Analysis of Constructability Practices in State Departments of Transportation under Organizational Constraints

Abstract

Designers typically do not base critical design decisions on construction requirements and constraints, and soon realize that their designs could be difficult to build and expensive. Thus, construction expertise needs to be incorporated in the design process through applying constructability concepts at early project stages. With the underlying concept of a construction-driven design, there are many approaches used by transportation agencies in conducting constructability reviews (CRs), but the key is to develop an approach that is consistent and scalable to different ranges of environmental constraints and project delivery methods, while accounting for organizational structure. The objective of this paper is thus to investigate and recommend effective practices in CRs that could be used by Departments of Transportation (DOTs), given their organizational constraints. To achieve this objective, the methodology was divided into two major steps starting with a comprehensive literature review, followed by two case studies of DOTs employing two different constructability programs that align with their organizational policies and constraints: California Department of Transportation and Utah Department of Transportation. Results of the case studies highlight the common themes in their CRs (early involvement of the DOT construction team), whereas the organizational constraints also result in significant differences (CR formality level, and consultants’ and contractors’ involvement). This study thus highlights that there is no one-size-fits-all constructability approach and provides evidence and recommendations, through two different but successful CR processes, on the importance of developing a CR process that aligns with organizational constraints.