Implementing Alternative Technical Concepts in All Types of Highway Project Delivery Methods (2020)

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4 Chapter 1 Introduction This research project officially commenced on June 5th, 2017 with a kick-off meeting attended by all research team members. The outcome of this meeting was confirmation of the responsibilities for undertaking the required tasks of the Phase 1 work plan: a. Synthesis 455 Literature Review Update b. ATC Solicitation and Program/Policy Document Content Analysis c. Update Synthesis 455 Case Law Review d. ATC Intellectual Property, NEPA, and Programmatic Issues e. “Better than or Equal To” Assessment 1.1 Background According to NCHRP Synthesis 455: Alternative Technical Concepts for Contract Delivery Methods (Gransberg et al. 2014), the FHWA defines an Alternative Technical Concept (ATC) as “a request by a proposer to modify a contract requirement, specifically for that proposer’s use in gaining competitive benefit during the bidding or proposal process…[and] must provide a solution that is equal to or better than the owner’s base design requirements in the invitation for bid (IFB for DBB) or request for proposal (RFP for DB) document.” ATCs furnish a mechanism to consider contractor design input prior to the award of a DBB, CMGC, DB or P3 contract. Just as there are a number of different project delivery methods, there are a number of different methods by which ATCs can be included in each method. The use of ATCs and other alternative contracting methods (ACMs) is based on the premise “that better performance or better value for money can be achieved by integrating teamwork for planning, design and construction of projects” (Forgues and Koskela 2008). The operating word in the quotation is integration, a term that is used frequently within the design and construction industries. However, the definition of the integration process for highway construction is currently a work in progress. 1.2 Benchmarking Report The benchmarking report details the results of the Phase 1 work plan. Each task’s outcomes are described in Chapter 2 of this report. The Phase 1 work plan tasks were structured to address the lack of definition of the “integration” process, the different ways ATCs can be implemented during project delivery and to provide a holistic update on the state of practice of ATC use by DOTs. Ultimately, the value of the NCHRP 08-112 research is to provide a defensible methodology for making the business case for utilizing ATCs as a contractual mechanism to gain early contractor involvement during procurement, before a contract award is made. This will provide sufficient time to make meaningful changes to the project scope, permit the DOT to achieve the full advantage of innovative technical concepts and capture 100% of their savings in the contract amount. This report also provides a current view of ATC use by state DOTs. It updates the work contained in Synthesis 455 and seeks to identify salient trends and newly reported contributions to the ATC body of knowledge. Specific attention was given to the review of recent ACM solicitation

5 documents, IFBs and RFPs, to identify new approaches to contract language and ATC risk distribution. 1.3 Final Report Structure To facilitate the rapid transfer of information to the NCHRP panel and others that might read this report, the final report uses an expanded executive summary approach where the notable findings of the Phase 1 effort are reported in the early chapters with subsequent chapters containing the details of the research. The report is organized as follows: • Chapter 1 – Introduction • Chapter 2 – Benchmarking Report Synopsis • Chapter 3 – ATC Working Definition • Chapter 4 – Research Outcomes • Chapter 5 – Guidebook Development and Outline • Chapter 6 – ATC Implementation Toolkit • Chapter 7 – Conclusions and Recommendations • Appendix A –Literature Review and Content Analysis • Appendix B – ATC “Better Than or Equal To” Assessment • Appendix C –Case Study Protocol and Questionnaire • Appendix D – Guidebook Vetting Protocol