Services | Blueline

Planning

Procurement

Proposals

Project Management

Keeping PACE with your needs.

Planning

Acquisitions

Contracts

Execution

Planning Services

Get a 360-Degree Perspective

Linear mega-projects involve interactions with hundreds—even thousands—of stakeholders throughout the program's lifecycle. Managing these relationships requires careful documentation of needs, resolution of conflicts, facilitation of solutions, and maintenance of agreement records from start to finish.

An effective program manager balances stakeholder requirements by seeking win-win solutions while working within program constraints—scope, budget, schedule, and physical limitations.

Ask us how we can help organize and manage your stakeholder requirements.

What You Need to Succeed

Creating an exceptional scope of work requires foresight, technical expertise, meaningful stakeholder input, and clear, precise documentation.

When done right, the market rewards you with competitive pricing, top-tier talent, and fewer costly disputes throughout the project.

Our team has developed scopes for hundreds of projects across all implementation phases, serving owners, contractors, and consultants. Let us help you craft your scope, integrate stakeholder feedback, and develop your infrastructure plan.

Know Your Obstacles and How to Overcome Them

A well-structured risk register clearly identifies risks and their corresponding mitigation strategies. Risks can be technical, commercial, schedule-related, quality-related, reputational, environmental, safety-related, or third-party-related—or any combination of these. The depth and breadth of your risk assessment, along with the accuracy of your probability estimates, largely depend on experience.

Let us apply our expertise to strengthen your program risk register, preparing you for an ever-changing landscape.

If Schedule is King, Make It a Good One

Every construction project faces two fundamental questions: how long will it take and how much will it cost? These seemingly straightforward questions are like the tip of an iceberg—the real complexity lies beneath the surface.

When developing linear infrastructure, schedules often overlook crucial elements: access constraints, regulatory requirements, constructability factors, third-party coordination, and work planning needs in active environments. Or they treat these factors with unrealistic optimism.

Our experts help prevent unwelcome surprises after procurement by addressing these gaps early, while providing practical solutions to scheduling challenges during construction.

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Case for Investment

Conceiving the benefits of an endeavor is one thing—demonstrating its feasibility through thorough study is another. The process requires analyzing four key components: the strategic case (the why), economic case (the benefits), financial case (the costs), and deliverability case (the risks). These elements combine into a single benefit-cost ratio (BCR) that indicates the investment's overall worth.

A well-crafted business case withstands scrutiny from all angles through robust data, rigorous process, and realistic risk assumptions, validated by independent experts. You'll likely face a panel of executives ready to challenge every aspect of your proposal. While under-preparation can be devastating, thorough preparation acts as your armor. We can help build that protection.

Blueline offers business case and feasibility study advisory support to help owners and technical teams plan effectively and present compelling justifications to investors, executives, and board members to secure investment.

Acquisition Services

Finding the Best Partners

Your scope of work likely includes technical criteria that may be unfamiliar. From RSS/MSE (retaining walls) and SOE (shoring) to F/O (fiber optic cables), CBTC (signaling), EMI (electromagnetic interference), OCS (overhead contact system), SEM (excavation method), and SWM (stormwater management)—the list of specialized terms goes on.

How do these terms apply to your work? Whether you're preparing evaluation criteria or seeking an expert to help clarify industry terminology, we can serve as an independent advisor during your procurement evaluation, helping you find the right team members.

Procurement Model Selection

"Right tool for the right job" is a common safety adage in construction that applies equally well to procurement. While some projects involve straightforward civil works, others encompass complex elements—moving parts, property agreements, environmental challenges, and interconnected technical systems—each presenting unique risks to a program.

Over the years, procurement specialists have developed countless tools to optimize value under specific conditions. Finding the right combination is like solving a Rubik's Cube—it requires careful testing of variables, sequences, and scenarios to achieve the ideal outcome.

An effective program-wide procurement strategy identifies key scope items and their associated risks while thoughtfully sequencing various procurement packages for optimal results. Market sounding plays a crucial role in testing industry interest and ensuring competitive tension delivers value for money.

Blueline has developed its own strategy and evaluation tool for scope analysis prioritization and procurement package evaluation that's been tried and tested on one of the largest transit infrastructure programs in Canada. Ask us how we can help you plan your procurement strategy.

Contract Services

Don't Get Caught Exposed When The Tide Rolls Out

Warren Buffett's cautionary investment advice rings true in proposal development. Nothing is more stressful than discovering you've missed a significant risk or scope element in your pricing after submitting bid documents. This creates problems for both you and the owner, leading to strained relationships, financial pressure, and distraction from contractual deliverables.

We can assist your team in preparing proposal responses, conducting challenge sessions, and documenting project assumptions.

Partner with Industry Veterans

Experience and qualifications of key personnel typically comprise the majority of scoring criteria in public sector procurement. In today's competitive market, finding experienced local and global talent with the right qualifications can be challenging—especially as transit infrastructure investment booms in major metropolitan areas worldwide.

Want to join forces on a pursuit? As a growing network of independent consultants, we're dedicated to building high-quality, lasting business relationships. Reach out through our contacts section to start the conversation.

Write it Right—Clear, Purposeful, and in the Right Place

When preparing a contract, we begin with our suite of in-house templates, establish a clear structure, and share key writing principles with our multi-disciplinary team. The initial phase involves gathering requirements, which often arrive scattered throughout the document.

The real value emerges during organization and standardization—this is where we separate essential content from unnecessary elements. We eliminate excessive cross-referencing, replace passive language with active voice, and remove requirements that lack clear objectives. These improvements help prevent wasted time and communication breakdowns throughout the contract's duration.

Our team has prepared and reviewed hundreds of design and construction contracts. Let us help you create clear instructions that will yield better results in the marketplace.

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Execution Services

From Rust to Oil

Contract variation disputes are common in design and construction. Without fair and timely responses, these disputes can lead to what we call "contract oxidation"—the rusting of the gears of progress until both parties agree on who will provide the oil to get things moving again.

Disputes arise for many reasons and shouldn't be taken personally. The key is to understand the claim, review your contract, follow the order of precedence, and respond in accordance with the contract language. When a claim has merit, the claimant must substantiate their costs with proper documentation.

Don't let claims and disputes accumulate. The longer they remain unresolved, the more contract oxidation develops. Call us for an independent assessment of your contract claims.

Build on a Concrete Foundation

A great Project Manager embodies essential characteristics: Motivator, Communicator, Leader, Decision Maker, Negotiator, Organizer, and Problem Solver.

Think of these soft skills as the aggregates and paste in a concrete mix. Blend them with technical background (the water) and experience (the admixture), and you'll create a load-bearing Project Manager—one that gains strength over 15 years of curing.

Concrete metaphors aside, Blueline's team has delivered more than $120M in capital expenditure and has maintained a decade-long presence in North America's busiest passenger rail corridor. Throughout our journey, we've accumulated valuable lessons, built lasting relationships, and collaborated with global experts to achieve our objectives.

Ask us how we can help you deliver on your project mandates.

The Gold in Your Sandbox

Managing interfaces on large-scale rail programs often brings the greatest joy and satisfaction in railway planning. At the intersection of competing infrastructure projects lies hidden value—opportunities that can reduce costs, save time, or create mutual benefits.

These opportunities might include reusing native soil between projects, negotiating shared site access and storage, or coordinating concurrent work under a single road closure permit to minimize public disruption.

Our team has mapped and managed hundreds of multi-project interfaces in Toronto's downtown core over a decade, facilitating countless coordination discussions with municipalities, utility companies, developers, regulatory agencies, and property owners.

Ask us how we can help manage your program interfaces.