Effective Production Rate Estimation and Activity Sequencing Logics Using Daily Work Report Data: Phase 2

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recommends that in estimating production rates of work items, an accurate database should be established by using normal historical rates of efficient contractors. It further states that the most accurate data can be obtained from site visits and/or review of project records (i.e., field diaries and other construction documents) where the contractor’s progress is clearly documented based on work effort, including work crew makeup during a particular time frame. For most state departments of transportation (DOTs), data collection from site visits may not be a financially feasible solution because the data should be collected from a significant number of projects across the state and also, the data should be updated every two to three years to meet FHWA’s recommendations. An excellent alternative approach is to use a well-organized dataset of completed highway projects, where a project’s progress is clearly documented. Daily work reports which are part of AASHTOWare-SiteManager include a variety of project related data. Daily performance at the work item level is recorded by inspectors. The daily work reports contain information about project characteristics, the entire list of work items, daily quantity of work accomplished for each work item, start and end date of each work item, labor and equipment usage information, weather, significant communications with contractors, etc. This digital data set provides very rich and useful data appropriate for production rate estimation. Phase I used this historical dataset to successfully developed an MS Excel based Production Rate Estimation Tool (PRET). Also, this rich historical data set can be used to identify the actual sequence of major activities as it contains information about the start and end dates of each work item, the purpose of this Phase 2 effort. The actual sequence of key work items for different types of projects will help Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to more realistically determine contract time of highway projects.

• Record URL:
  https://www.mdt.mt.gov/research/projects/const/production_rates.shtml

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $45000
• Contract Numbers:

  9344-723

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Montana Department of Transportation

  2701 Prospect Avenue
  P.O. Box 201001
  Helena, MT  United States  59620-1001
• Managing Organizations:

  Montana Department of Transportation

  2701 Prospect Avenue
  P.O. Box 201001
  Helena, MT  United States  59620-1001
• Project Managers:

  Sillick, Susan

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI)

  400 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South
  Suite 300
  College Station, TX  United States  77845-4375
• Principal Investigators:

  Jeong, David

• Start Date: 20190603
• Expected Completion Date: 20210228
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction projects; Contract administration; Data analysis; Databases; Estimating; Highways; State departments of transportation
• Geographic Terms: Montana
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Data and Information Technology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01722855
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Montana Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 9344-723
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Nov 18 2019 7:00PM