EQUIVALENT COST CONTRACT PRICES FOR BY-FORCE WORK

Presented in this paper is a method of determining equivalent cost contract prices for highway maintenance activities that can be compared with the costs of performing these activities with city or state department of transportation (DOT) forces. These equivalent cost contract prices are the "breakeven" amounts payable by a DOT to have contractors, rather than DOT forces, perform this work. Two equivalent prices are derived--a contract price that is equivalent in terms of the DOT's budget alone, and a contract price that is equivalent in terms of general public revenues for the city or state as a whole. After computing the total "by-force" cost to a DOT for maintenance activities, this cost is used to determine an Equivalent Cost Contract Price (ECCP) and an Equivalent Public-Cost Contract Price (EPCP). The ECCP represents the highest price for which work can be awarded to contractors at no loss to the DOT's budget relative to the by-force alternative. By comparison, the EPCP takes into account the fact that work done by contract results in a return to the public sector in the form of taxes and other fees that a contractor must pay, but from which most cities and states are exempt. Thus, the EPCP represents the highest price for which work can be awarded to contractors at no loss to the public. Methods developed and data used in conducting a case study of highway maintenance costs in Pennsylvania are presented.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1988/1189/1189-003.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=EQUIVALENT+COST+CONTRACT+PRICES+FOR+BY-FORCE+WORK&author=V.+DePastino&author=B.+Janson&publication_year=1988
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/309048036
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1189, Maintenance Planning and Managing Roadside Vegetation. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • DePastino, Victor S
  • Janson, Bruce N
• Publication Date: 1988

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 26-40
• Monograph Title: Maintenance planning and managing roadside vegetation
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1189
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Case studies; Contracting; Costs; Highway maintenance; Traffic equivalence factor
• Uncontrolled Terms: In-house
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Finance; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00489655
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 309048036
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Nov 30 1989 12:00AM