Productivity Aspects of Urban Freeway Rehabilitation with Accelerated Construction
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 133, Issue 10
Abstract
Over the last the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has completed three experimental long-life urban freeway rehabilitation projects by utilizing a fast-track (accelerated) construction approach of around-the-clock operations under extended closure. This paper presents the fast-track rehabilitation approaches and the as-built production rates of major rehabilitation operations monitored at the three experimental projects. The monitoring results show that the contractor’s production rates varied considerably depending upon the construction logistics, material delivery and hauling methods, lane-closure tactics, and/or pavement designs being implemented. A higher production rate and a noticeable “learning-curve effect” were observed when full-width rehabilitation was compared with partial-width rehabilitation, when continuous lane reconstruction was compared with random slab replacements, and when full roadbed closures were compared with partial lane closures. Findings in this study suggest that Caltrans should evaluate project-specific conditions and constraints, which might restrict use of a preferred rehabilitation scheme, by taking production rate variances into account when establishing schedule baselines of construction staging plans and incentive/disincentive contracts for urban freeway rehabilitation projects.
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Acknowledgments
This paper describes research activities requested and sponsored by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Division of Research and Innovation. Caltrans sponsorship is gratefully acknowledged. The writers thank the Caltrans District 7 and District 8 construction and traffic engineers and the projects’ main contractors, namely, Morrison Knudsen Co. (I-10 Pomona), Excel Paving Co. (I-710 Long Beach), and Coffman Specialty, Inc. (I-15 Devore). Thanks also go to the staff and student researchers at the University of California Pavement Research Center for their contributions to the construction data collection. The contents of this paper reflect the views of the writers and do not reflect the official views or policies of the State of California or the Federal Highway Administration.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 133 • Issue 10 • October 2007
Pages: 798 - 806
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 22, 2005
Accepted: Feb 22, 2007
Published online: Oct 1, 2007
Published in print: Oct 2007
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