Heavy construction estimates, with and without computers

Heavy construction contractors are continuously looking for better, more economical ways to prepare estimates. They are extremely wary of product advertising that proclaims to have the answer to a contractor's prayers and does everything remotely connected with estimating. Acquisition of estimate programs are vastly different from equipment acquisition, about which the contractor knows about and for which the contractor has access to detailed specifications that can be relied upon for information necessary to make sound decisions. This paper presents methods that enhance the preparation of heavy construction estimates, comments on the status of estimate program development as of 1991, and outlines the major requirements necessary to develop a heavy construction estimate program.