Easier Said Than Done: Understanding & Promoting the Value of Constructability in Transportation

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

4:45 PM – 6:00 PM MT

Primary Author(s)

Tanner L. Keck

Roadway Design Engineer
Robert G. Campbell & Associates, L.P.
Bean Station, TN, United States

Submitter(s)

Tanner L. Keck

Roadway Design Engineer
Robert G. Campbell & Associates, L.P.
Bean Station, TN, United States

Abstract: In the world of construction, the phrase “looks good on paper” has probably been referenced for
generations, but what if those behind constructing our state’s transportation infrastructure were able to be
recognized in the role of design engineers to provide plans that are easier for construction purposes and
improve the overall delivery of transportation projects?

According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), the average timeframe for delivering
a transportation project is around 15 years, with eleven of those years in the planning and design process
and four years in the construction phase. TDOT projects that are delivered using traditional project
delivery methods such as Design-Bid-Build (DBB) can see a 40% increase in project costs compared to
their original estimate value that can contribute to lengthy design work, shortages in materials and labor,
inflation, and plan revisions due to issues brought up during construction (TDOT, 2023). Additionally,
plan revisions with DBB projects can lengthen or delay the time of completion for projects given the lack
of direct communication between the design consultant engineer and the contractor assigned to construct the
project.

In late 2022, TDOT introduced its “Build with Us” initiative in accordance with the Transportation
Modernization Act (TMA), which introduced an additional $3.3 billion in funding to support TDOT
projects. With “Build with Us,” TDOT aspires to explore new alternatives to delivering transportation
projects with quality and efficiency such as Design-Build (DB) and Construction Manager/General
Contractor (CM/GC) with more innovative and complex transportation infrastructure projects.

While the traditional Design-Bid-Build delivery method will still be utilized by TDOT, there can still be
effective ways to learn and accelerate project delivery with all methods of project delivery. In this report,
several means of constructability considerations will be highlighted based on literature review regarding
previous research on constructability for transportation projects, present challenges in transportation
project delivery, lessons learned on the site based on the scenarios experienced by the author,
recommendations for representatives in DOT, design consultant, and contractor settings, and conclusions
of the report.

Learning Objectives:

Attendees can expect to learn the following from this session:

Upon completion, participants will be able to define the concept of constructability, and its applications to the transportation/highway engineering industry sector.
Upon completion, participants will be able to understand the idea of "lessons learned," where case situations of transportation projects during construction encounter issues that involve design revisions.
Upon completion, participants will be able to recognize possibilities of applying the constructability in the transportation industry, such as entry level engineers working in construction engineering & inspection (CEI) services.
Upon completion, participants will be able to recognize benefits of including constructability procedures in their practice in transportation & highway engineering based on case studies such as TDOT's SmartFIX40 project.
Upon completion, participants will be able to better understand the construction process of transportation projects from the perspective of a DOT/owner's representative and heavy-civil general contractors.