Estimating highway construction production rates during design: Elements of a useful estimation tool

Construction scheduling for highway projects is an important process during the design stage. Numerous research studies have attempted to apply new techniques to improve the accuracy of construction scheduling. Many of these studies, however, failed to address the practicality of the scheduling methods and the needs of highway designers. The authors conducted literature reviews, surveys, and interviews to study the challenges designers face in estimating production rates for highway construction. We found that estimation tools for production rates should be flexible, user friendly, and efficient yet comprehensive. Data should be collected from reliable sources and analyzed appropriately and efficiently before being applied to a production rate tool. This study suggested that combining designers' experience and reliable tools is the most effective way to develop realistic production rates for highway construction scheduling.