A Proposed Approach for Determining Appropriate Constructability Reviews Level for Highway Construction Projects

A constructability review process involves a number of reviews during the project development process. Each review typically involves an evaluation of various constructability issues related to both preconstruction, construction, and post-construction phases. Previous research indicated that constructability reviews provide a considerable amount of cost and time savings if applied early in the project development. In spite of the perceived benefits, constructability advances slowly in the highway construction industry and lacks consistent standard practices. Specifically, state departments of transportation (DOTs) lack a guidance for implementing constructability reviews. Most state DOTs have informally conducted constructability reviews using checklists or in an ad-hoc manner. To address this issue, this study aims at developing a selection matrix to help state DOTs selecting an appropriate constructability reviews level. The matrix is developed based on an assessment of project-related characteristics, including: impact on existing alignment, utilities, right of way, traffic-related issues, and environmental resources. A quantitative assessment of each characteristic is utilized using the matrix to obtain an overall impact value associated with each project. Utilizing the overall impact value, a constructability review process level is selected along with a project development level. The authors collected and analyzed data related to current constructability programs from 52 state DOTs. The outcomes of this study will provide state DOTs with a decision-making tool that is scalable for the different project sizes, complexities, and characteristics, to incorporate constructability reviews efficiently into the project development process.