Innovative Contracting Strategies for Highway Maintenance Outsourcing

Download or read book Innovative Contracting Strategies for Highway Maintenance Outsourcing written by Juan Chen and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past decade, the Federal Highway Administration challenged state highway agencies to focus on preserving and maintaining existing highway system to prevent their deterioration. To achieve this goal, many state highway agencies have shifted to greater outsourcing to augment their in-house personnel, bringing together in-house and contract staff to maximize cost, quality, expertise, and efficiency. As a result, TxDOT sponsored this research to investigate the innovative maintenance contracting strategies that might be implemented to help them achieve their maintenance goals. This research consisted of a three-phase study. The first-phase consisted of a literature review and two on-line surveys that were distributed to all 25 TxDOT districts and state highway agencies within the other 49 states. Through the literature review, three components of a maintenance contracting strategy and the elements of each component were identified. The surveys provided an overall picture of highway maintenance contracting practices in the United States. The second-phase consisted of 11 interviews with six TxDOT districts and five other state DOTs for detailed investigation of five delivery methods. A Maintenance Contracting Strategy Selection Framework was created based on the decision nodes and criteria identified from the interviews. The third-phase consisted of the development of a selection tool for selecting appropriate contracting strategies for outsourcing various maintenance activities. The results of this research provided insight into the innovative maintenance contracting strategies that are used both nationally and internationally. The selection framework and selection tool will facilitate the implementation of maintenance outsourcing.