Best Practices from WisDOT Mega and ARRA Projects - Statistical Analysis and % Time vs. % Cost Metrics

This study was undertaken to: 1) apply a benchmarking process to identify best practices within four areas Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) construction management and 2) analyze two performance metrics, % Cost vs. % Time, tracked by the WisDOT on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) projects to develop benchmarks for highway construction. The first objective involved an in-person survey of senior department staff and other experienced project managers. Survey data was collected for 45 best practices, scored, and then ranked based on three categories: general, small budget ARRA, and large budget „Mega‟ projects. The second research object utilized the performance metrics of percent complete by time and percent complete by cost to generate a cumulative process curve, or S-curve. Monthly data points were collected for 283 WisDOT ARRA projects constructed in 2009 and 2010. Results from the best practice survey provide nine general best practices with two additional best practices, one for large scale mega-type projects and one for smaller scale ARRA-type projects. Additionally, survey results showed high agreement for the top 10 best practices that were consistent across the three categories. Results from the % Time vs. % Cost study were used to generate cumulative process curves that were then compared to prior research on electrical/mechanical construction projects. Based upon regression analysis, it was discovered that heavy construction projects tended to have much flatter, more linear, S-curves when compared to electrical/mechanical projects. Knowledge of the expected cumulative process curve allows the project management team to quickly compare their observed project performance in terms of expenditures versus earned time to the benchmarked metrics of this study. Such a method would be a convenient method of predicting the occurrence, but not magnitude, of budget and schedule overruns. In sum, the combined use of effective best practices and control points can help to reduce the frequent occurrence of budget and schedule overruns on transportation projects. Reducing waste will help to add value by allowing a greater number of projects to be funded and constructed, which in turn will help to relief stress on the current transportation infrastructure.