A new study shows the design-build delivery method saved almost half the time as traditional delivery methods in completing water and wastewater projects. The study, sponsored by the Water Design-Build Council, is one of the first to compare the design-build delivery method to design-bid-build in the water sector, says Sarah Chittenden, executive director of the council.
A team of researchers from the University of New Mexico, University of Colorado at Boulder and Iowa State University collected data on 100 public water and wastewater projects completed since January 2003, each with total project costs of at least $3 million. Thirty-one of the projects were design-build, and 69 were design-bid-build.