Transportation Infrastructure: Managing the Costs of Large-Dollar Highway Projects
Advanced Search
Select up to three search categories and corresponding keywords using the fields to the right. Refer to the Help section for more detailed instructions.

Search our Collections & Repository

For very narrow results

When looking for a specific result

Best used for discovery & interchangable words

Recommended to be used in conjunction with other fields

Dates

to

Document Data
Library
People
Clear All
Clear All

For additional assistance using the Custom Query please check out our Help Page

i

Transportation Infrastructure: Managing the Costs of Large-Dollar Highway Projects

Filetype[PDF-134.61 KB]


English
Details You May Also Like

Details:

  • Creators:
    Anderson, John H. Jr.
  • Corporate Creators:
    United States. General Accounting Office. Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division
  • Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Publication/ Report Number:
    GAO/RCED-97-47
  • Resource Type:
    Tech Report
  • Geographical Coverage:
    United States
  • TRIS Online Accession Number:
    00736010
  • Corporate Publisher:
    United States. General Accounting Office
  • Abstract:
    The General Accounting Office (GAO) was requested to assess the effectiveness of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) oversight of the costs of large-dollar highway and bridge projects (those with a total estimated cost of over $100 million). In particular, GAO was asked to (1) determine if large-dollar highway projects experience cost growth, (2) identify how FHWA approves large-dollar highway projects and agrees to their costs, and (3) identify how FHWA ensures that project costs are controlled and that federal funds are efficiently used. Briefly, GAO found the following: Cost growth has occurred on many of the large-dollar highway projects that GAO examined. FHWA's project approval process consists of a series of incremental actions that occur over the period of years required to plan, design, and build a project. FHWA approves the estimated cost of a large-dollar project in segments when those project segments are ready for construction. By the time FHWA approves the cost of a large-dollar project, a public investment decision may have effectively been made because substantial funds will already have been spent on designing the project and acquiring property, and much of the increases in the project's estimated costs will have already occurred. Cost containment is not an explicit statutory or regulatory goal of FHWA's "full" oversight. As such, FHWA has done little to ensure cost containment is an integral part of the states' project management. FHWA influences the cost-effectiveness of projects by its review and approval of design and construction plans and through daily interaction with state departments of transportation.
  • Format:
    PDF
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:

Supporting Files

  • No Additional Files
More +

You May Also Like

Checkout today's featured content at rosap.ntl.bts.gov