Article by Jerry Austen
Netafim South Africa
T
he installation of a greenhouse project typically takes place in a confined area, in comparison to open field projects on a farm with many
people from several disciplines; all coordinated
by the Project Manager, who would usually be the
grower himself. This paper looks at aspects related to
the irrigation design that need to be considered long
before the project gets underway.
The project life cycle
Like any project, the life-cycle of a greenhouse project
goes through the following overlapping phases:
Definition – This would include the preliminary irrigation design.
Planning
– This would include the actual irrigation
design.
Implementation – Including procurement, construction
and installation.
Close-out – Including commissioning of the project.
Figure 1. The project life cycle and costs
The costs increase rapidly as the project progresses
through the first stages, peak during implementation
and tail-off in the close-out. Changes that occur during
the project for whatever reason have an effect that be-
comes more pronounced the later that they occur into
the project.
To this extent, the later into the project, the less flexibility there is to make a change. See Figure 2.
Figure 2. The ability/flexibility to make changes during a project