Analysis of MaineDOT Road and Bridge Infrastructure Construction Costs (3.20)

Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) has been experiencing increasing costs in bids received for bridge repair, road paving and other infrastructure construction projects. This was first observed for bridges in the Fall of 2018 and paving in the spring 2019. Moreover, for projects with single bidders, the bids are 30-40% higher than the MaineDOT’s internal cost estimates. These cost increases appear to be greater than those in the neighboring states of Vermont and New Hampshire. This research seeks to evaluate the impact of inflation on these significant bid increases and better understand cost drivers for higher than estimated construction projects for MaineDOT before and after the current pandemic conditions. Possible cost drivers include: Maine’s labor force, steel tariffs, supply side disruptions due to the COVID pandemic, changes in federal trucking regulations, Maine’s recreational cannabis laws, and environmental regulations.

• Record URL:
  • https://tidc.umaine.edu/tidc_project/3-20-umaine/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $25000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551847101

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Maine Department of Transportation

  Research Division, Child Street, 16 State House Station
  Augusta, ME  United States  04333-0016
• Managing Organizations:

  Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center

  University of Maine
  Orono, ME  United States  04469

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Dunn, Denise

• Performing Organizations:

  Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center

  University of Maine
  Orono, ME  United States  04469

  University of Maine, Orono

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
  5717 Corbett Hall
  Orono, ME  United States  04469-5711
• Principal Investigators:

  Rubin, Jonathan

  Brown, Erin

  O'BRIEN, PETER

• Start Date: 20220207
• Expected Completion Date: 20220831
• Actual Completion Date: 20220831
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bids; Bridges; Construction management; Construction projects; Cost accounting; Cost estimating; Inflation; Infrastructure; Roads
• Identifier Terms: Maine Department of Transportation
• Geographic Terms: Maine; New Hampshire; Vermont
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Data and Information Technology; Economics; Finance; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01851446
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551847101
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 15 2022 3:28PM