Conceptual Cost Estimating Guide

OBJECTIVES: This study will focus on the development of a conceptual cost-estimating guide to be used by the planning engineers in the 12 Kentucky Highway Districts. This guide will be developed in a manner to aide the planning engineers in developing more accurate and consistent cost estimates for KTC projects. It is the goal of the project to develop this guide in such a manner that it can be used on a large variety of projects, ranging from spot improvements to large-scale projects. The end product will also be user friendly, so that someone with limited estimating experience will be able to use this guide and develop a reasonable conceptual cost estimate. In is envisioned that the fmal product will be a spreadsheet that is straightforward to use by the various district planning engineers. Also, a user's manual will be created to aide individuals who are not familiar with the program. BACKGROUND: In order to be able to better plan for statewide highway projects, it is essential that more accurate estimates be generated across the state than have been generated in the past. Additionally, there needs to be standard documentation of initial scopes of work in order to defme what has been included in an initial cost estimate. This project will focus on creating a methodology for developing the cost estimate during the conceptual stage of the project. This methodology will recognize and take into account the differences between the various regions of the state, and how that affects the conceptual estimates. The initial estimating guide will be based on current years data, with a cost index developed to allow the guide to be updated annually in order to reflect actual construction costs for any given period. FY 2006 ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Due to problems encountered with the original work plan, the work plan has been reworked with approval from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Work has begun on looking into cost estimating guide practices. FY 2007 PROPOSED WORK: The Kentucky Transportation Center will aide the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in developing a user friendly process for creating more accurate cost estimates at the planning level. This project will involve coordinating efforts between various districts as well as the planning division in Frankfort. When completed, this project should provide a more accurate method to project future costs on any given project. PROJECTED COST THROUGH FY 2006: PROGRAMMED COST FY 2007: TOTAL ESTIMATED COSTS: $ 51,000 $ 50,000 $100,000