Expedited Procurement Procedures for Emergency Construction Services (2012)

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102 APPENDIX B Research Needs Statement Chapter seven included four areas of recommended research. This appendix combines the four into a single research needs statement in NCHRP format, ready for submittal to TRB committees AFH10—Construction Management and AFH15— Project Delivery Methods. AASHTO STANDING COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS I. PROBLEM NUMBER To be assigned by NCHRP staff. II. PROBLEM TITLE Guidebook for Emergency Procurement III. RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT The past decade has provided a seemingly never-ending series of natural and man-made catastrophes that resulted in the loss of major components of the national highway network. From the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast and Interstate 10 to the sudden collapse of the Interstate 35W Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minnesota, state depart- ments of transportation (DOTs) have had to step into the public spotlight and implement expedited procurement procedures to restore vital links in the transportation network with the media scrutinizing their work every night on the evening news. Although high-profile emergency projects are well known to the traveling public, the more common case is the loss of a cul- vert on a farm-to-market road due to flash flooding or a freeway overpass damaged and closed due to a traffic accident. These mundane local emergencies sometimes go unmentioned in the news, but are every bit as critical to the traveling public in the area and require just as much haste to restore service and remove threats to life and property. The difference between the two is often industry’s willingness to accept a change in routine rules for free and open competition. In major disasters, the pub- licity brings with it a “do whatever it takes” attitude due to the emotions surrounding the event that are not usually present in the local incidents. Hence, uniform guidance is needed at the national level for both large and small emergency procurements. NCHRP Synthesis 43-11 Expedited Procurement Procedures for Emergency Construction Services validated the need when it found that fewer than half of the responding DOTs had a document that provided guidance for expediting the procure- ment of emergency projects, and only five DOTs had a “contract document that was specifically developed for emergency projects.” The needed research will define the appropriate content of DOT emergency project delivery plans as well as the form and content of tailored emergency contracts and their efficacy for agencies that have used them. Additionally, it will document the costs and benefits of incentive/disincentive schemes and their impact on the success of emergency projects as a basis for furnishing guidance on the most important aspect of an emergency procurement: restoring service in the least amount of time. The research will also explore the emergency applications for indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts and preliminary design and geotechnical investigation contracts to quantify the scope of the emergency construc- tion. Finally, the costs and benefits of conducting formal risk analysis and risk management procedures will be included. The proposed research will address the following questions: • What are the best practices for pre-event emergency contracts, such as the Florida DOT “Cut and Toss” debris removal and the New York State DOT “Statewide Emergency Bridge Repair” IDIQ contract, for both design and construction services? • What is the optimal content of a DOT emergency procurement manual?

103 • What are the roles of the DOT in-house design, construction, and procurement personnel in an emergency, and how can the value of internal resources be leveraged to expedite resolution of the emergency? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of various project delivery methods such as IDIQ, DBB, CMR, and DB in an emergency procurement? • What types of emergency projects are good candidates for procurement with each type of project delivery method? • What types of risk analysis can be used prior to and during the emergency procurement to best assign, mitigate, and retire the risks inherent in the process? • What are the barriers to changing the aspects of current emergency project delivery and how can they be surmounted? • How can betterments be incorporated into emergency projects without violating statutory constraints on federal emer- gency relief reimbursements? IV. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The main research objective is to produce a guide that state DOTs can use to develop internal processes and procedures to react to and resolve all scales of emergency projects. It will quantify the costs and benefits of various effective practices found in Synthesis 43-11 as well as identify best practices for these types of contracts. One of the major outcomes of this study is the discovery of surmountable barriers to implementation. A second outcome will be a critical analysis of those features of current project delivery that unnecessarily drive up the cost of design and construction. The study will then assemble a set of best practices and conduct a comparative analysis that can be utilized by agencies wishing to implement these practices in their emergency project delivery programs. The primary deliverable will be a guide that details the salient research findings and recommendations along with quantitative measures of effectiveness. Specific tasks of the research to accomplish the main objective are as follows: • Task 1—Define the state of the practice in emergency procurement procedures through a comprehensive literature, the collection and analysis of relevant procurement documents, typical design, and construction contracts. Review the federal and state statutory constraints on expediting procurement and identify barriers to changing procurement requirements that trigger unrecognized costs and needlessly extend the time it takes to resolve emergency situations. • Task 2—Survey state DOTs, transit agencies, airport authorities, and other public transportation agencies to identify the specific expedited procurement practices that are currently used in conjunction with the various project delivery methods and other project delivery characteristics. • Task 3—Select a representative set of case study projects from public transportation agencies with a varied set of emer- gency procurement procedures on a diverse set of project types across the nation that can be studied in depth to identify both best practices and lessons learned. • Task 4—Prepare a research work plan that describes the details of the research methodology and methods for identify- ing best practices and developing conclusions. • Task 5—Execute the research work plan and prepare an interim research report that articulates the data collection and analysis as well as emerging conclusions, best practices, lessons learned, and a proposed outline for the guidebook. • Task 6—Prepare the draft report evaluating the costs and benefits of emergency procedures such as selection of the project delivery method and project payment provisions. Incorporate review comments as required and validate the report’s efficacy on a range of U.S. projects. • Task 7—Publish a guidebook that can be used to develop DOT emergency procurement plans for a cross section of typical emergency projects and a final research report that details the full results of the research. V. ESTIMATE OF PROBLEM FUNDING AND RESEARCH PERIOD Recommended Funding: Recommended funding for the project is $400,000 to $500,000. Research Period: It is estimated that 30 months will be required to perform the research.

104 The anticipated budget and schedule are based on assumptions for required resources to support limited on-site collection of performance contract case study project data, the assembly of the contents of the guidebook, and the validation of the find- ings from the case study DOT simulation. VI. URGENCY, PAYOFF POTENTIAL, AND IMPLEMENTATION The continuing deterioration of the nation’s highway network and the constraints imposed by a down economy and perpetual backlog of unfunded maintenance and repair projects greatly increase the probability of catastrophic failures like the I-35W bridge in Minnesota because DOTs are unable to address structurally deficient infrastructure assets. Increased traffic on the nation’s roads and waterways also makes the probability and frequency of accidental/catastrophic failure to bridges and other structures higher than ever before. Combining these with the unknown aspects of climate change on severe weather patterns creates the “perfect storm” that defines the urgency of need for highly developed expedited procurement procedures to restore service to the national transportation network. The intent of this project is to educate public agency engineers on the options available to execute emergency design and construction in a highly expedited fashion and minimize the constraints imposed by statutory, environmental, and policy constraints. Understanding the various alternatives through the use of a guidebook will add another layer of sophistication to the decision-making process and create a more contractually efficient environment in which an emergency project can be delivered. The result will likely be the initiation of efforts to eliminate barriers and articulate potential benefits to upper management and legislative authorities. The payoff of this research is likely to be significant in that it comes at a time when a large influence can be applied to the programs all 50 states. By evaluating the costs and benefits of various expedited procurement practices, it will highlight areas where rules, regulations, and policies can be amended to use available public capital more efficiently. It creates another benefit in that it provides a full suite of possible emergency project delivery options and instruments that may be used for projects that traditionally use other methods. VII. PERSON(S) DEVELOPING THE PROBLEM Douglas D. Gransberg, PhD, PE, Professor, Iowa State University; and the NCHRP 43-11 Synthesis Panel. VIII. PROBLEM MONITOR TRB Committees AFH10: Construction Management and AFH15: Project Delivery Methods are submitting this problem statement through the sponsorship of the [insert DOT sponsor] Department of Transportation. IX. DATE AND SUBMITTED BY