Pete Rahn is no stranger to design-build transportation projects. He played a key role in instigating Missouri’s design-build “Safe and Sound” program, which resulted in more than 800 bridges fixed or replaced in five years. Before that, in 2006, the former Missouri Dept. of Transportation chief encouraged contractors to use innovation, regardless of state codes, in bidding for a $535-million reconstruction of a 10.5-mile-long segment of Interstate 64 in St. Louis.
Both projects were successful, but Rahn thinks design-build (DB) can go even further as a project-delivery tool. “I’m of the opinion that DOTs—and almost everyone else—have not taken full advantage of the opportunities that it actually allows,” says Rahn, now Maryland’s transportation secretary. He hopes to change that this month, when requests for proposals go out for improvements to I-270.