Investigation of an innovative maintenance contracting strategy : the performance-based maintenance contract (PBMC).

PDFTech Report017-12-803Highway maintenancePavement maintenanceBenefit cost analysisChip sealsStripingStreet cleaningAlternatives analysisContractorsNevadaNevada. Dept. of TransportationShrestha, P.,Said, A.Shrestha, K.University of Nevada, Las VegasUS Transportation CollectionOne of the major responsibilities of state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) is to maintain their road assets sothat road users can travel cost effectively, safely, and in a timely manner. Maintenance projects can be performedeither by using the DOT\ue2\u20ac\u2122s own workforce or by outsourcing to private contractors. Recently, some state DOTs havestarted using performance-based contracting for maintenance projects. In this study, benefits of these types ofmaintenance contracts were collected by conducting a national survey. Moreover, this study compared the use ofthe state force (SF) and private contractors in Nevada regarding the cost and quality of such maintenance activitiesas chip seal, striping, culvert cleaning, and sweeping. Results showed that state DOTs were highly satisfied withwork performed by the state force, followed by private contractors when using method-based contracting andperformance-based contracting. The cost comparison showed that chip seal, striping, culvert cleaning, and streetsweeping performed by SF was less expensive than when performed by private contractors. Similarly, the qualityof chip seal, culvert cleaning, and street sweeping was better when performed by SF versus contractors. However,the quality of striping work performed by contractors using the performance-based contracting (PBC) method wasbetter than when performed by the SF. Recommendations for future study include collecting comprehensive costand quality data for stretches of roads that are similar