"St David's new shopping centre development in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. It was completed in 2010 and is one of the most important city developments in the UK. It is a fitting gateway to the city welcoming visitors as they approach from the central train station. In total the project cost in excess of 675 million; in 2007 it was the largest private financial investment in Wales. It is a partnership between Capital Shopping Centers (CSC) and Land Securities. The shopping centre provides 4000 people with permanent employment and is one of the five largest retail spaces in the UK. History of the shopping mall The first modern shopping mall was Southdale in Minnesota, USA designed in 1956 to emulate the arcades of Paris. The worlds largest shopping mall is Mall of Arabia in Dubui, the second largest is the South China Mall in Dongguan, third is the Golden Resources Mall in Beijing. USA's largest mall is the King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania, but this is not even in the worlds top 20. The largest mall in Europe is the Westfield Centre in London, cost 1.7bn and has 280 shops and 50 restaurants. It is only 60% of the size of the King of Prussia Mall. Based on data obtained in 2013 The St David's 2 shopping centre extended the existing St David's shopping centre (of around 70 stores), that also underwent a modernization and refurbishment. In 2007 St David's centre attracted 600,000 customers per week, of which 85% live within 25 miles of the centre. The catchment area of the centre contains 1.4m people with an annual retail expenditure of 2.4bn. Together both centers cover 1.4 million square feet creating a stunning retail destination. The new St David's 2 shopping centre alone covers almost a million square feet of retail space, houses 128 stores, 308 homes, a range of leisure facilities and public amenities (including the city library) and provides parking for 3000 cars. The centre is carefully designed to respect the traditional street pattern and integrate with local historic arcades to encourage pedestrian permeability from all areas of the city. Table 1 highlights the tasks (activities), their duration, cost and precedence relationships in the development of the St David's 2 shopping centre. Task ID A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P 0 Task Description Planning and Consultation Service Diversions Highways Enabling i Appoint Main Contractor CPO Inquiry Obtain Government Approval Construct John Lewis Store Demolition Main Scheme Construction Refurbishment of St David's Centre Library Construction John Lewis Fit-out Main Scheme Fit-out Library Fit-out Residential Homes Public Realm Opening Duration (Months) 9 9 3 3 3 3 24 12 30 30 21 15 3 12 12 3 Cost ( Millions) 12 15 10 4 12 2 36 80 210 50 70 9 25 16 92 28 4 Precedence A B A A E C.D.F. C.D.F H C.D.F C,D,F G I K H 1 L.MN Table 1. Activities and precedence relationship in the St David's 2 project Questions a) Draw a project network diagram of this project. Determine the shortest time to complete the project. Identify the critical activities. b) Convert the project diagram in a Gantt Chart. Schedule the non-critical activities as late as possible. c) Determine the most cost effective way to complete this project within 56 months given the crashing information in Table 2. Task ID A B C D E F G H 1 K L M N 0 P 9 Task Description Planning and Consultation Service Diversions Highways Enabling Appoint Main Contractor CPO Inquiry Obtain Goverment Approval Construct John Lewis Store Demolition Main Scheme Construction Refurbishment of St David's Centre Library Construction John Lewis Fit-out Main Scheme Fit-out Library Fit-out Residential Homes Public Realm Normal Duration (Months) 9 3 3 3 3 24 12 30 30 21 15 3 12 12 3 Normal Cost (E Millions) 12 15 10 4 12 2 36 80 210 50 70 9 25 16 92 28 4 Crash Duration (Months) Opening Table 2. Crashing information for the St David's 2 project 6 12 10 24 18 14 9 2 6 6 2 Crash Cost (Millions) 21 15 SHREEERRES 270 105 122