Highway earthwork and pavement production rates for construction time estimation

In recent decades, the complexity and size of highway construction projects have increased dramatically. Because of this change, Contract Time estimates for most construction projects have been based on the critical path method (CPM). However, with the use of the CPM, many problems associated with unrealistic contract timing are encountered. In order to solve these problems, many transportation agencies have attempted to establish a standard process to estimate Contract Time with the belief that reasonable Contract Time estimation should rely on realistic Production Rates. Personal experience, historical records, and existing standards are usually used for Production Rates estimation. These sources are often unreliable because they do not include the effects of important drivers on Production Rates. Many studies on construction productivity have been conducted. However, most of them focus on cost management rather than construction time estimation. Little information is available on Production Rates for construction time estimation. This study is intended to be a reference tool for the highway construction industry to schedule and plan construction time. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the Production Rates of seven major Work Items in Earthwork- and Pavement-related construction. In addition, drivers that are known at the design stage and have a significant impact on Production Rates were identified and the effects of those drivers were quantified.