Design model

[Mergingtraffic]

Does your state employ the design-build model or the design-bid-build model?

Is the design-build model widely used? 

Maybe this is a commonly known question....if so, my apologies.

or

is your state doing anything out of the ordinary to design and complete construction projects in a timely manner?

[mapman]

California (Caltrans) doesn't do this very often, as transit agencies are the only transportation-related agencies that are allowed to do design-build contracts.  Other agencies (cities, MPOs, etc.) can do design-build on a case-by-case basis with approval by the governor and both houses of the legislature. 

[J N Winkler]

These are the states I am aware of where the state DOT has done design-build contracts:  WA, OR, CA, NV, UT, CO, AZ, NM, TX, MN, MO, FL, GA, NC, VA, OH, PA.  Design-bid-build is still very much the norm even for large projects, but there is huge variation among state DOTs in how design-build contracts are used.  There is a tendency in states like TX, WA and VA to use design-build for really large projects and design-bid-build for everything else.  But many large states like OH have found that design-build on large contracts doesn't really cut the cost of building a high-quality project because design-builders typically have limited access to geotechnical information.  In such states design-build contracts tend to be small jobs, like sign replacements, where the contractor effectively designs part of the project before putting it together in the field.  OH does this a lot with sign replacements and PA does it with bridge replacements.  In AZ the large, complex projects are still design-bid-build, but ADOT uses design-build for relatively straightforward projects like median widening of US 60 and HOV lane addition to SR 51.  Meanwhile, other states like UT combine the OH and TX approaches--design-build for both really large projects like I-15 widening and really small nitpicky projects like sign replacements in the middle of the desert.

Frankly, I dislike design-build because it means very long delays in obtaining the construction plans for a given project.  In AZ the turnover is very good because the contractors hand the construction plans over to ADOT at almost the same time the project opens to traffic, but in other states it is not unknown for it to take years and years for the final construction drawings to be submitted to the state DOT.  Another disadvantage is that, unlike bidding plans in about 25 states, the plans for design-build projects have to be obtained in arrears by bothering state DOT employees, often at the district level because many state DOTs lock their central records offices out of design-build projects.  I don't see this problem going away until a lot more state DOTs (including the ones that have gone in for design-build big time) start putting together online project archives.  At present this facility exists only in KY, GA, and MN.

[roadfro]

These are the states I am aware of where the state DOT has done design-build contracts:  WA, OR, CA, NV, UT, CO, AZ, NM, TX, MN, MO, FL, GA, NC, VA, OH, PA.  ...

I'll note that Nevada's foray into design-build highway projects is relatively new.  NDOT's first design-build project is the widening/reconstruction of I-15 between downtown Las Vegas and Craig Road in North Las Vegas.  That project started in mid-2008 and is slated to wrap up around March or so next year.

Thus far, NDOT has been happy with the process and I've read that they are looking to use design-build for another project on I-15 in the southern Las Vegas valley.

One of the things that I've noticed with NDOT's recent adoption of design-build is that they are using it on projects where right-of-way is a minimal factor.  The current I-15 widening project has a relatively large ROW except at the south end near US 95 in downtown; the southern I-15 project also has wide ROW.  Design-build was not even considered with the US 95 widening in northwest Las Vegas, probably because ROW was such a major component of that project (where brick walls of people's backyards were the same as those fronting the freeway).

[codyg1985]

Mississippi used design-build to get some post-Katrina projects off the ground, I believe. As far as I know, Alabama has never employed design-build for large projects, citing the elimination of smaller firms from being able to bid on such a project.

[froggie]

The two major US 90 bridge replacements were both design build.

MDOT also has 2 design-build projects going on right now.  One is a series of small bridge replacements on I-59 in Pearl River County...the other is on I-20/59 near Meridian.