Risk Identification, Prioritization, and Mapping for Early Construction Cost Contingency in Transportation Infrastructure Projects

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the environmental commitment tracking systems (ETSs) used by other state departments of transportation (DOTs) in an effort to determine which system would be the most beneficial for long-term implementation at the Colorado DOT. The authors developed a quantitative decision-making framework to identify and prioritize the features that the Colorado DOT prefers and evaluate ETSs used by other state DOTs with respect to those features to provide recommendations as to which ETS the Colorado DOT should adopt. ETSs from California, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington were evaluated. The quantitative decision-making framework consists of four steps: (a) conduct interviews to identify the features that the Colorado DOT prefers to have in its ETS, (b) assign weights to those features to establish their importance relative to each other on the basis of Colorado DOT preferences by using the analytic hierarchy process, (c) collect data from the above-mentioned eight state DOTs through surveys to identify which features their ETSs have, and (d) perform a quantitative evaluation of those ETSs with their respective weights according to Colorado DOT preferences. Application of this framework identified the ETSs that are most closely correlated with Colorado DOT preferences and resulted in a number of recommendations to the Colorado DOT. Although the findings presented are specific to the Colorado DOT, the quantitative decision-making framework can be used by any DOT to evaluate an ETS.

This report examines the experience of state and provincial departments of transportation (DOTs) with strategic planning and synthesizes current approaches to linking strategic planning with other decision-making processes, including operational and tactical planning, resource allocation, performance management, and performance measurement. It will be of interest primarily to chief executive officers, executive team members, and other officials who are responsible for developing, supporting, and using strategic management systems in state and provincial DOTs. The report is intended to help these industry leaders strengthen the overall performance of their organizations by examining exemplary practices in various DOTs. Case studies are also provided documenting one transportation agency that has used strategic planning over an extended period and one that recently implemented strategic planning. This synthesis report contains information drawn from survey responses from U.S. state and Canadian provincial transportation agencies. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with relevant personnel from many of those agencies that responded to the survey and some that did not to clarify responses and probe additional issues. A review of the relevant literature was also undertaken to provide background on the topic, help define the overall approach, and discuss the limitations of strategic planning.

P02 Promotion of Active Transportation among State Departments of Transportation in the US

As state departments of transportation (DOTs) and local transportation agencies make difficult funding decisions in these financially constrained times, access management improvements provide a cost-effective alternative for improving the safety and operation of roadways. Mindful of the benefits of implementing access management treatments, the Michigan DOT has conducted an access management program since 2002. The Michigan DOT contracted with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) to provide recommendations for adjustments to the Michigan access management program. As a result of the evaluation, TTI identified lessons learned related to the importance of (a) continuing support and funding for the access management program, (b) a clear access management policy statement, (c) coordination and cooperation between state and local transportation agencies, (d) continued training, (e) interagency coordination across state DOT divisions, (f) continued review and update of technical documentation and guidance, and (g) continued objective program evaluations. The lessons learned that are documented and described in this paper are invaluable reminders to practitioners in state DOTs with established programs and excellent points to consider for practitioners in state DOTs just beginning to foster access management implementation. Practitioners from local transportation agencies (e.g., cities, villages, counties, and townships) that are implementing access management or planning to implement access management will also find these lessons learned invaluable. The research community will also benefit from the lessons learned identified in this paper because the findings validate the procedural, political, and institutional considerations often touted as imperative to successful implementation of access management.

Purpose To maintain road systems in the USA, state departments of transportation (DOTs) generally use in-house workers or private contractors. Limited studies have calculated the cost savings of hiring private contractors; however, most of them have not calculated cost savings based on life-cycle costs (LCCs). The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the LCC of chip seal and stripping maintenance activities performed by in-house workers are cheaper than those performed by private contractors. Design/methodology/approach The paper collected the hard cost data of chip seal and stripping maintenance activities performed by state DOT in-house workers, as well as private contractors, from 2003 to 2016 from the Nevada DOT Maintenance and Asset Management division. Statistical tests were conducted to test the research hypothesis that the LCC of chip seal and stripping activities performed by in-house workers are significantly less than those performed by private contractors. Findings The study results showed that the cost per unit and LCC of chip seal and striping work performed by in-house workers were significantly less than those performed by private contractors in Nevada. Research limitations/implications The study only collected data from Nevada DOT, so readers should use caution in generalizing the findings of this study. Additionally, factors affecting the cost of these maintenance activities for private contractors are significantly different compared to in-house contractors. Therefore, these differences may be some of the potential reasons for cost difference between these two methods. Practical implications The practical implications of this study are that state DOT engineers need to plan for outsourcing chip seal and stripping maintenance activities only to private contractors that are cost effective, based on life-cycle cost. Originality/value The LCC analysis framework developed in this study will help state DOT engineers to determine cost savings by using in-house workers for road maintenance works.

A construction schedule review is an essential aspect of schedule management for U.S. state departments of transportation (DOTs) to deliver transportation construction projects on time. Despite their importance, current literature pays limited attention to addressing schedule quality problems for highway construction projects. This research aims to assess schedule quality problems from DOTs’ perspective and suggests recommendations to improve DOTs’ schedule review practices. To achieve this, two questions were formulated: 1) What schedule problems do DOT schedule reviewers perceive as vital to schedule quality? and 2) What schedule problems do DOT schedule reviewers find repeatedly? This research first reviewed relevant literature and identified 44 schedule quality problems noted about highway construction. Based on these 44 problems, a survey was developed to assess the level of impact and the likelihood of occurrence of each problem. The survey was deployed to Texas Department of Transportation practitioners with schedule review experience. The analysis prioritized the problems by the relative impact and frequency, and DOTs can utilize this analysis to improve their schedule review process and practices. This paper contributes to the academic body of knowledge by investigating the schedule quality problems in highway construction and DOT practitioners’ perceptions of the schedule quality problems. Its industry contribution includes providing the methodology for DOTs to assess their schedule quality problems.

There are various degrees of authority given to accommodate utilities on public rights of way (ROW). In the USA, most state laws permit public-serving utilities to use road ROW so long as they are not obstructing or hindering travel, endangering public safety, or obstructing other utilities from using the ROW legally. State laws and regulations specify different fee structures. In some states, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is authorized to assess fees or enter into lease agreements for utility accommodations on ROW. State DOTs may also receive compensation in some cases through in-kind resource sharing, barter arrangements, or other means. Different strategies may result in different fee schedules, which may or may not generate revenue for the state DOT. State DOTs are currently implementing various practices and compensation structures for utilities installed on public ROWs. This research aims to develop a categorization mechanism framework to determine how state DOTs compensate and evaluate utilities installed on ROWs. The framework is presented to assist DOTs in valuing and compensating for utilities and provides state DOTs with the means and approaches needed to execute a fee or leasing schedule for utility installations in public ROW. Several methods were used to accomplish this objective, including literature reviews, synthesis of legislation and policies, and interviews with subject matter experts. As a result, this investigation found significant variation between states in how they approach compensation and value utility accommodations. Based on this paper’s findings, valuation and compensation standardization are urgently needed.

Construction projects are inherently associated with various risks that can increase the project costs. Identifying and analyzing such risks are essential to successfully managing construction budgets at state Departments of Transportation (DOTs). While many state DOTs have developed and/or adopted risk assessments methodologies and tools, Tennessee DOT (TDOT) lacks a comprehensive methodology and tool to analyze construction project risks. This study reviewed state DOT practices of analyzing various risks associated with large infrastructure construction projects. The comparison of risk assessment practices among state DOTs are summarized in three sections: a) risk management, b) major categories affecting project costs, and c) risk estimating tools and practices. The review finds that many state DOTs have similar practices of analyzing project risks and have developed spreadsheet-based tools to automate such analysis. While some risk analysis tools are used primarily for qualitative risk analysis, other tools are developed for qualitative and quantitative risk analysis. Such tools with qualitative and quantitative risk analysis can be used to quantify contingencies for various projects for budgeting purposes.

Cost escalation during project development is inevitable on transportation projects. The lack of a systematic process for establishing a baseline budget with the consideration of potential issues (risks) that negatively impact project cost throughout project development presents a major challenge for State Departments of Transportation (DOTs). The overarching objective of this paper is to identify best practices for cost estimation and management that can aid project managers and engineers throughout the project development process (PDP). To achieve the objective, this paper conducted a systematic literature review, comprehensive content analysis of cost estimation and cost management processes in other State DOTs, and interviews with transportation cost professionals. A systematic literature review identified four key areas for cost estimation and cost management, including: (1) risk analysis and contingency; (2) identification of cost escalation factors; (3) accuracy of preliminary cost estimate; (4) and constructability review. Cost estimation and control processes in Minnesota, California, Texas, Ohio, and Washington State DOTs are provided as examples of best practices for establishing reliable baseline cost estimates. This paper represents a current synthesis of state DOTs’ practices on cost estimation and cost management in the U.S.

Increasingly, state departments of transportation (DOTs) are being required to meet water quality goals for stormwater runoff from their highway assets. These goals are characterized as “Total Maximum Daily Loads” (TMDL) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still safely meet water quality standards. To meet TMDL goals, the DOTs must often employ best management practices (BMPs) for mitigating the impacts of stormwater pollutants. This report presents information on the types of structural and non-structural BMPs currently being used by DOTs for meeting TMDL water quality goals for stormwater runoff. The study approach includes two major components: interviews with 12 state DOTs to identify the existing state of the practice as it relates to TMDL implementation, and a review of selected literature sources. Detailed quantitative BMP performance and cost data, including life-cycle costs, are presented.

This report examines how the planning function in state departments of transportation (DOTs) can more effectively support strategic decisionmaking in the increasingly complex environments that state DOTs operate within. The report addresses the continuing and emerging challenges facing transportation including (1) policy drivers such as constrained resources, energy supply and cost volatility, demographic trends, technology, state of the economy, sustainability, and climate change; (2) state DOT internal organizational, structural, and cultural challenges; (3) state and federal statutory and regulatory frameworks; and (4) ways in which transportation agency roles and governance responsibilities are evolving, shifting, or changing. A self-assessment tool provides a thoughtful and methodical approach to identifying opportunities for increasing the value of planning as well as the skill sets and expertise that planning professionals need to realize that potential. The report should be of immediate use to DOT executives, senior planning managers, and educators.

The Critical Path Method (CPM) has been the dominant scheduling method for the past several decades. Most State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in the U.S. currently apply CPM to estimate project duration for major and complex projects. The method, however, has limitations, and one of them is its poor ability to analyze schedule risks. While previous studies have identified various factors that cause uncertainties in schedules, the estimated duration from CPM is deterministic. To quantify schedule risks, the Program Evaluation Review Technique which uses three-point estimates for activity duration and Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) based methods that assign uncertainties to work activities through the probability distributions of activity durations have been limitedly used in the industry. After running the simulation thousands of times, the probability distribution of the total project duration can be developed to assist risk analysis, such as determining a schedule contingency for the project. In current practices, the use of the MCS method is still limited due to various reasons. One of the most challenging issues is the difficulties in estimating the probability distributions of activity durations objectively. This study aims to leverage historical digital daily work report (DWR) data available in the DOTs’ databases to determine the probability distributions of the production rates of work activities then estimate the distributions of activity durations when quantities of the activities are provided. Since the DWRs record the daily accomplished quantity of each work item in the construction phase, the actual production rates of the work items can be calculated to obtain a more accurate and realistic duration estimate for a future project. DWR data collected from a DOT were used to conduct a case study that demonstrates the value of this new approach for schedule risk analysis.

This paper aims to advance the practice and application of transportation planning for state, regional, and local transportation planning agencies to address the relationship between transportation and climate change. The focus of the paper is on long-range planning documents as tools for climate change planning. Reviews included federal regulations and statutes that govern transportation planning as well as a sample of current planning documents from state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). Interviews were conducted with four DOTs and eight MPOs that were incorporating climate change into long-range transportation plans. The text of federal statutes provides opportunities to link climate change considerations with transportation planning. The current practice in transportation plans varies widely by agency. Climate change can appear in the vision, goals, policies, strategies, trends and challenges, and performance measures of planning documents. Some plans merely recognize that climate change is related to transportation and begin to relate existing plans and strategies to climate change. Other plans make climate change more central to their goals and policies. Some agencies are quantifying greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation plans and programs. Quantification will likely be a key component of plans in the future. Research highlighted several types of barriers and needs for agencies considering climate change in transportation plans. These barriers were reviewed. Some simple recommendations were provided for how state DOTs and MPOs could address them.

An increasing number of transportation agencies in the United States are using sustainability as a device to frame transportation decision making and to demonstrate performance-based accountability. Despite interest in sustainability as an organizing concept for transportation decision making, the practice in which sustainability is used to frame formal policy development at state departments of transportation is still in its formative stages. This paper presents the approach that the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) has taken to adopt sustainability as an agency value. Currently in the implementation phase, the department's blueprint for sustainability is not a stand-alone plan, but rather a set of principles, objectives, performance measures, and strategies that have been integrated into the overall strategic direction and policy framework of the North Carolina DOT. The process used to create this product has relied on a combination of internal and external outreach, agency introspection, and conversations with senior leadership to conceptualize sustainability in a way that resonates within the agency's culture and context. A variety of lessons, including the importance of flexibility, integration, and strategic coordination with related agency initiatives, can be derived from this process. Through the presentation and the evaluation of the process that the North Carolina DOT uses, this paper provides transportation practitioners with useful insights into how to integrate sustainability as an agency value and a decision-making framework.

Since the introduction of warranty provisions in federal highway jobs, more and more state departments of transportation (DOTs) have considered the use of such provisions to protect their initial investment. This paper describes the pros and cons of warranty contracting in highway construction based on a survey of warranty practices in the United States. In particular, the need for state DOTs to buy a warranty for a well-built project is questioned. As an alternative, this paper introduces the warranty option, which gives the DOT the right to buy a warranty only if it becomes necessary at the end of construction. This option is exercised if the performance on site warrants it. This paper describes the mechanics of the warranty option and its advantages over the conventional warranty. A bid evaluation model is also developed for the warranty option approach.