Alternative Contracting Methods (ACMs), including Design-Build (DB), Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC), and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) have added a wide range of options for state departments of transportation (DOTs) to consider when delivering projects. DOTs have traditionally used the design- bid-build (DBB) method–by awarding a contract for construction to the lowest bidder, based on agency-designed plans. The DBB delivery method is now so engrained in local, state, and national agency processes, standards, and contracts that most agencies are organized around this one delivery model. Thus, implementing ACMs warrants different mindsets and approaches to processes, standards, risk allocations, and contracts to reach successful project outcomes. While some DOTs have focused on a single project to test an ACM or have developed each ACM project on an individual or one-by-one basis, other DOTs have developed agency-wide programmatic approaches to build and maintain consistency when implementing ACMs across multiple projects or regions. This consistency brings greater efficiency and familiarity for agency staff, stakeholders, and industry participants. But whether, or how, an agency chooses to establish a programmatic approach to implementing ACM projects varies from one agency to the next.
The objective of this synthesis is to document state DOT practices of programmatic approaches to ACMs.
Information for this study was gathered through a literature review, a survey of state DOTs, and follow-up interviews with selected DOTs. Case examples of six state DOTs provide additional information on practices of programmatic approaches to ACMs.
Daniel Tran of Tran and Associates, LLC, Lawrence, Kansas, collected and synthesized the information and wrote the report, supported by Christopher Harper, Black Dog Consultants, LLC, and Roy Sturgill, Jr., Blue CyClone, LLC. The members of the topic panel are acknowledged on page iv. This synthesis is an immediately useful document that records engineering considerations and practices that were acceptable within the limitations of the knowledge available at the time of its preparation. As progress in research and practice continues, new knowledge will be added to that now at hand.
