FHWA’s Office of Program
Administration: Bringing You the Tools and Technologies You Need
By Dwight Horne
From contract administration to the use of Federal-aid highway funds to such preconstruction activities as performing value engineering
(VE), the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Program Administration provides tools and expert assistance to aid highway agencies and others in successfully carrying out Federal-aid highway programs.
The office’s Federal-aid Programs group provides technical assistance in using Federal-aid highway funds, including for such categories as Interstate maintenance and rehabilitation, emergency relief for natural disasters and other catastrophic events, the Appalachian Development Highway System, ferry boat programs, and demonstration projects. The Federal-aid group also assists in developing, analyzing, and interpreting national highway legislation.
Looking at preconstruction, the office develops national policies, standards, criteria, and guides on highway design and provides assistance in such areas as utility accommodations and VE. Achieving greater cooperation between utility companies and transportation agencies can reduce utility-related disruptions, minimize costs, and accelerate construction. For more information and a list of resources, visit the office’s Utility Program Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/utility.cfm.
VE, meanwhile, focuses on reviewing a planned highway project’s features and looking for ways to improve quality, foster innovation, and lower owner costs. To assist States in implementing VE, FHWA provides training and technical assistance, including a 4- to 5-day course for highway agencies. The course offers an overview of the VE process, as well as the opportunity for course participants to split into teams and analyze actual highway projects in their State, using the VE principles that they have learned. For more information on VE activities, see sidebar below.
The office’s Preconstruction group also provides support to States as they implement context sensitive solutions (CSS) for highway projects. With CSS, the goals of ensuring safety and mobility when designing and constructing a road or bridge are enhanced by fully considering measures to preserve environmental, community, scenic, and historic resources. To learn more, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/csd/index.htm.
The Contract Administration group provides technical assistance and guidance on highway contract provisions, procedures, policies, and requirements, and other contract administration issues. This assistance includes teaching a course on Contract Administration for State highway agencies who request it (see article, page 5). The course is presented an average of 15–20 times a year. Numerous resources are also available on the Contract Administration Web site (www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts), including information on FHWA’s Buy America program, innovative contracting, and claims avoidance and mitigation.
The Contract Administration group also assists States with the implementation of design-build contracting. The design-build method assigns both design and construction responsibilities to one firm, allowing some construction work to begin before the design is completed. This compares to the traditional design-bid-build method, where the design and construction aspects of a project are bid separately. In addition to saving time, design-build contracting often reduces a highway agency’s administration and inspection costs and can reduce or eliminate change orders and claims resulting from errors and omissions during construction.
Finally, a Stewardship/Oversight group provides expert assistance with major projects, such as the Central Artery/Tunnel project in Boston, Massachusetts, and the multi-modal T-REX initiative in Denver, Colorado. This group also assists with risk assessments and stewardship agreements and is working with FHWA’s leadership to develop a corporate risk profile for the Agency.
For more information on the activities of the Office of Program Administration, see the list of contacts in the sidebar or visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/. As we work to provide the tools and assistance vital to carrying out Federal-aid highway programs, we value our long-standing partnerships with States, industry, and others, and look forward to strengthening those collaborations in the future. Together we can safely and cost-effectively continue to provide the highway system that our Nation and its economy depend upon from coast to coast every day.
Dwight Horne is the Director of FHWA’s Office of Program Administration.
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Value Engineering Update
In 2003, highway agencies saved more than $1 billion by applying VE methods and techniques. As the nationwide use of VE grows, FHWA’s VE program continues to provide a range of training and technical assistance to States. This training includes a VE course for highway agencies that presents an overview of the VE process and hands-on case studies involving actual highway projects in the particular State. Upcoming workshops scheduled for this year include ones in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. Arkansas, Hawaii, and Minnesota are also in the process of scheduling workshops.
New initiatives include FHWA’s work with the Transportation Research Board on National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 20-5, Topic 35-04, which will survey transportation agencies in the United States and Canada on their uses of VE. The study will report on current practices and identify key strengths and challenges of VE programs. A report on the findings is due out this fall. FHWA is also drafting a proposal to review and evaluate the results of State VE studies in order to determine the overall effectiveness of VE programs.
States will have the opportunity to learn more about best practices for using VE and to share their own VE experiences at the next AASHTO Value Engineering Conference, to be held July 20–22, 2005, in San Antonio, Texas. For more information, contact Susan McClain at the Texas Department of Transportation, 903-799-1311 (email: smcclain@dot.state.tx.us).
FHWA’s VE efforts, meanwhile, are being supported this year by a visiting staff member. Waheed Uddin, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Center for Advanced Infrastructure Technology at the University of Mississippi, will join FHWA’s VE program for 3 months starting this spring.
FHWA is also establishing a Lead State Team to assist with the implementation of VE. The team, which is scheduled to meet this summer, will include members from FHWA, State highway agencies, academia, and industry.
To learn more about VE or FHWA’s VE workshops, contact Donald
Jackson, FHWA’s VE Coordinator, at 202-366-4630 (fax: 202-366-3988; email: donald.jackson@fhwa.dot.gov), or visit the FHWA VE Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov/ve/.
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