We examined whether the arrangements established to deliver the project on time, within budget and with intended benefits were effective.
The Darlington Upgrade Project will upgrade about 3.3 kilometres of the existing Main South Road. The project features a non-stop motorway between the Southern Expressway and north of Tonsley Boulevard and includes the construction of eight bridges and a lowered motorway. Once completed it will form part of the North-South Corridor and will be an important piece of State transport infrastructure.
The project is complex and requires effective management of significant project risks. It will also require significant expenditure of public monies, with a current budget of $667 million.
On 18 November 2019 the Commonwealth and SA Governments announced additional funding for the Darlington Upgrade Project of $87.5 million. The Commonwealth Government is contributing $70 million and the SA Government $17.5 million. This increases total funding for the project from $667 million to $754.5 million. At the time of this announcement we were finalising this Report and therefore we have not amended the Report to reflect the impact of this additional funding. Accordingly, we have not reviewed any revision to the total expected cost and budget for the project.
We concluded that key elements of the Darlington Upgrade Project were not effectively managed as we identified deficiencies in important processes and functions. These included:
- numerous utility service relocation processes were deficient including; lack of documented analysis of DPTI’s capacity to deliver works on time; the adequacy of contract provisions; lack of timely reporting; and gaps in monitoring works by service authorities and contractors
- key governance arrangements were not established or implemented timely, clearly defined and documented and there was limited oversight by governance committees
- fundamental contract management processes and documents were not established or established timely
- a significant contract variation was issued without documented analysis supporting this decision
- a risk management plan was not prepared timely and was still in draft
- deficiencies in the planning, monitoring and reporting on quality of works
- contingency management practices needed to provide better control and visibility over the use of contingency funds
- DPTI had yet to establish robust benefits realisation processes for the Darlington Upgrade Project.