00458325

Component

https://onlinepubs.trb.or...trcircular/305/305-001.pdf

The highway construction industry is tending toward a greater use of end result specifications. The singular criteria for their use is that they provide the owner with the desired final product. Given that this can be achieved through judicious application of the concept and the precise, descriptive development of the specifications, end results can yield numerous benefits to both the private and public sectors. The private sector benefits through increased opportunity for competition, which provides contractors and suppliers alike a chance to consider all options in their least cost analyses. Those options can include method proposals for an unlimited number of scenarios for labor, equipment, and materials. The public sector, or owner in this case, also benefits from increased competition because it is the recipient of the theoretical least cost alternative for the desired end product. Many other benefits accrue from the end result approach, such as greater flexibility, material and equipment economies, and conservation of resources. Perhaps, of greater significance, is the message that the marketplace is the most efficient mechanism for providing choice of method, when end results can be properly defined and method can be permitted to become variable. There is a place for end result specifications in highway construction and they should be considered at every opportunity.

This paper appeared in Transportation Research Circular N305, Economic Consequences of Constraints on the Use of Construction Equipment. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

p. 2-5

1986-6

Transportation Research Circular

Digital/other

Competition; Construction equipment; Construction management; Contractors; Economic efficiency; Least overall cost; Road construction; Specifications; Suppliers

Efficiency; Selecting

Construction; Economics; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Vehicles and Equipment; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods

TRIS, TRB

Sep 30 1988 12:00AM

• ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF CONSTRAINTS ON THE USE OF CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT. EQUIPMENT USE RESTRICTIONS UNDER METHOD TYPE SPECIFICATIONS