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1 S u m m a r y Transportation agencies have significantly improved many aspects of project delivery, yet they continue to be challenged by cost increases and time delays that occur after a project is programmed and funded. Increasing or changing the scope of a project to improve facility performance is a common source of cost increase and time delay. This guidebook provides an effective project scoping process that transportation agencies can apply to overcome the negative impact of scope creep and scope changes. The process consists of elements subdivided into increasing levels of detail pertaining to scoping activities, actions, data requirements, constraints, teams, tools, and outcomes. Considerable variation in scoping processes across state transportation agencies (STAs) exists in practice. Variations include the definition of the project scoping process (PSP), formality of the PSP, timing of the PSP within project development, and project maturity at the point when the project is programmed. An effective PSP can benefit state agencies by: ⢠Reducing project costs and shortening schedules for design and construction. ⢠Improving interaction between project disciplines based on a multidisciplinary integrated team approach. ⢠Improving the relationship with external stakeholders. ⢠Improving on-time and on-budget project delivery. ⢠Providing a consistent and reliable approach to project scoping. The project scoping continuum proposed in this guidebook is also designed to address scal- ability issues that reflect different levels of project complexity. The high end of the project scop- ing continuum, applicable to complex projects, requires agencies to perform all the PSP activities proposed in this guidebook. The other end of the project scoping continuum, applicable to the least complex projects, requires agencies to perform a limited number of PSP activities. Many projects fall between these two extreme ends of the project scoping continuum. These projects require more than the minimum activities but may not require all PSP activities to be performed. For example: ⢠If the project scope does not include return on investment (ROW) requirements and utility relocation, then those activities related to ROW and utility relocation are not performed. ⢠If the project does not have potential alternative solutions to achieving the purpose and need, then those activities related to alternative analysis are not performed. ⢠Projects may have different environmental requirements, so those activities related to envi- ronmental assessment may be performed at different levels of detail depending on the specific requirements for a project. Effective Project Scoping Practices to Improve On-Time and On-Budget Delivery of Highway Projects
2 Effective Project Scoping Practices to Improve On-Time and On-Budget Delivery of Highway Budgets The level of design effort, traffic management, and public involvement will vary as well depending on the project type and its characteristics. Adjustments to the PSP in these activity areas might require different levels of effort to complete these activities. The guidebook consists of two parts and two appendices. Part 1, âResearch Results about the PSP,â addresses the following issues: ⢠Why should STAs formalize the PSP? This focuses on benefits such as payoffs from an effec- tive PSP. ⢠What is the current practice? What is an effective PSP? This focuses on the current practices for PSP, critical issues and challenges to implement an effective PSP, PSP definition, and the model and framework used in this guidebook to develop an effective PSP. ⢠How can an agency implement an effective PSP? How can an agency use this guidebook? This focuses on a consistent process that is comprised of a comprehensive set of activities, data requirements, and tools and techniques to perform an effective PSP at the state level. Part 2, âImplementation Guidelines,â provides an easy-to-understand layout and describes how to implement the PSP. The guidelines are divided into three sections. Each section details one of the three major activities of the PSPâdevelop the project, analyze the alternatives and document findings, and develop the recommended alternative. Each of these three major activi- ties is further subdivided into lower levels of activities. A consistent structure is used for describ- ing each of the lowest-level activities. This structure contains activity objectives, actions required for performing the activity, data requirements and information needed to initiate the activity, restrictions, tools and resources, and outcomes from performing the activity. The guidelines have two appendices. The first appendix summarizes the tools that can be used while performing different activities in the scope development process. Many of these tools are different processes and techniques that have been developed in other related research. The second appendix is the list of online links to various resources and tools to support the PSP, as referenced in this guidebook. This guidebook, a product of NCHRP Project 08-88, was developed through research con- ducted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Practical inputs were solicited from experi- enced industry professionals through questionnaire surveys and interviews. A Research Advisory Team, with members from STAs, state public works department, and consultants familiar with the scoping process, provided feedback and guidance during the research process.
