01590720

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2573-17

State departments of transportation (DOTs) are encouraging early involvement of contractors in highway design and construction through the solicitation of alternative technical concepts (ATCs) during procurement. This approach provides DOTs with the opportunity to tap industry experience and expertise for design alternatives. ATCs can improve constructability, enhance innovation, shorten schedules, reduce risk, and ultimately save costs. DOTs have documented significant cost savings from ATCs on a project-by-project basis. This paper provides an up-to-date perspective on the types of projects in which ATCs are used in U.S. highway construction, according to empirical data from a national study of 250 projects completed by DOTs and the Office of Federal Lands Highway. These projects were completed through design–build, construction manager–general contractor, and design–bid–build project delivery methods, and only 40 of the projects solicited ATCs during procurement. The quantitative findings presented in this paper were facilitated by the use of the project information from the national study and complimented by an extensive literature review on the use of ATCs in the U.S. highway construction sector. It was found that DOTs used ATCs on 51% of the 70 design–build projects procured by best-value selection in the study. Given that only 2% of the 116 design–bid–build projects and 5% of the 38 low-bid design–build projects in this study used ATCs and that no construction manager–general contractor projects used ATCs, there appears to be an opportunity to capitalize on the benefits of ATCs in projects using those delivery methods.

01594379

16-5545

English

pp 143–148

2016

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309441377

Print

References (18) ; Tables (4)

Construction projects; Contracting; Design bid build; Design build; Literature reviews; Procurement; Project delivery; Road construction; State departments of transportation; State of the practice

Alternative technical concepts

United States

Bridges and other structures; Construction; Highways; Pavements

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 6:24PM

• Artificial Neural Network Model for Estimating Temporal and Spatial Freeway Work Zone Delay Using Probe-Vehicle Data
• Civil Integrated Management for Highway Infrastructure: Case Studies and Lessons Learned
• Comparing Construction Manager–General Contractor and Federal Early Contractor Involvement Project Delivery Methods
• Comparing Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of Full-Depth Reclamation Versus Traditional Pavement Maintenance and Rehabilitation Strategies
• Cost and Scope Breakdown Structure for Functional Level Estimating of Consultant Fees
• Design and Construction of a Highway Double-Deck Suspension Bridge
• Developing a Chained Fisher Construction Cost Index for a State Highway Agency
• Effect of Silo Storage Time on the Characteristics of Virgin and Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement Mixtures
• Effectiveness of Warranted Asphalt Pavements in Indiana
• Evaluation of Additional Laboratory Tests for Design of Full-Depth Reclamation Mixtures Using Foamed Bitumen
• Evaluation of Bolt Holes Fabricated by Using Plasma Arc Cutting
• Implementing Best-Value Procurement for Design–Bid–Build Highway Projects
• Innovative Design, Traffic Management, and Construction of Concrete Overlay Technology: Canadian Municipal Application
• Large-Scale Deployment of Performance-Related Specifications for Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement
• Multiyear Laboratory and Field Performance Assessment of High-Traffic US-49 Full-Depth Reclamation
• Optimizing Paving Mixtures for Durable, Cost-Effective, and Sustainable Concrete
• Specification Limits and Pay Adjustment for Longitudinal Joint Density of Asphalt Pavements: Case Study in New Jersey
• Use of Pavement Management System Data to Enhance Pavement Performance Specifications in Canada
• Using Parametric Modeling to Estimate Highway Construction Contract Time