Construction

Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer Toolkit

Archived: What is ACTT?

Value Engineering versus ACTT

It is important to understand the goals and objectives of the ACTT Workshop: reduce overall project duration and accelerate construction. If only viewed in a philosophical sense, these goals are different from the goals and objectives of a traditional Value Engineering (VE) Study: maximize cost savings and reduce life cycle costs.

There are some other notable differences between the two. VE typically consists of a local team, small (less than 10 members), includes limited areas of expertise (design, construction, maintenance, traffic, perhaps, environment and RW), focuses on cost savings (function vs. value), and is usually conducted later in the design phase with a PS&E between 30-70% complete (because VE is detail oriented and requires some detail project information).

ACTT typically consists of a national team (20-30 national transportation experts team up with local counterparts), includes between 60-80 workshop participants, covers all areas of expertise (11 skill sets including contracting and financing), and has a primary objective of reducing construction time while enhancing safety and quality. In the long run, it saves money as well. Although ACTT may be implemented at any time during the pre-construction phase, it is most beneficial when applied during early project development, when there are less project constraints.

VE:

• Local team
• Typically small (less than 10 members)
• Limited areas of expertise (design, construction, maintenance, traffic, perhaps, environment and RW)
• Focus on saving cost (function vs. value)
• Later in the process (maybe during design phase because VE is detail oriented and requires some detail project information)

ACTT:

• National team (20-30 national transportation experts team up with local counterparts)
• Between 60-80 workshop participants
• All areas of expertise (11 skill sets including contracting and financing)
• Primary objective is reducing construction time while enhancing safety and quality. In the long run, it saves money as well.
• Early in the process (best time is during project development)
• FHWA and AASHTO fund the workshop