Development of a right-of-way cost estimation and cost estimate management process framework for highway projects

摘要

Escalation of right-of-way (ROW) costs have been shown to be a primecontributor to project cost escalation in the highway industry. Two problems contributeto ROW cost escalation: 1) the ROW cost estimation and cost estimate managementprocess generally lacks structure and definition as compared to other areas of costestimation; and 2) there is a lack of integration and communication between thoseresponsible for ROW cost estimating and those responsible for general project costestimating. The research for this thesis was preceded by a literature review to establishthe basis for the study. Data collection was completed through interviews of seven statehighway agencies (SHAs) and two local public agencies (LPAs). The findings of theresearch are presented in a set of ROW flowcharts which document the steps, inputs, andoutputs of the ROW cost estimation and cost estimate management process.Three ROW cost estimates and a cost management process take place throughoutproject development. An effort was made from the onset of the research to relate theROW cost estimating and cost estimate management process to the first four projectdevelopment phases (planning, programming. preliminary design, and final design).There are five flowcharts produced as a result of this research: 1) an agency-levelflowchart showing all cost estimates and the interaction of ROW with the projectdevelopment process; 2) a conceptual ROW cost estimating flowchart which depicts therequired steps during planning; 3) a baseline ROW cost estimating flowchart whichdepicts the required steps during programming; 4) an update ROW cost estimatingflowchart which depicts the required steps during preliminary design to include a cost estimate management loop; and 5) a ROW cost management flowchart which depicts therequired steps during final design.Although selected SHA contacts provided input following the development ofthe flowcharts, the flowcharts were only validated to a limited extent due to time andbudget constraints. These flowcharts attempt to address the two contributing problems toROW cost escalation by providing structure to the ROW cost estimation process and bydeveloping the ROW process flowcharts linked to the project development process.Based on the input provided by SHA contacts, the flowcharts appear to have thepotential to provide guidance to SHAs in improving the accuracy of ROW cost estimatesthrough addressing these two problems.