Seeking the Best Solutions Workshop

Setting Project Goals and Incorporating Innovations

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The Challenge

Today, state departments of transportation (DOT's) face an unprecedented challenge in maintaining highway mobility and improving safety while constructing and rehabilitating the nation's highways. Handling this challenge successfully calls for new approaches in how states design and construct highway projects.

One new approach is the Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer (ACTT) process, which uses teams to develop and deliver projects. The centerpiece of ACTT is a structured workshop in which a team of experts addresses the project issues, needs and desired outcomes. With this information as a reference, the team explores the best ways to get the job done.

Another new approach is the Federal Highway Administration's Highways for LIFE (HfL) program, which focuses on using innovations to improve safety, quality and user satisfaction and reduce construction congestion. HfL provides incentive funding to state DOTs to build projects that use innovations to achieve specifi c goals for safety, congestion, quality and user satisfaction.

An emerging innovation in highway design and construction is performance contracting, in which the agency asks the consultant or contractor to achieve a defined set of outcome-based goals. Typically, highways are built under standards and specifi cations that focus on how the job should be done. Performance contracting focuses on what the results of the job should be and allows the consultant or contractor to be innovative in achieving those results.

Workshop Seeking Best Solutions

Highways for LIFE is offering a one-day workshop to state DOTs that shows participants how to use the HfL, ACTT team workshop and performance contracting concepts to deliver a project better, faster and cheaper. The workshop shows how to identify goals that respond to motorists', highway users' and the agency's highest priorities and seeks the best ways to achieve those goals.

Workshop Description

The workshop focuses on a state DOT highway project already in the project delivery process. Participants learn about setting project performance goals, being innovative and using performance contracting. They use this knowledge to propose "stretch" project goals set at a level that represents the best performance.

For one or two of the goals, participants will evaluate whether they can be achieved using the state's current standards and practices. If not, participants will explore using innovations to achieve the desired outcome. Participants will also consider the application of performance contracting as a tool to achieve the goals.

Outcomes

Upon completion of the workshop participants will be able to:

• Evaluate a project to identify high-priority needs of motorists, users and the agency
• Set stretch goals that are realistic and achievable
• Seek innovative solutions to achieve the goals
• Utilize performance contracting as a means to achieve these goals
• Prepare the framework for a Highways for LIFE project and acceptible application

Participants

Target workshop participants include a cross section of experts from the state DOT and FHWA who will explore the issues and needs of the proposed project. Appropriate industry representatives may be included at the state's discretion.

To Schedule a Workshop

For more information on this workshop, contact Mary Huie at FHWA at (202) 366-3039 or mary.huie@dot.gov or Byron Lord, (202) 366-1325, byron.lord@dot.gov.