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Organizational Structures and Communications on the SH130 Project (0-4661-P3)

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Organizational Structures and Communications on the SH130 Project (0-4661-P3) 0-4661-P3 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND COMMUNICATIONS ON THE SH 130 PROJECT Authors: James T. O'Connor G. Edward Gibson Jr. Giovanni C. Migliaccio Pramen P. Shrestha Project 0-4661: Monitoring and Evaluation of SH 130 Project Construction OCTOBER 2005 REV. MARCH 2006 Performing Organization: Sponsoring Organization: Center for Transportation Research Texas Department of Transportation The University of Texas at Austin Research and Technology Implementation Office 3208 Red River, Suite 200 P.O. Box 5080 Austin, Texas 78705-2650 Austin, Texas 78763-5080 Performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. Abstract: Keywords: No. of This product summarizes the Organizational Structure, Communication Flows, Design-Build, Comprehensive Pages: findings from research Development Agreement 124 analyzing SH 130 organizational structures and communication flows. A set of guidelines pertaining to team organization and communication improvement and the design-build environment is also included. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Motivation..............................................................................................................1 1.2 Research Objectives...............................................................................................................1 1.3 Research Scope and Limitations............................................................................................2 1.4 Structure of Report.................................................................................................................2 2. Background ................................................................................................................................. 3 2.1 Summary of Literature Review..............................................................................................3 2.2 SH 130 Project Background ..................................................................................................6 2.2.1 Overview of State Highway 130 Project ....................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Project Organization ......................................................................................................7 3. Research Methodology ............................................................................................................. 11 4. Analysis and Synthesis of Interview Findings.......................................................................... 15 4.1 Major Organizational Issues ................................................................................................15 4.1.1 Role and Responsibilities............................................................................................. 15 4.1.2 Team Staffing............................................................................................................... 20 4.2 Major Communications Issues.............................................................................................22 4.2.1 Co-Location ................................................................................................................. 22 4.2.2 Partnering / Issue Escalation Ladder............................................................................ 23 4.2.3 Information Technology / Information Management .................................................. 24 4.2.4 Operating Procedures................................................................................................... 25 4.2.5 Meetings....................................................................................................................... 26 4.2.6 Improper Communication............................................................................................ 27 4.2.7 Other Communication Challenges............................................................................... 28 4.3 Recommendations from Analysis........................................................................................29 5. Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................................... 33 References ............................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix A: TxDOT Organizational Chart for SH 130 Team..................................................... 37 Appendix B: SH 130 Program Manager Organizational Chart .................................................... 41 Appendix C: SH 130 Developer Organizational Chart................................................................. 45 Appendix D: Interview Guide....................................................................................................... 53 Appendix E: Comments on Project Organization......................................................................... 55 Appendix F: Comments on Project Communications .................................................................. 91 Appendix G: Issue Escalation Ladder......................................................................................... 113 List of Figures Figure 2.1 SH 130 Project Organization .................................................................................. 9 Figure 3.1 Research Task No. 4 - Methodology .................................................................... 12 Figure 4.1 Responsibilities in the SH 130 project versus a traditional DBB project............. 16 Figure A.1 TxDOT Turnpike Team Legend ........................................................................... 39 Figure A.2 TxDOT Turnpike Team Organizational Chart ..................................................... 39 Figure B.1 HDR SH 130 Team Organizational Chart Legend ............................................... 41 Figure B.2 HDR SH 130 Team Organizational Chart ............................................................ 41 Figure B.3 HDR SH 130 Construction Team Organizational Chart....................................... 42 Figure C.1 LSI Team Organizational Chart Legend............................................................... 45 Figure C.2 LSI Team Organizational Chart............................................................................ 48 Figure C.3 LSI Preconstruction Team Organizational Chart.................................................. 49 Figure C.4 LSI Project Controls Team Organizational Chart................................................. 50 Figure C.5 LSI Construction Team Organizational Chart ...................................................... 51 Figure C.6 LSI Area Segment Construction Team Organizational Chart .............................. 52 List of Tables Table 3.1 List of attended meetings, events, and research interviews.................................. 13 Table 4.1 Observations regarding team staffing ................................................................... 20 Table 4.2 Information management tools ............................................................................. 24 Table 4.3 Meetings on a fixed schedule for TxDOT environmental function...................... 27 1. Introduction 1.1 Research Motivation In 2001, the Texas State Legislature enacted House Bill 3588, which allows the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to adopt delivery methods other than the traditional design-bid-build (DBB) method for delivering highway projects. This new approach was initially called the Exclusive Development Agreement (EDA) and was later changed in 2003 to the Comprehensive Development Agreement (CDA). The terms “CDA-DB” and “DB” are used throughout this report to identify design-build (DB) procurement under the CDA approach. In 2002, a contract totaling $1.3 billion was awarded to Lone Star Infrastructure (LSI), a consortium of engineering and construction firms, for the SH 130 Project, a 49-mile-long toll road in Central Texas. This project constitutes the “pilot” for the CDA-DB approach to highway project delivery in the state of Texas. The SH 130 project environment is experimenting with many innovative DB delivery management processes unique to the TxDOT environment. In response, TxDOT has initiated research with the purpose of leveraging the knowledge of these DB processes and comparing the performance of the CDA-DB delivery approach to traditional DBB projects. Research Project No. 0-4661 was awarded to the Center for Transportation Research of the University of Texas at Austin in 2003 and has already produced three reports pertaining to the procurement process and contractual documents (O’Connor et al., 2004a; O’Connor et al. 2004b; and O’Connor et al., 2004c). This report is the third research deliverable and focuses on organizational and communication innovations. 1.2 Research Objectives The research effort is subdivided into several tasks that can be grouped according to two general research goals. This report contributes to the first research goal to consolidate and synthesize certain lessons learned and to organize them in a database. These lessons are being collected and recorded thematically. To date, researchers have collected lessons pertaining to the procurement process and contractual documents. This report addresses lessons learned pertaining to project organization and communications. Establishing effective communication flow is fundamental for the success of construction projects
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