PMSS Project Details

Project ID:	FHWA-PROJ-09-0058
Project Name:	Standardized Methods Life-Cycle Cost Analysis
Status:	Active
Contact:	Last Name: Sivaneswaran First Name: Nadarajah (Siva) Telephone: 202-493-3147 E-mail: nadarajah.sivaneswaran@dot.gov
Organization:	Federal Highway Administration - Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
Office:	Office of Infrastructure Research and Development
Team:	Pavement Design and Construction Team
Roadmap/Focus area(s):	Infrastructure Research and Technology Strategic Plan and Roadmap
Project Description:	Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) has become an integral part of many State highway agencies' pavement design and type selection considerations. With increasing miles of our national pavement network needing major rehabilitation or reconstruction during the next several years and the significant impact construction activities have on already overstretched roadways, initial and long-term agency and user costs have become an important part pavement design and type selection process. While past efforts at Federal Highway Administration have addressed the issue of work zone user costs, a number of other related issues have not been addressed in appropriate detail and gaps remain in certain areas, such as how to handle abnormal short-term construction cost fluctuations, market conditions and discount rate, updating of financial data for Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA), the true remaining value of each alternative at the end of analysis period, and how stochastic analyses can best be used to address some of these difficult issues. Federal Highway Administration has been advocating LCCA and many State highway agencies have developed pavement type selection protocols mostly based on the Federal Highway Administration's Technical Bulletin on LCCA and RealCost software. However, guidelines on how to handle these issues are lacking and State highway agencies are having difficulty in using LCCA effectively to make informed decisions. A recent peer exchange meeting and site visits have raised this as one of the difficulties faced by State highway agencies in conducting LCCA. Technically and economically sound and defensible methods and guidelines to address these issues in a practical manner are needed and will be the goal of this activity.
Laboratories:	Not Applicable
Start Date:	October 1, 2009
End Date:	May 3, 2014
Funding Amount:	$150,260.00
FHWA Program Name:	Innovative Pavement Research and Deployment
Goals:	Life-Cycle Cost Analysis for Pavement Type Selection
Project Type:	Onsite and Offsite
Background Information:	Data not yet available
Test Methodology:	Enhance Federal Highway Administration's Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) tool, RealCost, and develop case studies and other documents for end users.
Other Information:	Data not yet available
Partners:	Federal Highway Administration: Office of Infrastructure - Office of Asset Management; Role(s): Other stakeholder, Technical
More Information URL(s):
Fieldtest:	Data not yet available
Expected Benefits:	Standardized methods and guidelines will assist State highway agencies in conducting Life Cycle Cost Analysis effectively and objectively and avoid industry concerns. Life Cycle Cost Analysis is conducted to minimize life-cycle cost and valid life-cycle cost analysis is a must. In addition, the efforts will also contribute to the development and refinement of Federal Highway Administration policies for evaluating alternative design and contracting methods and assist the State and other transportation agencies with accurately evaluating the project design and construction alternatives based not just on costs and impacts initially, but throughout its life cycle.
Deliverables:	1. Name: RealCost User Manual Product Type(s): Training materials, Software Description: The deliverable is the RealCost user manual with four Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) examples: three for pavements and one for bridges. Audiences: State highway agencies Secondary Audiences: Publication URL(s): http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/asstmgmt/lcca.cfm 2. Name: Enhanced version of RealCost for conducting bridge Life Cycle Cost Analysis. Product Type(s): Software Description: Enhance version of RealCost software for conducting bridge Life Cycle Cost Analysis and case examples. Audiences: Bridge design professionals, Pavement designers, Pavement engineers Secondary Audiences:
Related URL(s):
Project Findings:	Economically sound methods and tools for supporting pavement type selection decisionmaking.
FHWA Topics:	Roads and Bridges--Pavement and Materials Research/Technologies--FHWA Research and Technology Research/Technologies--Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC)
TRT Terms:	Pavement Design Construction Infrastructure Research Costs Pavements Bridges Roadways
FHWA Disciplines:	Pavement and Materials Structures
Subject Areas:	Economics Pavements Bridges and other structures