The structural engineering design section within the engineering department of a regional electrical utility corporation has developed several standard designs for a group of similar transmission line towers. The detailed design for each tower is based on one of the standard designs. A transmission line project involving 47 towers has been approved. The estimated number of engineering hours needed to accomplish the first detailed tower design is 128, Assuming a 96% learning curve,
a. What is your estimate of the number of engineering hours needed to design the ninth tower and to design the last tower in the project?
b. What is your estimate of the cumulative average hours required for the first four designs?