PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION DESIGN –BUILD PROJECT DELIVERY: A CASE STUDY

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2018

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Abstract

Over the last two decades, the construction industry in the United States has evolved particularly in the way highway transportation projects are contracted, planned and delivered. Traditionally, owners hire a separate contractor for Architectural and Engineering design and conduct a solicitation to hire a construction contractor. The need to deliver projects in innovative and more efficient ways in addition to having singular accountability for design and construction has resulted in an integrated approach termed design-build project delivery method. This method is supposed to improve project delivery and enable owners to assign the responsibility of engineering design and construction to a single contractor. Despite this innovative approach to project delivery, the performance of major transportation projects has not improved significantly (Wardani et al., 2006).

The objective of this qualitative case study research was to evaluate the performance of major design-build transportation projects in four states that are early adopters of design-build delivery strategy. Mega design-build transportation projects in Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas were evaluated on how major design-build projects perform against the ten knowledge areas of the Project Management Institute Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®). The PMBOK covers time management, integration management, Communications management, cost management, human resources management, risk management, stakeholder management, quality management, scope management and procurement management.

The case study research focused on how project management elements impact the performance of design-build projects. Design-build performance data on four projects from four were evaluated and State highway transportation design-build staff were interviewed. Also, design-build experts in the companies that executed the projects were interviewed in addition to industry design-build experts.

All the four projects that were evaluated did not meet their cost objectives while two out of the four projects reviewed were completed on time. There were diverging viewpoints from the interview data obtained. State DOT design build offices knowledge areas of importance were aligned with the information obtained from design-build consultants while design-build contractors knowledge areas of focus were different. Improvement of design-build communication among all project stakeholders was a common theme from the three-tiered interview.

The outcome of this research benefits Federal and State transportation agencies by providing a better understanding of other performance elements that should be considered and incorporated into the design-build process especially during the Request for Proposal (RFP) preparation, source selection and contract award phases for design-build contracts. Additionally, this research should increase industry’s awareness on how to improve the delivery of major transportation projects by strongly considering other key elements of project management on design-build projects apart from the traditional schedule, cost and scope considerations

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