Alternative Delivery Approaches to Constructing Dams

Over the last several decades, the dominant delivery model for dam projects has been conventional Design-Bid-Build (DBB) approach, in which the Owner hires a Design Engineer to design the dam and assist with solicitation of evaluation of bids, and then selects a Contractor to construct the design with support from the Design Engineer. This approach often results in long durations from concept design to completion of construction to allow for lengthy reviews associated with environmental permitting and/or dam safety regulations and can disincentivize early involvement by the Contractor because of the long lead times and uncertain outcome regarding the award of the construction contract. In recent years, several projects have utilized Alternative Delivery (AD) approaches such as Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC), Design Build (DB) or Progressive Design Build (PDB), and Public-Private Partnership (P3) or Alliance to streamline the process and attempt to control cost and long schedule duration commonly associated with the DBB approach.

This paper provides definitions and examples of various contract delivery approaches to constructing new dams or modifications to existing dams. The paper also includes several case studies where Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) resulted in clear improvements in the design and savings to the Owner.