Undergrounding.aspx
[Accessed 29 Oct. 2015].
3. Anon, (2015). [online] Available at:
http://learninglegacy.independent.gov.uk/documents/pdfs/programme-organisation-and-
project-management/177-programme-baseline-report-aw.pdf [Accessed 4 Dec. 2015].