1. Civil engineers, land owners and developers can obtain actual total bridge costs in the planning phase of the project compared to estimated costs provided by engineers and only material costs provided by bridge product vendors.
2. The contractor’s input in the planning phase provides built-in value engineering through their knowledge of means, methods, material costs and labor costs.
3. The planning, design and construction processes are simplified through a single point of contact.
4. Lower costs are possible when fewer parties are involved in the project.
5. The potential for disputes, interruptions, and delays is reduced which facilitates meeting tight project schedules.
6. Provides the opportunity to review all feasible bridge types and materials including concrete, steel, composite fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) and timber before a bridge engineer is hired. However, we discourage considering a timber bridge due to its short service life compared to the other materials.
7. Provides cost comparisons with time schedule estimates for each bridge alternative in the planning phase of the project including various levels of aesthetic embellishments.
8. Allows for cost and time considerations comparing on-site construction to the use of prefabricated bridge products.
9. The design-build contractor’s bridge engineer can provide the bridge length, spans, and construction depth to allow the civil engineer to design the roadway profile which provides the required freeboard above the design flood elevation. This information could be included in the civil site plans to facilitate the permitting coordination with the environmental agencies.
10. The cost proposal may include the cost of the preparation of the final bridge construction plans or you have the option to hire your own bridge engineer to prepare the final construction plans per the design criteria provided by the contractor.
If you are interested in a design-build cost proposal for your land development bridge project, contact Ralph Verrastro, PE. Go to www.rv-pe.com for more information.
