Institute for Transportation

About the research

State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are making fundamental changes in the delivery of project plans and specifications to contractors and how they estimate project costs. While DOTs are making changes, the construction industry is changing, as is the world. This is impacting everything from the way business is conducted, technology, value and belief systems, work-life balance, and the impact of humans. Each of these impacts the cost of a project and therefore the cost estimating process.

The goal of the research is to deliver material for an updated edition of the AASHTO Practical Guide to Cost Estimating (PGCE). To do this, the research team will synthesize reports on the state of-the-art practices used by agencies, with an emphasis on how emerging technologies may support estimation. Equally importantly, they will identify reported limitations related to the technologies and estimation workflows to help agencies understand the ways in which emerging technologies may not be fully reliable and where it may be necessary to involve manual double-checks to ensure accurate results. This approach will provide an easy-to-understand PGCE for practitioners. It should also support future researchers considering innovative strategies related to estimating.