Connected Construction

The digitization of the project delivery system throughout the Federal Aid Highway Program (FAHP) is at an inflection point.  A system that currently expends over $200 billion each year on highways and bridges alone from federal, state and local funding sources. Since 2012, the Federal Highway Administration through the Every Day Counts partnership with states, has led multiple initiatives from 3D Modeling to e-construction and importantly, the current FHWA-EDC 6 initiative on e-Ticketing and Digital As-builts. This can be a moon-shot moment that will lead to project streamlining and efficiency, better accountability and transparency, and significant cost savings.

Our goal as a nation should be to achieve state-of-practice in digital project delivery within the five-year life of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the long-awaited Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Through the BIL, the President and Congress came together to provide $110 billion over the next five years in desperately needed investments for our nation’s highways and bridges. As a result, state DOTs must elevate their sense of urgency and utilize tools like the $100 million in targeted federal resources provided to the FHWA through IIJA. This funding is meant to help state and local agencies transition and utilize Advanced Digital Construction Management Technology. Abraham Lincoln said, “If I have six hours to chop down a tree, I will spend the first four hours sharpening my axe.” Accelerating transformation to state of practice in Digital Project Delivery needs to become a top priority – we need to sharpen our axe.

The pages of our Digital Project Delivery platform are dedicated to advance this policy case at the state and federal levels and to the public. A few states DOT’s have advanced digital delivery and are nearing state-of-practice levels. They are models for the nation.