Greatness in Construction History: Human Stories of Great People and Great Projects

By Sherif Hashem

If you are into construction project management, this book is certainly for you.

This is creative non-fiction. Travel through times and spaces. Meet with historic world leaders. Work alongside the world’s greatest master-builders. Live the sights and sounds of ancient cities and construction sites. Discover the stories behind the greatest landmark buildings shaping the world skyline. Feel the genesis of great creatures and the moments they age or die out. Witness inaugurations celebrated by the entire universe. Hear the buildings breathe, laugh, cry, and at times suicide. Shed a tear for the martyrs of construction greatness.

Moreover, if you are into construction project management, this book is certainly for you. It includes a bulk of Agile, PMBOK© Guide, and Design-Build project management lessons learned extracted right from the stories of a host of the greatest projects in human history. Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Business Expert Press
• Release date: Jun 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781947098053

Sherif Hashem

Dr Sherif Hashem is a writer, thinker, speaker, and construction project management guru. He authored The Power of Design-Build: A Guide to Effective Design-Build Project Delivery in the USA, and published numerous holistic project management papers and articles. Dr. Hashem is a graduate of Alexandria University and holder of BSc, MSc. and PhD in Civil Engineering.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Pathway to Construction Greatness

Construction greatness means no less than making history.

It takes vision, novelty, geniality, persistence, and courage to get there. The spirit of construction greatness is unmistakable. When it happens you feel it, and when you live its glorious stories firsthand, your life will change forever. Out of the millions of buildings in the world, only a few are known by name or looks, the rest are just numbers. The difference is in greatness.

Figure 1.1 Great projects location map

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Pathway to Construction Greatness

Preface

1.1 My Journey Through Time and Space

1.2 The Timeless Domains of Construction Project Management

1.3 The Axiomatic Trios of Construction Greatness

Preface

Great projects require great project management. They have their own trade secrets, common traits, and attributes. The term project management is a modern term that only came to life in the 20th century. However, the project management process itself is as old as the first construction effort on earth. In a look at construction history, great construction leaders tend to think of themselves as profession bests, history makers, builders of civilization, rather than just project managers. They create the conditions and right platform for construction greatness. And, in doing that, they had their own trade secrets. The pathway to construction greatness, however, can still be traced by taking a journey through times and spaces. Back in time and space to where and when great projects took place and live their stories firsthand. That includes being there before the projects started, living the environment that led to greatness, meeting with the great people who made greatness happen, and living the project events and proceedings from inception to completion. In doing that, secrets of construction greatness can be deciphered, invaluable life and project management lessons learned, and the pathway to construction greatness charted for future generations. This book takes the reader on such a journey through times and spaces, living the stories of eight great ancient projects that are still shaping the world skyline today, as shown in Figure 1.1. The journey is astonishing and the stories are inspiring and full of life wisdom and project management lessons.

1.1 My Journey Through Time and Space

Greatness in construction has its own secrets and conditions precedent. These need to be discovered and learned so that we can carry the torch and take the industry further. This is what this book is all about, to connect the current generation of engineers, architects, and construction history fans to their ancestors of great builders who made history through landmark constructions. To that end, I had to take a journey through time and space, back to when and where the great ancient buildings shaping the world’s skyline took place. The idea was to live the project stories firsthand and meet with the people who built them. The driving force was my belief in the need to learn from such projects, and the outcome would be this book. A long list of candidate great buildings rushed to my mind, so I had to develop a selection criteria. The premise was that construction greatness is measured by impact. That means, a great building is necessarily famous, fascinating, and passed the test of time in terms of fame and impression. I made up my mind fast, and then came the question of where to start. To that end, the decision was to dig into construction history and find the first documented construction project ever. That turned out to be Imhotep’s 2650 BCE Step Pyramid in Ancient Egypt. So the journey began and the beginning was so inspiring. The journey then continued in a free and instinctive manner all over the world map and back and forth in time. The second trip was onward to 1929 AD in New York to live the glory of the Empire State Building. The third trip was backward in time to 1420 AD in Italy to live the dawn of the Renaissance’s era in Florence and Florence Dome or the il Duomo. The fourth trip was onward to 1880 AD in France to enjoy the story of art and science and the iron lady symbol of love, the Eiffel Tower. The fifth trip took me home to 1946 AD in Upper Egypt to join the making of Al Gourna Mud Palaces, the architecture of the poor. The sixth trip was once again to New York in 1867 AD to join the Roeblings’ family in designing and building my favorite structural landmark, the Brooklyn Bridge. The seventh trip was a little further backward in time to 1850 AD in London to live the story of the thrill and glory of the ghost that appeared and vanished twice, the great Crystal Palace (RIP). At this point I got really exhausted, after a long journey covering seven projects and ca 5,000 years. However, three more buildings remained in my mind, of which one I felt the journey wouldn’t be complete without it, the great Taj Mahal mausoleum. So, I gathered a pulse of energy and flew on to 1631 AD in Agra/India, attracted by the magic and majesty of the eternal mausoleum of Taj Mahal, the tear on the face of eternity. I lived the great project story, and that was where the journey came to a fulfilling end.

Figure 1.2 Great projects chronology

The following paragraphs summarize the backgrounds and beginnings of the journey’s eight great project stories, shown in Figure 1.2, casting light on individual project settings and conditions precedence required for construction greatness to come to life and blossom.

Great Project Story #1—Pharaoh Djoser’s Step Pyramid at Saqqara Necropolis, Ancient Egypt—The Wonder of Imhotep, the Architect who became a Mythical God: It’s 2670 BCE in the deserts of Memphis, ancient Egypt. The young and powerful pharaoh Djoser accesses the throne, full of energy and determination to make history. Imperial resources were vast, and so were the ambitions of the new pharaoh. Djoser’s first goal was having a pathway to heaven. He picked his genius vizier and polymath Imhotep for that task. And the story began.

Great Project Story #2—The Empire State Building, New York, USA—The Winner of NYC Skyscrapers Race into the Sky speeding 444-m height in 444 days’ time. The Wonder of John Raskob: It’s 1929 AD in New York City, New York, USA. While plans for the construction of the Empire State Building were being finalized, a fierce competition erupts over the title of the World’s Tallest Building, and a major New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) crash hits the economy. Chrysler Building was about to win the race when the Empire State Building gets in to make a spectacular win. And the story began.

Great Project Story #3—Florence Dome, Florence, Italy—il Duomo that took people 53 years to figure out how to build it. The Wonder of Filippo Brunelleschi: It’s 1420 AD in Renaissance Florence, Italy. It’s the year when the construction of Florence Dome started, 53 years after completing the dome design. The secret behind such delay was that no one knew how to build the dome. Renaissance architects waited for a method and the cathedral waited for a miracle. This is when Filippo Brunelleschi came up with the method and the miracle. And the story began.

Great Project Story #4—The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France—The Ironwork Monster that turned into a Symbol of Love. The Wonder of Gustave Eiffel: It’s the mid-1880 AD in Paris, France. France is getting ready to celebrate the first centennial of its great revolution. The celebration had to be great and planned to host the 1889 AD World Fair. The World Fair monument had to be great. As great as France’s history, and as high as France’s profile and ambitions. That was the Eiffel Tower. And the story began.

Great Project Story #5—New Al Gourna Village, Luxor, Egypt—The Story of the Doomed Domed Mud Palaces. The Wonder of Architect Hassan Fathy: It’s 1946 AD in Luxor, Egypt. A royal decree to relocate Al Gourna village resting atop a pharaonic necropolis. Hassan Fathy takes over the mission and builds a great green village. The universe loved the new village, and the nature celebrated the birth of Green Architecture. All good and fine, however, a big surprise was waiting for Hasan Fathy. And the story began.

Great Project Story #6—The Brooklyn Bridge, New York, USA—Story of the Eighth Wonder of the World and the Martyrs of Construction Greatness. The Wonder of the Three Great Roeblings: It’s 1867 AD in New York City, New York, USA. Immigrants pouring into New York City, mostly working in Manhattan and living in Brooklyn City. The two cities are growing fast; however, growth is restrained by the water body separating them, the East River. New York State steps in and appoints John A. Roebling to close the gap with a suspension bridge. And the story began.

Great Project Story #7—The Crystal Palace, London, UK—The Royal Ghost that appeared twice before vanishing in the flames. The Wonder of Joseph Paxton: It’s 1850 AD in London, England, UK. The world is having a new beginning after the first Industrial Revolution. A new world of gears and machines. The British Queen invites the world to celebrate the glorious moment. Celebration had to be great, the moment had to glitter, and modernity had to glimmer. That’s when the great Crystal Palace appeared on the horizon. And the story began.

Great Project Story #8—Taj Mahal Mausoleum, Agra, India—The Teardrop on the Face of Eternity—The Wonder of Ustad Ahmad Lahouri: It’s 1631 AD in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan loses his beloved wife Empress Mumtaz Mahal. The heartbroken widower falls into deep remorse, then decides to turn his eternal love into an eternal mausoleum. The mausoleum had to reflect the greatness of his love and the unrivaled beauty of his adored wife. And the story began.

The journey through time and space was full of excitement. Whereas each project story had its own heroes, excitements, and outcomes, all projects had a shared wisdom and outcome. That is, construction is human. Great buildings are not just steel and stone, but they have souls, memories, and feelings. After all, all buildings are built by humans for humans, with all what comes therewith from human emotions, ambitions, persistence, patience, joy, anger, and at times sorrow and pain. That is how great buildings engrave themselves in people’s minds and hearts, and that’s when the fun of reading great stories dwells.

1.2 The Timeless Domains of Construction Project Management

Certainly, and as proven through the ages, construction project management is not as simple as it might appear. In fact, it is an inherently complicated process involving numerous activities with numerous risks, unknowns, interdependencies, and requires numerous timely decisions each step of the way. However, whether intentionally or not, and no matter whether projects are modern or ancient, project delivery involves two obvious interactive tracks running along the project life span. These are the Technical track and the Project Management track. The Technical track domain is concerned with design, engineering, construction, and innovation, whereas the Project Management track domain is concerned with funding, planning, procurement, and governance. The Project Management track starts the process upon contract award by the owner with a go signal to the Technical track. The Technical track responds with design and construction information feeding procurement. The Project Management track responds by initiating the procurement process, so the project starts to progress. When any part of the project is completed, the Technical domain informs the Project Management domain for control and validation. The exchange of signals between the Project Management and Technical tracks repeats and continues causing the project to zigzag its way forward. With time, the project progresses incrementally toward completion and acceptance by the owner. In great projects, the Technical and the Project Management tracks collaborate and interact in creative ways that make projects stand out and cause construction greatness to exist. This dynamic interactive process is depicted in Figure 1.3 with focusing on the zigzagging between the Technical and Project Management domains. In reality, the Project Management role can be played by a project manager, project sponsor, or a contracting agency. The Technical role can be played by a design manager, construction manager, or a master builder. Indeed, in ancient times, master builders took the lead on both technical and project management tracks, however invariably under a sort of oversight by a higher authority representing the project owner. The master builder model is currently being replaced by modern design– build entities taking responsibility of all aspects of the design engineering, procurement, and construction activities. That is in lieu of the prevailing traditional design–bid–build approach involving a problematic separation between designers and builders. The design–build project delivery route changes and simplifies such approach. It involves appointing a single design–build entity to design and construct the works through a single design–build contract stating project scope and providing a high-level conceptual design and project-specific requirements of the owner [1].

Figure 1.3 The interaction between project management and technical tracks

As from the dawn of history until recent times, construction project management used to be done without a documented project management approach. Instead, it heavily depended on the ingenuity of the master builders who used instinct, talent, expertise, and trade secrets, without proper documentation. It’s only in the beginning of the 20th century that project management tools and techniques started to develop and become known. To highlight is the groundbreaking Scientific Management theory developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1911 AD, also known as Taylorism. The theory focused on applying science to the manufacturing process and using workflows to control the work and improve productivity. Traces of Scientific Management can still be found in today’s modern project management in terms such as analysis, efficiency, and standardization of best practices. Taylorism prompted a worldwide spread of project management appreciation and popularity. That was manifested in the establishment of the Project Management Institute PA/USA in 1969 AD, the Design–Build Institute of America DC/USA in 1993 AD, in addition to numerous other American and international project management groups, associations, and educational programs. Today, project management possesses a massive body of knowledge, and became the name of the game when it comes to developing construction projects or delivering organizational objectives. In the next years, project management is expected to achieve exponential growth and development, thanks to the new trends gaining popularity so fast such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), Agile project management, 3D printing, Lean Construction, Artificial Intelligence, all on the back of the superfast growing digital and IT sector.

1.3 The Axiomatic Trios of Construction Greatness

Great projects, whether ancient or modern, follow the same underlying principles and share the same common objectives and ultimate goals. The basics are timeless, and the objectives are almost identical. That concept would be easier to appreciate if we know that people haven’t really changed significantly over the ages. The mentality is very similar and the motivations and human nature remained surprisingly repeating itself. The desire to achieve construction greatness has been happening throughout the history of the world wherever humans existed with the same DNA. Despite the vast differences in times and spaces between projects, construction greatness had always maintained certain common inherent traits, challenges, and outcomes. The basic traits required to deliver great projects remained valid, shining, transferrable, and decisive. The set of rules and principles of greatness always paused themselves wherever great construction existed or wanted to exist. These rules and objectives would be called self-evident realities, or just Axioms. These include a number of Axiomatic Trios. One of the most famous Axiomatic Trios is that of people, process, and technology. Another is the project management Axiomatic Trio of