AASHTO APD

Abstract

Foreword: Our job as state transportation leaders is to maintain and enhance the transportation system Americans use every day. The world we live in and the demands we face are changing very rapidly. There are areas experiencing large population growth. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the expansion of global commerce have greatly increased freight transport, with more demands to come. Our highways and bridges are aging and have to be rebuilt, often while people are still using them. <br>All of these changes demand a much quicker means of putting highway improvements into place. I believe it's time we started to consider people's time as the paramount element in the way we plan and deliver a transportation project. Typically, a highway project takes five to seven years. We don't live in that kind of world. We have to speed up the process to get in and out in one to three years. <br>It's a challenge. We have to look at hard engineering and ask ourselves how do we do things-build things-so that we have the absolute minimum effect on traffic. We have to consider costs, but if we only consider the cost of construction, we're making a mistake. We have to also consider the costs of the total effects on our communities. If you include those costs, then it changes the entire equation. <br>We have to challenge our fellow agencies to work with us to speed up their reviews and involvement. Because the quicker you get in and out, the less impact you have on a natural environment. We have to challenge our contractors to use all their creativity to deliver their work both faster and at the same quality standards we require. <br>This report highlights some of the accelerated construction techniques states are using right now. They may not work in every aspect of a job, but they will work in many. In the end, they may not always be less costly. But if the project is finished quicker, that's what citizens want more than anything. And that's who we're here to serve. It's about time.