Synthesis on Construction Unit Cost Development

Availability of historical unit cost data is an important factor in developing accurate project cost estimates. State highway agencies (SHAs) collect data on historical bids and/or production rates, crew sizes and mixes, material costs, and equipment costs, including contractor overhead and profit. The goal of this synthesis is to identify how state highway agencies develop unit prices for construction and maintenance projects. The synthesis approach consists of a comprehensive online survey, covering every aspect of unit cost development, to identify the state of practice in state highway agencies and interviews with several representative SHAs to gain a better understanding of the practices followed for unit cost development. This study finds that even though SHAs collect and store historical cost data, they do not have a formal and documented process for adjusting unit costs for project characteristics and market conditions.

• Record URL:
  http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6023-1.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Project Title: Synthesis on Construction Unit Cost Development. Report Date: October 2008; Published: January 2009.
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135

  Texas Department of Transportation

  Research and Technology Implementation Office, P.O. Box 5080
  Austin, TX  United States  78763-5080

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Anderson, Stuart D
  • Damnjanovic, Ivan D
  • Nejat, Ali
  • Ramesh, Sushanth
• Publication Date: 2009-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Technical Report
• Features: Appendices; Bibliography; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 142p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction projects; Cost estimating; Interviewing; Road construction; State highway departments; State of the practice; Surveys; Unit costs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Highway projects; Project costs
• Subject Areas: Construction; Economics; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration; I52: Construction of Pavements and Surfacings;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01124330
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/TX-09/0-6023-1, Report 0-6023-1
• Contract Numbers: Project 0-6023
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Mar 20 2009 3:12PM