Incorporating Cost-Based Estimating Techniques into Bid-Based Estimating

Accurate and defensible cost estimates are critical for state departments of transportation (DOTs) to program funds, award contracts, and deliver projects on time. Most agencies rely on historical bid-based estimating, which is efficient but often fails to meet federal accuracy benchmarks. Contractors, by contrast, use cost-based estimating (CBE), building unit prices from labor, equipment, materials, and productivity. CBE is generally more accurate and defensible, especially during volatile markets or for unique items. Yet only a few state DOTs rely primarily on CBE, as compared with bid-based and hybrid approaches. State DOTs require practical, low-burden methods to integrate CBE into bid-based workflows. Research is needed to (1) identify transferable CBE techniques that improve estimate reliability; (2) develop guidelines, decision trees, and templates for hybrid estimating; (3) define a minimum viable data specification for labor, equipment, and productivity inputs; and (4) validate guidelines developed and deliver an implementation playbook with training modules. The objective of this research is to provide guidance, resources, and tools based on CBE techniques that can be readily incorporated into a state DOT’s existing bid-based estimating process to produce more reliable and defensible engineer’s estimates. The desired outcome is a practical hybrid estimating framework that strengthens accuracy without requiring the full resource commitment of traditional CBE.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=6040

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $600,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  10-158

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Jared, David

• Start Date: 20261001
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bids; Cost estimating; Project management; State departments of transportation
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Finance; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01991791
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: 10-158
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Jun 3 2026 11:18AM