Cost and Schedule Analysis of Highway Projects based on Project Types

Change Orders generally impact cost and schedule performance of highway projects. However, highway projects that do not have any change orders also face cost growth and schedule delays. This study seeks to determine the cost and schedule performance of Texas DOT projects by collecting project data for 120 highway projects completed between 2016 to 2020. For the study, we selected project data that has zero or negative change orders which were then grouped and analyzed based on their Project Types i.e., maintenance works; structural works; restoration and rehabilitation works; and safety works. The study found that performance of Maintenance and Safety type projects had less cost and schedule growth among the data analyzed. Statistical tests also found that even though the projects have no change orders, Rehabilitation and Restoration type projects experienced significant schedule growth compared to others. However, the data did not show any significant cost and schedule growth for the projects when statistical tests were performed on overall data. The study concluded that highway projects are experiencing schedule growth even though the projects had no change orders. Results from the study can help planners, engineers, and administrators to gain better insight on how different types of highway projects are performing in terms of cost and schedule and eventually derive appropriate solutions to minimize cost and schedule growth in such projects.