MPC
Research Projects (2008-09)
Identifying Number
MPC-314
Project Title
Assessing the User Impacts of Fast-Track Highway Construction (ABC), Year 1
University
University of UtahProject Investigator
Peter T. Martin
Description of Project Abstract
The I-15 Design-Build Reconstruction Project disrupted the traveling public. There would have been congestion had the project been managed by traditional form of contract. A detailed modeling process showed that the Design-Build form of contract saved large traveler delays when compared to a traditional design-bid-build form of contract. This project will take the process developed for the I-15 analysis and apply it to 6 small construction projects. This will identify if the savings associated with the large I-15 project can be reflected in smaller projects.
Project Objective
The project will determine whether Design and Build (D&B) is a cost effective form of contract for 6 small proposed construction projects. Delay, emissions and safety impacts will be evaluated for D&B compared to
- do-nothing
- no-build
- traditional construction
Project Approach/Methods
The following major tasks are proposed:
Task 1- Collect data to construct the model and validate it, for each construction project.
Task 2- Simulate the three alternatives for multiple time periods. (5, 7, and 10 years)
Task 3- Compare the users costs for delay, emissions and safety to develop a network cost for each alternative.
MPC Critical Issues Addressed by the Research
FA 11 - Traffic Operations and Management; FA 14 - Multimodal Policy and Investment Assessment; FA 17 - Environmental Impacts of Infrastructure
FA 11 – Longer-term traffic strategies (new type of public transit service); innovative lane utilization (exclusive BRT lanes); traffic adaptive signal control systems (transit signal priority)
FA 14 – Benefit-costs analysis of transportation network investments (BRT on 3500 S spans over major NS highway and transit corridors); multimodal interactions in capacity-constrained corridors
FA 17 – Environmental impacts of alternative transportation modes for commuting
Contributions/Potential Applications of Research
Highway construction has traditionally been through Design-Bid-Build. This approach has served the nation well. However, as our highway networks become ever more congested, the public is not well served by the time consuming traditional contracting methods. While the Design-Build form of construction is more expensive, we need to be able to assess the delay cost implications. This project will advance the more realistic deployment of accelerated construction techniques through modeling to deliver realistic costs and attendant delay savings.
Time Duration
July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009
Total Project Cost
$112,907
MPC Funds Requested
$37,503
TRB Keywords
Congestion
