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Sami Soufi is Vice President and head of Railway and Transportation Programs at the New Jersey Program Management Firm in New Jersey, Hill International. Opinions are typical of the author.
My first exhibition on alternative delivery infrastructure projects was in the mid-1990’s, when I worked as a structural engineer in the creation of the Corredor-H road project in Western Virginia. Since then, AD has evolved in its models and complexity.
Before the AD, the owners were mainly based on the design-bid-construction delivery model. In DBB projects, owners often used “prescriptive specifications” during contracting, specifying design, materials and methods. But as the owners pursued a faster project delivery, they began to acquire projects based on “performance requirements”, that is, specifying how they would like to work the delivered asset. This has promoted the evolution of AD.
Today, there are three models of ads that are well recognized for construction contracting:
1. Risk Construction Manager: In ButterAlso known as the construction manager/general contractor, the owner is hired separately with the design consultant and the construction manager. The CM works with DC and provides estimation services during contracting.
The parts coincide in the final reach, the price and the calendar later. A guaranteed maximum price reduces the risk of the owner. However, this delivery method requires a unique contractor experience and the availability of this experience can be restricted Butter Delivery of the project.
Sami Soufi
Permission granted by Hill International
2. Design-Build: In DB, the owner selects a design builder based on the best proposal for the value of approach, design, construction and price. This is a two -step approach, which adds time to hiring. The DB also has a minimum interface with the owner during design development and assumes all the risk of delivering the project to the agreed price. This reduces the risk, but increases the anticipated costs for the owner.
3. Progressive design construct: It is a contract based on the grades of a single step with two main phases. This allows the owner, and possibly interest groups, to be substantially involved with the PDB contractor during design development, without any obligation with the owner until an agreed level of design is over. After the selection, the owner and the PDB contractor collaborate to advance the design and construction within the “cost and the target calendar”.
Since PDB is a single step hiring, the owner saves the recruitment time. PDB also has unique risks, such as the potential disability of the parties to have an agreement at the end of the first phase or to extend the professional liability insurance. The use of a stipend to work with two bidders can mitigate these challenges.
In addition, the PDB is ideal for emergency hiring, as evidenced by the PDB use of Maryland Dot For the reconstruction of the Key Francis Scott bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed after being hit by a boat in March 2024.
What is the best choice?
Selecting the optimal recruitment method can be difficult. The local market conditions, the availability of resources, the experience of the local contractor and the level of risk that the owners or contractors are ready to have are all key factors.
Owners can have their own preferred ad model based on the previous success of this model for their own project or a sister agency. For example, the Traffic Authority of the Washington Metropolitan Area used CMAR for successful rehabilitation of the yellow metro line by 2022. This may have requested Use of Amtrak CMAR To purchase packages to build the Frederick Douglas Tunnel project in Baltimore.
In addition, the pressures of the supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the passage of the law on investment in infrastructure and jobs have increased the demand for materials, increased the prices of materials and have restricted the Availability of engineering and construction resources. This has increased the leverage of the contractor, allowing companies to be more selective in project offerings.
Some big contractors have been able We negotiate better terms and even request early payments for mobilization and long lead items, which represent a significant change in risk to the owners.
Contractors are also less hungry at risk. Because top -notch contractors are struggling to make a number of dollars DB contracts, many companies are not willing to bid on projects over $ 500 million without favorable terms.
A word on p3s
AD can help owners meet the largest demand for the transport infrastructure public, which can be restricted by approvals and/or regulatory funding. The financial viability of these projects has encouraged private capital companies to collaborate with public agencies to fund inadequate funded projects through public-private collaborations.
Strictly speaking, P3 is a financing mechanism, not an ad. It is based on several private partners who come to an agreement to design, build and operate an infrastructure project on behalf of a public entity for a period called concession. As fast delivery is necessary in P3 projects, P3 teams provide these projects through AD, and associated companies often enter complex contractual relationships with the owner during the concession.
Examples of P3 include the construction of express lanes on the I-66 and I-495 in North Virginia and the Purple Line Light Rail project in Maryland. When private companies provide funds for public infrastructure projects, approvals and regulatory financing are usually faster due to the financial viability of projects. I hope this trend continues.
