A case study of the construction of a terephthalic acid plant for Imperial Chemicals Limited at the Davies Works, Wilton, Cleveland, UK

This study concerns the project management strategy adopted during the successful building of an £85m terephthalic acid plant for ICI. The client and many others in the Teeside region had experienced severe problems in terms of cost and time overruns on previous similar projects. The resolute application of several fundamental project management principles brought about a radical change in people's attitudes. The previously inefficient and frequently acrimonious situation was transformed to one of highly productive teamwork; resulting in the project meeting all of its objectives, being only three months late and several million pounds under budget. ICI rated the construction efficiency as the highest achieved for many years at Wilton. The paper is based on interviews with the main actors in the project and records the features which they regard as important to its success.