Best Practices In Design Process Development For Accelerated Construction Project Delivery

Abstract

The traditional system for highway delivery has served the public well for over 60 years. The foundation of this system, often called Design-bid-build (DBB), is the principle of selecting designers based on qualifications and selecting construction contractors based on competitive sealed bids. Though successful in the main, this process can foster adversarial relationships, limit innovation, result in high cost and time growth, and may not necessarily provide the bestvalue to the owner. In recent years, these issues have become a more pressing concern for highway agencies in the US, as deteriorating infrastructure and an increasing population have created pressure to move critical projects quickly from planning, through design, and into construction, without a cost increase. The wide range of options for project delivery available today is a recent development for publicly funded highway projects in the US. Design-Build (DB) was introduced in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. After the successful experience with DB, many states passed legislation to allow alternative project delivery methods, such as DB and Construction Manager / General Contractor (CMGC). In the rush to construct projects faster, the need to change the design process was a subject that did not receive proper attention. This paper, based on research sponsored by the US Federal Highway Administration, discusses and documents findings on these and other facets of the research.