Square PEG in the Round Hole Integrating a Multiple Data Source Conversion Project

Introduction/Project Background
Virginia Beach is a coastal resort city located in the southeast corner of the state of Virginia. The City was formed in 1963 out of what was Princess Anne County. The city is bordered by the independent cities of Norfolk and Chesapeake on the West and the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean on the North and East. The landmass covers310 square miles and is intertwined with several rivers and bay tributaries. The City provides water and sanitary sewer service to approximately 117,000 customers and has a population of over 425,000 people.

The City’s Department of Public Utilities embarked on development of a AM/FM-GIS program in 1990. The Department contracted with Utility Graphics Consultants to prepare a Cost Benefit Study to assess the feasibility of implementing such a program. The report took a little over a year to complete. The results indicated that there is a definite need for the development of a new system for the graphical depiction of utility locations as well as the association of attribute data for each structure. The report also indicated that the initial cost would be high at first but that within four to five years of implementation the City would begin to see a reduction in the cost of doing business.

In October of 1993, the City selected Michael Baker Jr., Inc. to develop and implement the Utility Department’s AM/FM/GIS system.

Project Scope
The project was separated into seven (7) main Work Tasks. It was theorized that by breaking the project into individual, independent work tasks management and administration would be more effective. Each of the tasks was assigned a dollar amount based on the complexity and work effort. A work task “Notice to Proceed” is given on an individual basis as the project progresses. All tasks are broken down into required sub-tasks. The seven Work Tasks are;