Identify Best Practices of Project Bundling for Highway Construction Projects

As an innovative contracting strategy, project bundling has been used by state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other local public agencies (LPA) to combine multiple projects that are of similar type, size, and in a similar geographical location into a single contract. Previous studies on project bundling have claimed its expected savings in cost and project delivery time. However, little research has been conducted to guide DOTs on the effective utilization of bundling in a holistic approach. This study aims to extract the best practices of project bundling that allow DOTs to implement project bundling more efficiently. The paper addresses this issue using a qualitative approach that involves semi-structured interviews and follow-up correspondence with 16 different DOT representatives and a public agency. The analysis of transcribed interviews, using NVivo, reflected the main themes for the study, including the variation of bundling methods among DOTs (optional-tie or mandatory-tie), different bundling approaches (scope-based or location-based), assessment of projects' suitability for bundling, unbundling strategies, etc. The paper concludes with a set of best practices and a comprehensive strategy that serves as a valuable guide for DOTs in effectively implementing project bundling for various construction projects.