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As the contractor, you hold a lot of responsibility for on-time and on-budget
project delivery. But you also have the power to influence workflow improvements
throughout the design and construction process. Through this guide, we'll outline
current challenges in infrastructure and identify the sources of inefficiencies
and cost overruns and find ways to eliminate or reduce them.
American infrastructure is aging, and the need for
significant investment provides a huge opportunity
for civil contractors. The new administration has
earmarked $2 trillion for infrastructure projects. While
we wait to see what the actual federal investment will
be, there is vigorous support for infrastructure projects
at the state and local level. In 2019, there were 305
ballot measures supporting infrastructure projects, of
which roughly 90% were approved by voters.
As these opportunities unfold, you'll also be under
immense pressure from project owners to complete
projects on time and on budget despite increasing scope
and complexity. As the centerpoint between designers,
owners, suppliers, and subcontractors, you already
manage a complex web of stakeholders. New trends are
making that web much more intricate. Owners are already
incorporating technology like IoT (internet of things)
devices to capture real-time data, and many are bracing
for the future demands of electric and autonomous
vehicles. These innovations expand the network of
stakeholders and data inputs required for each project.
Initiatives like Every Day Counts (EDC) from the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), now in its 6th
iteration (EDC-6) for 2021-2022, are promoting greater
efficiency at the state and local levels by encouraging
the use of digital construction techniques that improve
project outcomes. One of those outcomes is lower
total cost of ownership (TCO), a metric that owners
are increasingly concerned with. Sixty-nine percent of
construction companies say that a growing customer
focus on TCO will cause disruption, and 90% expect
the shift to occur in the next ten years. This is adding
additional pressure on civil contractors to identify the
sources of inefficiencies and cost overruns and find
ways to eliminate or reduce them.
Achieving that goal is no easy feat when you're
orchestrating large and lengthy projects involving a
diverse group of stakeholders and siloed workgroups.
Facilitating communication and collaboration among
the many external and internal stakeholders involved
is challenging enough, particularly when each is using
their own processes and software tools. Most projects
typically lack a single source of truth, where data is only
entered once and all stakeholders can access the most
up-to-date information.
It's challenges like these that continue to hurt
productivity and project delivery. They also hold the
potential to jeopardize the integrity of the work and
the safety of others. As a result, your job is even harder
than it needs to be. But there's a better way. Read on
to learn how you can overcome the obstacles and seize
the opportunities before you.
