DETERMINATION OF CONTRACT TIME FOR HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

This synthesis will be of interest to highway administrators; design, construction, and specification engineers; project schedulers; and highway construction contractors. The synthesis describes the state of the practice with respect to procedures used throughout the United States and other countries to determine highway construction contract time, with emphasis on new methods in use. Transportation agencies must set reasonable times for completion of construction projects. Factors to be considered in determining contract time include materials, equipment, labor, cost, and constraints such as weather, traffic conditions, utilities location, and user convenience. This report of the Transportation Research Board covers the still pertinent procedures from NCHRP Synthesis 79: "Contract Time Determination" (e.g., critical path methods, linear scheduling, bar charts) as well as new methods in use (e.g., A + B methods, lane rental, flexible time-to-start). In addition to information on various methods to determine contract time, information on issues related to implementing procedures for contract time determination, from both agency and contractor perspective, is included.