TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD

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Construction Project Staffing Strategies for

Transportation AgenciesJune 23, 2020

The Transportation Research Board

has met the standards and

requirements of the Registered

Continuing Education Providers

Program. Credit earned on completion

of this program will be reported to

RCEP. A certificate of completion will

be issued to participants that have

registered and attended the entire

session. As such, it does not include

content that may be deemed or

construed to be an approval or

endorsement by RCEP.

PDH Certification Information:

•1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDH) – see follow-up email for instructions•You must attend the entire webinar to be eligible to receive PDH credits•Questions? Contact Reggie Gillum at RGillum@nas.edu

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Learning Objectives

#TRBwebinar

1. Describe the factors that impact the staffing requirements for highway construction projects

2. Design a project and regionally agency staffing plan using the WOW

3. Recommend strategies to address specific workforce challenges encountered at your agency

TRB Webinar: Construction Project Staffing Strategies for Transportation Agencies

J une 23, 2020

2:00PM – 3:30PM EDT

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

NCHRP 20-107 RESEARCH TEAM MEMBERS

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO-BOULDERUNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

* (now Iowa State University) 3

Tim Taylor, P.E., Ph.D. Roy Sturgill, P.E., Ph.D.*

Ying Li, P.E., Ph.D. Steve Waddle, P.E.

Paul Goodrum, P.E., Ph.D. Keith Molenaar, Ph.D.

Sara Al-Haddad, Ph.D.

WEBINAR OBJECTIVES

At the end of this webinar, you will able to:Describe the factors that impact the staffing requirements for highway construction projectsDesign a project and regionally agency staffing plan using the WOWRecommend strategies to address specific workforce challenges encountered at your agency

4

JUSTIFICATION FOR PROJECT AND GUIDANCE

5

Doing more with less

Between 2000 –2010• STA managed lane miles

increased by 4.1%• STA staff decreased by

9.7%• STA full-time equivalent

staff per $million of capital outlay decreased 37.3%

Evolving State Transportation Agency (STA) conditions

• Funding• Alternative

contracting methods• Staffing levels/type• Technology

STA staff retirements

• Less experienced personnel in higher levels of authority

NCHRP 20-107 OBJECTIVES

The objective of this research is to develop guidance for staffing transportation construction projects that:1. identifies current contracting methods and associated

staffing used by transportation agencies;2. identifies staffing strategies; 3. identifies knowledge, skills, abilities, and qualifications

required for project inspection and testing staff; and4. recommends best practices for balancing project oversight

responsibilities using agency staff, consultants, and contractors for transportation construction projects. 6

NCHRP 20-107 GUIDANCE CONCEPT

7

NCHRP 20-107 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

8

NCHRP 20-107 STATE AGENCY ENGAGEMENT

Data Analysis Develop GuidanceLiterature ReviewStaffing Strategy Interviews (7 states)Forecasting Method Interview (10 states)Project Survey(305 projects, 16 states)

9

FACTORS INFLUENCINGNCHRP 20-107 GUIDANCE

10

Data Analysis Result Highlights

246Project Managers / Resident Engineers responded

305Project staffing information collected

16State Transportation Agencies represented

12

AVERAGE PROJECT STAFFING LEVEL

13

Over one third (39%) of the 305 projects included in the survey were reported to be under staffed.On average, surveyed projects were reported to be staffed at 86.9% of their required FTEs per DOT policy and procedure manual.

39% of State Transportation Agencies (STA) surveyed are using CEI Consultants 14

000

21

164

137

983

171927

117

62333

3819

61911

94

431

411

182

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

IowaMontana

Wash ing tonKentucky

TexasOregon

Cal i fo rn iaUtah

Mich iganNor th Caro l ina

Co loradoSouth Caro l ina

De lawareVi rg in ia

VermontF lo r ida

Al l

% OF SURVEYED PROJECTS

Yes No

CEI use appears to be more common in larger and more complex projects 15

16

35

10

20

33

114

15

77

19

14

55

180

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Road - New Construction / Expansion

Road - Rehabilitation / Resurfacing

Bridge - New & Replacement

Bridge - Rehabilitation

Other Projects

All

% of Surveyed Projects

Yes No

Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) reported for fully staffed projects (186 projects) 16

0.89 0.88 0.91

0.24 0.31 0.14

0.55 0.650.41

0.620.86

0.28 0.360.54

0.12

0.64 0.660.50

0.050.13

0.10 0.23

0.380.91 0.39

0.93

0.150.35

0.12 0.35

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

All

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RE Surveyor Sr. Inspector Inter. Inspector Jr. Inspector Admin

State Staff Consultants

COMPARISON OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE WITH AND WITHOUT CEI CONSULTANTS

No Consultants UsedConsultants Total

AverageSchedule Overrun -7.70% 20.20% 2.40%

Average Cost Overrun 3.36% 3.34% 3.35%

17

COMPARISON OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE WITH AND WITHOUT CEI CONSULTANTS

180%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Did Not UseConsultants

UsedConsultants

% o

f Res

pons

es w

ithin

Gro

upCost Overrun

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Did Not UseConsultants

UsedConsultants

Schedule Overrun

More Than 100%Overrun50%-100%Overrun25%-50% Overrun

10%-25% Overrun

Less than 10%OverrunOn Time

19

Workforce Optimization Workbook (WOW)

What the WOW/eWOWis………

Construction season staff planning

Scalable

ProjectSectionDistrict

Guidance to less experienced managers

Starting point for staffing decisions

Structured, organized, and quantified method for staffing decisions

Starting point for staffing strategy selection

Short termLong term 20

…….what the WOW/eWOWis not!

THE solution to staffing shortages

Daily staffing assignments

A replacement for knowledge and experience

Local conditionsContractorsProject specific challengesIndividual FTE capabilities

A black box that makes staffing decisions

Staffing strategy implementation tool

21

AVERAGE FTE REQUIREMENTBY POSITION AND BY PROJECT TYPE

22

Project Type Resident Eng. SurveyorSr.

InspectorInter.

InspectorJr.

Inspector Admin.

Road - New Construction / Expansion 1.27 0.71 1.69 1.95 0.63 1.16

Road - Rehabilitation / Resurfacing 0.94 0.20 0.90 1.01 0.71 0.69

Bridge - New & Replacement 1.08 0.42 1.17 0.92 0.50 0.75

Bridge - Rehabilitation 0.85 0.42 0.81 0.92 0.23 0.57Other Projects 0.82 0.26 0.68 0.66 0.32 0.65

Special Structures (Rest Areas, Weigh Station, Toll Station, etc.) 1.00 1.33 0.67 1.67 0.33 1.67

All 0.94 0.34 0.93 1.01 0.51 0.74

WOW RISK RANKING

23

STRATEGIES TO ALLEVIATE STAFF SHORTAGES

33 StrategiesOrganized by:

Administration, Engineering, Inspection or Management/Public Relations

24

STRATEGIES TO ALLEVIATE STAFF SHORTAGES

Applicability of StrategiesEach Tool Describes the What, Why, How & Additional Resources

25

eWOWDemonstration

USEFUL TOOLS TO REVIEW RELATIVE TO COVID-19

37

A-3 Electronic Business ProcessesA-3-1 Change OrdersA-3-2 Document Storage/Management/Work FlowA-3-3 e-SignatureA-3-4 RFI

A-4/E-4/I-4 Electronic Field Books

A-2/I-2 Contract RequirementsA-2-1/I-2-1 Operations & Maintenance (by Contractor)A-2-2/I-2-2 WarrantyA-4/E-4/I-4 Electronic Field Books

USEFUL TOOLS TO REVIEW RELATIVE TO COVID-19 (cont.)

38

E-1 3D ImagingI-1 Concrete Maturity MetersI-3 e-Inspection

E-5/I-5 GPRE-6/I-6 GPS/GNSS

I-7 Infrared Temp. Systems (IRpave)I-13 Risk Based Inspection

E-9/I-14 Robotic Total StationsE-10/I-15 Schedule Milestone Inspections

I-16 UAVHR-1 CEI Consultants

39

THANKS!Any questions?You can find us at:

Tim Taylor, P.E., Ph.D. (Tim.Taylor@uky.edu)Roy Sturgill, P.E., Ph.D. (Sturgill@iastate.edu)

Today’s Presenters

Tim Taylor, University of Kentucky

Paul Goodrum, University of Colorado

Ying Li, University of Kentucky

Roy Sturgill, Iowa State University

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introSlide Number 1The Transportation Research Board has met the standards and requirements of the Registered Continuing Education Providers Program. Credit earned on completion of this program will be reported to RCEP. A certificate of completion will be issued to participants that have registered and attended the entire session. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by RCEP.Learning Objectives

NCHRP 20-107 Webinar PresentationTRB Webinar: �Construction Project Staffing Strategies for Transportation AgenciesBACKGROUND INFORMATIONNCHRP 20-107 RESEARCH TEAM MEMBERSWEBINAR OBJECTIVESJUSTIFICATION FOR PROJECT AND GUIDANCENCHRP 20-107 OBJECTIVESNCHRP 20-107 GUIDANCE CONCEPTNCHRP 20-107 RESEARCH FRAMEWORKNCHRP 20-107 STATE AGENCY ENGAGEMENTFACTORS INFLUENCING NCHRP 20-107 GUIDANCEData Analysis �Result Highlights246AVERAGE PROJECT STAFFING LEVEL Slide Number 14Slide Number 15Slide Number 16COMPARISON OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE WITH AND WITHOUT CEI CONSULTANTSCOMPARISON OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE WITH AND WITHOUT CEI CONSULTANTSSlide Number 19What the WOW/eWOW is…………….what the WOW/eWOW is not!AVERAGE FTE REQUIREMENT�BY POSITION AND BY PROJECT TYPEWOW RISK RANKINGSTRATEGIES TO ALLEVIATE STAFF SHORTAGESSTRATEGIES TO ALLEVIATE STAFF SHORTAGESeWOW DemonstrationeWOW DemonstrationeWOW Example Slide Number 29eWOW Example eWOW Example Slide Number 32eWOW Example Slide Number 34eWOW/WOW Tool Example eWOW/WOW Tool Example USEFUL TOOLS TO REVIEW RELATIVE TO COVID-19USEFUL TOOLS TO REVIEW RELATIVE TO COVID-19 (cont.)THANKS!

outroToday’s PresentersGet Involved with TRBGet Involved with TRBSlide Number 4