Innovation of the Month:
Project Bundling
This month, we will showcase an advanced approach to project bundling that addresses the growing need to address aging infrastructure in a way that can expedite project delivery, reduce costs, and improve contracting efficiency.
Project bundling is not a new concept to transportation, but this advanced approach is built around 10-steps that improve the likelihood of success for these efforts. To take an in-depth look at these 10 steps, view the Bridge Bundling Guidebook. Although the guide focuses on bridges, the information can be broadly applied to develop bundles that maximize agency resources on all types of projects.
A contract bundle’s scope can cover a single county, district, or State to address goals such as bridge and roadway repair and rehabilitation, reducing rural roadway departures, or improving pedestrian safety. Bundles can also be written to allow a combination of work types to best meet an agency’s specific needs.
Project bundling streamlines preconstruction activities such as environmental reviews and project design. If projects share features, agencies can use common design elements across the bundle. Addressing infrastructure needs in this way uses economies of scale to leverage design expertise, save procurement time, and reduce cost.
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 Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation (PennDOT) conducted a three-county, $25 million pilot project that rebuilt, replaced, or removed 41 county-owned structures. This bundling effort resulted in a 25-50 percent savings on design and 5-15 percent savings on construction. The success of this effort led PennDOT to pursue a statewide, 558-bridge contract bundle.
To learn more about this practice, watch our Innovation Spotlight video or contact Romeo Garcia with the Federal Highway Administration Office of Infrastructure or David Unkefer with FHWA’s Resource Center for information, technical assistance, and training.
Check Out the Newest Way to Learn About State Successes in Innovation—FHWA Innovation Conversations
Learn about State successes with EDC innovations being deployed across the country in “Innovation Conversations”—an audiocast pairing EDC team leads with practitioners from across the country.
In our first episode, Peter Eun from the Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP) team sits down with Mark Cole from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to discuss pedestrian safety, VDOT’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, and the importance of building a diverse stakeholder group in addressing this issue.
Stay tuned to EDC news for future episodes of Innovation Conversations. Subscribe here to be notified when new episodes launch.
EDC Outtakes – Project Bundling
In EDC Outtakes—a series of short interview videos—State practitioners and FHWA personnel give insight into the current round of EDC innovations. In our latest edition, Royce Meredith, of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), discusses the benefits of Project Bundling. KYTC tried project bundling in different scenarios, including a fiber optic project along state roads, then, in 2018, launched a bridge bundling program to rehabilitate, repair, or replace 1,000 structures in six years.
Keep reading EDC News for future editions of EDC Outtakes!
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