Keys to success in megaproject management in Mexico and the United States: Case study

The transportation industry is continually developing larger complex projects in an effort to keep the traveling public and goods moving. Investigating successful projects enables practitioners to apply and refine successful practices in order to manage future projects more effectively. This paper investigates the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) project in the United States and the Highway Durango Mazatlan project in Mexico to discover practices that supported the success of these two large, complex projects. Both projects have historic significance. T-REX was the first design-build project in the United States that included both major highway and transit elements and the Highway Durango Mazatlan project is the largest construction project to date in Mexico. The Highway Durango Mazatlan project was designated by Mexico's president as the project to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of Mexico's independence. This mega-project was designed and is being built to highlight Mexico's capability of designing and building state-of-the-art transportation projects. The methodology used in this investigation was case study research with in-depth interviews of project managers. The investigation found that the greatest challenge for both project teams was constantly adapting to a challenging work environment. The common themes that contributed to the success of the projects were (1) early agency agreements and commitments, (2) understanding about the cultural and socio-political circumstances surrounding the project, (3) public outreach, and (4) recognition of circumstances that had an impact on the project.