March 6, 2015
Innovation Implementation: Stakeholder Partnering
The Every Day Counts innovation of the month for March is stakeholder partnering, which provides local, state and federal stakeholders with an effective way to work together to improve and streamline the Federal-Aid Highway Program delivery process.
Stakeholder partnering committees are groups that meet to identify program-level issues and review project development processes. They work on solutions through a defined decision-making process and action plans. Members include representatives of local public agencies, the state transportation department and the Federal ighway Administration.
After encouraging states to form stakeholder partnering committees in the second round of EDC, FHWA is building on the effort in EDC-3 to enhance success for local agencies. Twenty percent of Federal-Aid Highway Program funding goes to local agency projects.
The EDC-3 Stakeholder Partnering Team offers assistance to help highway agencies learn from the experience of states with active stakeholder partnerships. Agencies interested in pursuing stakeholder partnering or enhancing existing programs can contact the EDC coordinator in the state FHWA division office for more information.
Stakeholder Partnering provides local, state and federal stakeholders an effective way to work together on local projects.
Arizona Showcase Demonstrates Accelerated Bridge Construction
The Gila River Indian Community is using accelerated bridge construction and the construction manager/general contractor delivery method on its project to replace the Sacaton Bridge over the Gila River in Arizona. A February 24 showcase near Sacaton enabled more than 100 people to learn about the project and watch workers move a prefabricated bridge segment into place using the lateral bridge slide technique. Because it involved a road closure of just nine days, using slide-in construction saved motorists four to six months of detour delays, which translates into an estimated road user cost savings of $900,000 to $1.4 million. The Gila River Indian Community received a second Strategic Highway Research Program award to use ABC on the project.
Delaware Holds Construction Manager/General Contractor Workshop
FHWA hosted a February 25 workshop on the construction manager/general contractor project delivery method for public agency and private industry participants in Newark, Delaware. Presenters from the Maryland State Highway Administration, the Utah Department of Transportation, a Colorado contracting firm and FHWA explained the benefits of CM/GC. Workshop participants developed a draft action plan that the Delaware Department of Transportation will use to implement CM/GC in the state.
Ohio Executes Programmatic Agreement
The Ohio Department of Transportation and FHWA executed a programmatic agreement for categorical exclusions on February 23. The purpose of the agreement is to accelerate highway construction project-related decision making under the National Environmental Policy Act by increasing flexibility, streamlining the environmental process and reducing paperwork. The agreement documents processes and procedures for categorical exclusions and describes the Ohio DOT's and FHWA's roles and responsibilities.
Every Day Counts Video Highlights Innovation
California Department of Transportation Director Malcolm Dougherty, South Carolina Transportation Secretary Janet Oakley, Oregon Department of Transportation Director Matthew Garrett and other leaders talk about the value of innovation in a new FHWA video, Every Day Counts: Efficiency Through Technology and Collaboration. They were interviewed during a series of summits held last fall to introduce the EDC-3 innovations FHWA is promoting in 2015 and 2016.
