I-15 South Design-Build Comprehensive Evaluation Study Based on Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis

More than 170,000 vehicles use the Interstate 15 (I-15) daily. The I-15 was first built in the 1960's and was not reconstructed for some time. The interstate's evident poor condition which degraded safety and its inadequacy to sustain the rapidly growing traffic demand of the Las Vegas region rendered it as a top priority for a reconstruction project. Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) decided to invest in the I-15's reconstruction project. NDOT, with the North Corridor Constructors (NCC) contractor, commenced the first design-build transportation construction project in Nevada's history, a joint-venture between Las Vegas Paving Corporation and engineering consulting firm CH2M Hill. The purpose of this union (the design team and the construction team) was to allow concurrent work to take place in order to reduce the project's overall duration. Furthermore, it was expected that communication levels would increase tremendously among crews for attaining significantly higher efficiency. Expectations of success were very high; however, surprisingly, the actual results of this project beat any expectations. The project delivery was initially due in December 2010. However, the actual delivery was made in December 2009. The work was finished approximately a year in advance. Many factors have contributed to this success, and they are of interest to many parties particularly NDOT. This is a comprehensive study that takes into consideration many aspects of the I-15 North Design Build project such as traffic management, public outreach, construction zones rules and specifications, safety etc. Evaluation through qualitative analysis was performed. Literature survey research that covered a wide range of key construction zone studies was conducted to provide, general and area specific, best practices and lessons learned. Data collection and general analysis were initially conducted. Regular meetings were held with several agencies such as the Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation (FAST), NCC, Jacobs, and NDOT. This study began after the construction project had finished. This introduced some shortcomings, particularly regarding data. Manual data collection was not possible since the project had ended. Furthermore, relevant FASTs detectors were not in operation during the I-15 North construction period. Therefore, traffic data as well as other types of data were not available for quantitative analysis. Data is currently being gathered on the I-15 South in order to perform quantitative studies for the I-15 S Design Build project. This will lead to more conclusive results and tools development for future construction projects. Detailed meetings were conducted with multiple agencies in order to extract as many details as possible. It was found that many key strategies that were used on the I-15 North contributed to the success of the project. These strategies can be structured, further studied, and implemented in future construction projects.

• Record URL:
  https://sites.google.com/site/i15southevaluation/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $161516.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT06-G-0034

  P297-10-803

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  University Transportation Centers Program
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Nevada Department of Transportation

  1263 South Stewart Street
  Carson City, NV  United States  89712
• Project Managers:

  Kachroo, Pushkin

• Performing Organizations:

  Transportation Research Center

  University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  4505 Maryland Parkway, MS 4007
  Las Vegas, NV  United States  89154
• Principal Investigators:

  Kachroo, Pushkin

• Start Date: 20101001
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20110930
• Source Data: RiP Project 28304

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Design build; Project management; Qualitative analysis; Quantitative analysis; Reconstruction; Travel demand; Work zone safety; Work zone traffic control
• Identifier Terms: Interstate 15
• Uncontrolled Terms: Project duration
• Geographic Terms: Las Vegas (Nevada)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Data and Information Technology; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01467996
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Center
• Contract Numbers: DTRT06-G-0034, P297-10-803
• Files: UTC, RIP, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 3 2013 3:43PM