Common Challenges and Comprehensive Strategies for Utility Risk Management in Alternative Delivery Infrastructure Contexts

Abstract

In recent decades, state transportation authorities (STAs) have increasingly relied upon alternative contracting methods (ACMs) to deliver large surface transportation infrastructure projects. ACM delivery allocates higher levels of responsibility—and associated risks—to the private sector for the completion of engineering design and other elements. To this end, this study highlights attitudes and strategies related to utilities risks, a topic agreed by public and private industry to be highly material to ACM project success. The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach featuring (1) content analysis of contractual and programmatic STA documentation and (2) semistructured interviews with subject matter experts across a broad cross section of the national project delivery network. Synthesizing these results, the study presents commonly identified challenges related to the identification, allocation, mitigation and management of utilities risks in ACM contexts. It furthermore identifies the best practices and strategies utilized across STAs and ACM project networks to address those challenges. The study thereby contributes a highly contextualized integration of contractual analysis supplemented with practitioner perspective. The results offer guidance to STAs seeking to effectively manage utilities and geotechnical risks while fostering a competitive procurement environment.