How Can Infrastructure Programs Optimize Delivery? Go Digital.
WHITE PAPER | 2022The recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) represents a funding increase not seen since the late 1990s. It brings sudden new challenges to transportation agencies, which must deliver projects in a COVID era with new contracting methods, new funding and compliance rules and additional reporting requirements. This white paper summarizes key considerations for leveraging modern collaboration systems to get a jump start on delivering programs of all sizes quicker and more efficiently.
Inside:
• Current challenges
• Reasons digital delivery systems must be employed to handle the new problems
• Ways the industry is already gearing up in response
• Five steps to jump start success
Five Steps to Jump-Start Digital Delivery
These five planning steps are important components of effective planning to successfully leverage digital platforms in project delivery, and rapidly positions agencies who manage major projects.
1. Define core business processes first.
2. Lean on resources (in house or consultants) that have proven expertise integrating digital delivery platforms in transportation projects.
3. Choose tools that meet the most critical project needs and can be scaled up later.
4. Add key features over time.
5. Prepare for integration with your Common Data Environment.
Current Challenges
Every transportation agency has had to deal with unprecedented challenges during the past two years. COVID brought a historical national shutdown, accompanied by later complications, including extended labor pool shrinkage, demands to support remote workers, supply chain disruptions, cost increases and heightened employee stress. Combine this with common project deferrals and revenue loss, and it’s obvious that today’s needs are different from yesterday’s.
The IIJA attempts to redress some of the longstanding problems associated with an aging infrastructure. Passed on November 5, 2021, it includes $550 billion in new funding for roads, bridges, water infrastructure and more. Clocking in at about 3,000 pages, the bill apportions funding for a short five year window, ending December 31, 2026,1 during which these projects can be funded. Federal construction funding traditionally ramps up over the life of a project, and with funding vehicles yet to be determined, actual payments will gradually increase from $7.4 billion in 2022 up to $28.9 billion by 2026.2
Now that the IIJA has been approved, agencies will have to hit the ground running, drawing on specialized expertise in both transportation and digital delivery platforms. With an estimated backlog of about $2 trillion in traditional infrastructure projects3 , any agency that is not already equipped with key tools to set up and manage large projects will run the risk of losing funding before its work is complete.
Digital Delivery Approaches
Are No Longer Optional
The ability to quickly set up major projects will hinge on data systems underlying the planning, collaboration, communication, and construction efforts increasingly required in such projects. In the past, spreadsheets could serve as simple and affordable methods of managing data, but the scope, schedules and complexity demanded in this latest round of federal funding will quickly overwhelm the abilities of older tools. Simply repeating the methods used in past years may end in failure.
Agencies are simultaneously dealing with challenges not seen in a few generations: Pandemic related labor shortages, supply chain failures and reduced revenue have combined to load on additional stress, even for those organizations that are already well organized. To catch up and prepare for the coming wave of work, agencies will need to adopt a modern digital approach.
Major programs will have to continue leveraging the combined efforts of a wide variety of consultants, vendors and contractors particularly those with expertise at the intersection of transportation and digital delivery platforms all working together for success. Such programs require a central collaboration platform from which to pull a central truth. This platform may start small and simple, but to succeed, it must be able to scale up, expand functionality, support many kinds of users in their work and integrate with best practice tools. No vendor does everything the best and the leading suppliers of collaboration systems increasingly recognize that the right model allows for cross system data sharing in a way that is seamless to the end user.
From a simple cloud based file share up to a fully realized Digital Twin supporting operations and maintenance, these systems have become indispensable to the geographically dispersed teams that successfully produce today’s infrastructure programs. Only those systems built to support sophisticated and efficient collaboration and communication will be ready to handle the new challenges. Agencies will need to quickly add new users with enough permissions visibility and freedom of movement to get their work done while retaining the safety and security of underlying systems.
Fortunately, the software vendor community is well aware of this need and is paving the way for easier adoption. HNTB works with many software industry leaders and has conducted interviews with several of them to discover how the industry is adjusting to the expected future challenges impelled by the Infrastructure Act.
1 https://ilsr.org/a community guide to federal funding opportunities for broadband/
2 https://www.enr.com/articles/52456 study senate infrastructure bills highway transit increases boost gdp jobs
3 https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/09/15/infrastructure
time to rethink shovel ready/?sh=3dc70e0a1681
Industry Gearing Up to Help with Robust Integration of Tools
Digital delivery systems should be able to collect data and records from the very earliest stages of a project, supporting collaboration from small to large teams comprised of agencies, consultants, vendors and contractors. Typical features include document management, virtual chat, workflow automation, design support, cost/finance management, schedule management, reports/dashboards, field support and design support.
The interviews HNTB conducted revealed primary capabilities from four providers:
Trimble
Trimble knows that many organizations will be struggling to discover the best way to accelerate their ability to start up their projects. The company’s new framework of “get started” packages can establish a small core of functionality as a starter program, which then can be scaled out as projects mature. These packages typically include funding management, project intake, budget management and design reviews. This includes project planning through operations and maintenance that make up what Trimble has termed the "Owner Cloud", including enterprise class solutions for a common data environment, capital program management and asset and facilities management.
Trimble, like other leading collaboration vendors, is espousing the Digital Twin concept as a way for agencies to begin “with the end in mind.” By integrating GIS, BIM and other platforms from the very earliest stages, a Digital Twins common data environment serves as a cohesive virtual model of the project and provides a reliable knowledge resource throughout all project stages. This includes project planning through operations and maintenance.
Trimble is enhancing these features to help agencies realize solid cost savings, less rework, and fewer surprises:
Cost tracking against building information models (BIM)
Real time push notifications to enable conversations
Retooled and improved search to provide accurate results, regardless of file name or storage location Elevated security measures, such as FedRAMP, to better protect today’s remotely distributed workforce
Greater support for e construction
Greater ability to share data with other best of breed tools
Improved ability to note field conditions and enhanced mobile phone features4
Kahua
Kahua has witnessed the problems of small to mid size agencies missing the benefits of a central collaboration platform and trying to do too much with manual tools resulting in lots of rework, misplaced billing and other problems. Like Trimble, Kahua is providing value in a digital delivery platform to help effectively manage new projects and programs. While the company’s approach typically has been geared towards enabling rapid development of new features in response to new demands, it knows there will be an exponentially faster pace to project setup. So, Kahua has created new packaged service options for rapid startup, with new levels of platform services available. Organizations can be up and running in 30 60 days and continue to scale up as projects progress.
In addition, the company encourages subscribers to take advantage of new tools being developed by its user/partner community. These tools, which leverage Kahua’s low code/no code platform, are geared toward quickly responding to new contracting methods coming with the Infrastructure Act.
Also recognizing the benefits of integrating with best of breed external tools, Kahua has enhanced the data volume that can be transported by its system, connecting to ERPs, GIS environments, asset management systems, BIM, Bluebeam and DocuSign.5
PMWeb
PMWeb is emphasizing its cost management features, focusing on the new reporting requirements that will inevitably accompany the new funding. The company knows it will be important to track all revenue contracts for income received for delivering the new projects.
Its platform promises to provide a quickly established solution with existing features for managing, monitoring and evaluating fund allocations, including easily configured reports and forms to share the information.
Microsoft
For those agencies requiring faster app innovation, optimizing infrastructure costs and enhancing security posture, Microsoft is continually investing in Azure, which can allow subscribers to begin with a small, core set of functionalities, and expand storage
4 Interview with Trimble (Matt Sprague, Matt Watts, Joe Cartin, Doug Reichard) 09/30/2021
5 Interview with Kahua (Darin Stinson, Nicholas Johnson, Brian Moore, Rob Heusel) 09/29/2021
and features as programs progress. In the past year, Microsoft has increased their program and product investments in Azure their Cloud platform.6
Power BI, Microsoft’s go to solution for improved analytics and business intelligence, is also receiving continual updates to improve user experience, seamless integration across Microsoft solutions, and increased data security, which will help meet the need of agencies wishing to corral their growing program information into intuitive dashboards and robust self service analytics.7
At HNTB, our digital innovation teams, alongside our program management/construction management professionals, have readied a ‘QuickStart’ approach to rapidly collect program requirements and recommend the toolset that best meets client needs. In many cases, this is followed by the establishment of a responsive set of integrated tools to provide the most effective digital delivery approach for any critical infrastructure program.
Five Steps to Success
Many agencies have already discovered that digital delivery systems cut down on rework and program costs from inaccurate or insufficient information; and are now at work to further modernize their existing systems to prepare for new challenges and an uncertain future.
Innovative digital delivery systems are just as likely to integrate with external tools as provide a “one stop shop,” recognizing that no vendor does everything perfectly and that it makes sense to integrate with ‘best of breed’ solutions. As mentioned earlier, many industry leaders, such as Trimble, Kahua and PMWeb, will allow an agency to start with a few core modules and either integrate with other tools going forward or add more modules as their programs scale up.
As flexible as these systems are, effective planning still needs to happen before the contract is inked and the system configured. It is quite possible to make a design decision that boxes an agency into a corner as the program scales, prompting the need to move to a different platform. However, agencies can avoid these issues with the aid of experienced staff or consultants and a little forethought, including these five steps:
Success Stories
Link21
BART’s Link21 program launched with a quick start SharePoint site within 18 days from initial request. Strategic automation, added later, included change order automation, which cut the original change order process from two to three weeks down to one day.
Illinois Tollway
When the Illinois Tollway needed a quick and decisive response for a bridge beam demolition failure in the field, HNTB developed and launched a new process within 48 hours. Electronic processes on the program saved $2.5 million annually, and notice to proceed processing time was cut in half.
1. Get your business process house in order. It doesn’t help to automate chaos. Have core business processes defined, if not mature. Create a document control team and establish standards for records management.
2. Lean on someone that has done this before and can wisely aid in a quick start. HNTB has successfully aided agencies for 20 years in the requirement analysis of their needs, performing market scans and recommending solutions, supporting procurement and either building or configuring the resulting solution to whatever extent was requested.
3. Get an initial document sharing core tool set up at a minimum. Remember that the simpler the tool, the more hands on work must happen, so have a team ready to organize and categorize incoming documents of all kinds. Choose a tool that fits your way of doing business. If you prefer an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) approach, try to select one that will not shoehorn you into a lifetime of vendor lock in. If you need to start small and scale up, choose a platform to which you can add features later through new modules, integration with other tools or custom development. Many leading vendors are providing quick start packages that can be scaled up later.
4. When you are ready, add automated workflows, dashboards/reporting and digital signatures in a phased implementation.
5. Remember to set the stage for some integration with your Common Data Environment (GIS and BIM), usually requiring a light connection at the very earliest stages of a program but growing over time.
No matter which platform you choose, do not ignore the fact that systems must be supported even the smaller ones. Too many systems that successfully began life as robust digital platforms failed later when the agency cut the support team and minimized investment in end user training.
Conclusion
The IIJA brings historical opportunities and challenges to DOTs and other public agencies. Those who have established adept, digital project delivery platforms that can handle all project phases will experience less rework and to be more ready to take on the task of delivering a new generation of capital programs.
Author Linda RolfesSenior Technology Project Manager and Associate Vice President (512) 691 2298; lrolfes@hntb.com
Gay Knipper
Senior Program Manager, Advisory Services Operations and Senior Vice President (504) 872 3025; gknipper@HNTB.com
HNTB Corporation is an employee owned infrastructure solutions firm serving public and private owners and contractors. With more than a century of service, HNTB understands the life cycle of infrastructure and addresses clients’ most complex technical, financial and operational challenges. Professionals nationwide deliver a full range of infrastructure related services, including award winning planning, design, program management and construction management. For more information, visit www.hntb.com.
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