Alternative Project Delivery Systems: Applications and Legal Limits in Transportation Projects

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive survey of the legal codes of all the 50 states in the United States regarding alternative project delivery systems in transportation projects. In the past decade there has been a surge of legislation allowing state transportation officials much more flexibility regarding the choice of project delivery systems. These delivery systems are usually selected based on a combination of price and quality. Specific delivery systems studied in this paper are Design-Build, Construction Management at Risk, and Public-Private-Partnership. The background and history of the emergence of these new delivery systems are studied in this paper. The research showed that in many states, alternative delivery systems may be allowed but with specific restrictions. For each state, all of these delivery systems have been researched and placed into one of the following distinguishable categories: (1) fully authorized; (2) authorized but needs extra approvals; (3) authorized for a pilot program and/or with some limitations; (4) not authorized. The output of the survey gives valuable snapshots over the status of each delivery system in regards to its legality in different parts of the country as of December 2006. Comparing the results of this survey with the surveys done previously shows that the trend is to allow states more flexibility in the choice of project delivery systems.