Guide for 3D Modeling to Advance Utility Coordination in Projects Delivered Using Alternative Contracting Methods - Summer 2017

Federal Highway Administration2017PDFTech ReportUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Center for Accelerating InnovationSchneider, ChristopherUnkefer, R. DavidUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUnited StatesMathematical modelsSimulationContract administrationPublic utilitiesProject managementFHWA-HIF-17-034Effective utility coordination in projects delivered using alternative contracting methods (ACM) has one common theme: utility issues must be considered as early in the project development process as possible to permit the project delivery team as many options for resolving utility conflicts as practical. In the words of one author, \u201cdetection of utility conflicts as early as possible during the project development process can help identify the optimum application of strategies to resolve those conflicts.\u201d1 The objective of optimizing utility strategies is to avoid relocation where possible. To achieve this goal, the agency needs to start the utility conflict identification and coordination process at a point where major design definition decisions like final alignment and geometry have not been locked in to the degree that redesigning to accommodate utility considerations is prohibitive. This creates a requirement to reduce uncertainty with respect to utility locations to an acceptable level. The second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) presents a full set of tools for identifying utility locations, including subsurface utility engineering (SUE), ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging. These tools, while apparently reliable, are often insufficient, triggering the need to excavate test holes (commonly known as \u201cpot-holing\u201d) to physically locate the utilities in question.2 At that point, a contractor typically is needed to conduct the exploratory excavations to furnish physical utility location information to the designer. When early contractor design involvement is needed, ACMs provide a proven solution for procuring that capability in a manner that permits utility coordination risk sharing rather than contractual mechanisms designed to shed this ubiquitous risk. Since ACMs bring both design and construction resources to the table, three-dimensional (3D) engineered models can be used as the medium for communicating spatial information for the entire team and its external utility company stakeholders.140