The design-build contractor for the $465-million Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center—which includes a 767,000-sq-ft replacement of Cleveland's underground convention center—says it is on course to complete its $355-million contract on budget and two months ahead of its scheduled Sept. 15, 2013, completion. The expected early finish is made possible, in part, by the use of a hybrid delivery system that merges bridging design-build with early participation of the design-build contractor and its major subcontractors in a design-assist mode.
The team also credits collaborative building information modeling (BIM) and other high-tech field tools for helping to speed the 1-million-sq-ft project and keep costs in line. "Had this project been undertaken 20 years ago, it would have resulted in a cost-overrun nightmare," says John Dewine, a vice president for the design-build contractor—the local office of Turner Construction Co.