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VALUE ENGINEERING OF CONCEPTUAL SYSTEM ALTERNATIVES ESTABLISHES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS FOR HIGHWAY PROJECTS 1
VALUE ENGINEERING OF CONCEPTUAL SYSTEM ALTERNATIVES
ESTABLISHES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS FOR HIGHWAY
PROJECTS
Paul Johnson, CVS
CH2M HILL
Value Engineering Team Leader for Transportation Projects
700 Clearwater Lane
Boise, ID 83712-7708 208/345-5314 ext. 299
BIOGRAPHY
Paul Johnson is a Certified Value Specialist, CVS, and has
been a member of SAVE International and the SAVE
Seattle Chapter since 1987. For the last 15 years he has
been employed with CH2M HILL, having worked in
Seattle from 1987 to 1992, and the last 10 years in Boise,
Idaho. In addition to his Value Engineering duties, Paul
serves as a Senior Project Manager on public sector
building projects, including justice and correctional
facilities.
Paul has led approximately 30 VE studies for
transportation projects in the states of Colorado, Utah,
Oregon, Idaho, and New Mexico. He has led
approximately 55 additional studies for Washington state
schools projects, and several studies for wastewater plants
and for correctional facilities. Paul actively uses the
concept-level VE approach on transportation projects, as
well as the more traditional mid-design VE approach,
depending upon the timing and the needs of the project. 2
ABSTRACT
Concept Level Value Engineering (CLVE) studies differ from the traditional Mid-Design VE
studies for transportation projects. CLVE studies typically focus on evaluation of several
interchange alternatives leading to the recommendation of one interchange alternative. The
budget for a highway project is either verified or adjusted as part of the CLVE study. The
CLVE study seeks to select a proper interchange concept that meets all relevant functional
requirements. It is often too subjective to quantify cost savings in a CLVE study, because a
basic alternative has not yet been selected.
Mid-Design VE studies are typically conducted for state highway projects. The goal of these
traditional VE studies is to propose ideas that will either result in cost savings to the project
without impacting function, or that will result in functional enhancements to the project
within the project budget. It is usually too late to propose significant changes to highway
interchange design geometry, or to roadway alignment, during a Mid-Design VE study.
An expanded application of a CLVE study can be applied to the development of an overall
capital improvement program (CIP) for a Department of Transportation (DOT), involving a
series of interchanges, mainline widening, and selection of bridge structure type. In one
CLVE study, the CLVE team can develop a CIP for a DOT involving multiple, integrated
projects to be delivered over a 10- to 15-year period of time. A thorough conceptual cost-
estimating component is a critical part of this type of VE study.
The Interstate 84 (I-84) Project through Boise, Idaho, is an example of a $183 million CIP
prepared for the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) in a CLVE study. It involved a
multi-disciplined team of objective professionals on the CLVE team, select professionals
from the transportation planning consultant team, and engineers and managers from the DOT
and FHWA. 3
INTRODUCTION
Concept-Level Value Engineering (CLVE) studies conducted during the conceptual design
stage for highway projects can result in selection of system interchange and highway mainline
alternatives, thereby defining capital improvement programs (CIP) for State Departments of
Transportation (DOTs). It is too late to utilize this CLVE approach in a traditional Mid-
Design VE study, when the DOT and design team have already selected a preferred
alternative, made commitments in the environmental documents, and have invested time and
money in the design.
A CLVE study can cover in one study what multiple VE studies would normally cover on
multiple projects. In this expanded CLVE approach, the VE team works with the DOT and
the DOTs transportation planning consultants to select preferred alternatives and to prepare a
CIP for multiple, phased projects.
In a single 40-hour study, a CLVE team evaluated and recommended interchange geometry
for reconstruction of four major interchanges along Interstate 84 through Boise, Idaho,
recommended a phased approach for mainline widening, selected the proper profile for the
mainline to accommodate the future interchange reconstruction, selected bridge structure
types, assessed the impacts to adjacent arterial roads, and evaluated right-of-way impacts to
adjacent businesses. The CLVE study prioritized project segments and prepared conceptual
cost estimates. The Final CLVE Report included the recommendation of a CIP for 13 projects
totaling $183 million over a 12-year period of time.
PURPOSE OF VE STUDIES AT THE CONCEPTUAL LEVEL COMPARED TO
TRADITIONAL MID-DESIGN VE STUDIES
Traditional VE Studies At Mid-Design
VE is required on transportation projects valued at $25 million or more in which federal
funding is involved. VE studies are initiated by the respective state DOT overseeing design
and construction of the project. A properly administered VE study includes an independent
team of professionals with disciplines applicable to the project. For typical studies, the VE
team spends 40 hours of team time (1 week) working through the VE job plan.
In the usual case, DOTs require VE studies to be conducted at approximately the 40 percent
stage of design. The study is known as a Mid-Design VE study. This is early enough in the
design effort to provide the opportunity to incorporate acceptable VE proposals into the
projects design. The goal of these traditional Mid-Design VE studies is to develop VE
proposals that will result in either cost savings to the project without impacting function, or
functional enhancements to the project within budget.
Following the VE studies, DOTs and their design consultants will either accept, reject, or
modify the VE proposals. Applicable ideas are then incorporated into the design.
Accepted cost savings in dollars (also given as a percentage savings compared to project cost)
is the standard metric by which VE results are documented by the DOTs and the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA). The writer believes, however, that proposals dealing with 4
functional enhancements are often just as important or more important than the cost-saving
proposals. In some cases the budgets have been set too low, and VE can be used to help
justify an appropriate project budget in order for all relevant project functions to be delivered.
In recent years at DOT VE conferences, representatives of the FHWA have indicated a
willingness to consider a more subjective metric for value-added, functional-enhancement
VE proposals as positive outcomes of VE studies.
VE Studies at the Conceptual Level
CLVE studies are different from traditional Mid-Design VE studies. CLVE studies are
conducted at the very preliminary phase of design when a number of alternatives are being
considered, while Mid-Design VE studies are conducted during the 30 to 60 percent stage of
design completion when a single alternative has been selected and developed in the design.
Although the 40 team-hour duration of a CLVE study is identical to a Mid-Design VE study,
the CLVE job plan differs somewhat from its mid-design counterpart. Functional analysis is
still a very significant part of the criteria generation and concept ranking process in the CLVE
study. The CLVE study job plan is outlined in a later section CLVE Study Methodology.
Objective transportation design disciplines, DOT representatives, design team
representatives, FHWA, and other project stakeholders such as local community (technical
and political) representatives are included on the CLVE study team. A capable conceptual
estimating team member is also a key participant in the CLVE study.
Through the use of functional analysis, the CLVE team follows a process of identifying key
project criteria related to the major project elements. The VE team ranks the criteria in terms
of importance. Criteria statements (verb-noun definitions) are generated to address the
projects basic functions such as:
Transport People
Transport Goods
Appropriate Right-of-Way
Direct Traffic
Access Highway
Merge Traffic
Cross Interstate
Cross Arterials
Enhance Safety
Stage Project
Smooth Ride
Phase Project
Control Traffic
Respect Environment
Convey Utilities
Drain Water
Limit Noise
Reduce Impacts
Appropriate Budget
Accommodate Driver Expectations
Link Sides
Retain Earth
Alternative concepts