Time is money: Innovative contracting methods in highway construction

In today's highway construction industry, the focus has shifted from building new transportation facilities to resurfacing, rehabilitating and restoring (3R's) those already in existence. These types of projects create a serious disruption in the normal flow of traffic resulting in a major inconvenience to the traveling public. Reducing construction time, thereby mitigating this inconvenience, has become a major emphasis for state highway agencies throughout the United States. In the past few years, several innovative contracting methods have been introduced into the highway construction industry. The basic concept of these innovative techniques is the motivation they provide encouraging the contractor to work faster, schedule accurately, and manage the construction process better. Results from the research conducted by the writers indicate that recent transportation projects constructed utilizing these innovative contracting methods have been very successful in reducing construction time, while only increasing overall construction costs minimally, if at all. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of these methods analyzing data obtained from various case studies throughout the United States and abroad.