Unique Aspects of Flexible Pavement Design and Asset Management for P3 Design-Build-Finance-Operate Projects

Abstract

With increasing frequency, roadway corridor development and improvement projects are being procured through Design-Build-Finance-Operate (DBFO) Public Private Partnerships (P3s). In these procurement environments the nature of the pavement design and engineering requirements change in several significant ways compared with the traditional Design-Bid-Build (DBB) in that the consequence of poor pavement performance (risk) in most aspects is transferred from the owner to the DBFO partners: designer, constructor and operator/concessionaire. A performance-based design approach is required which is founded on the principle that the design and construction of an asset is completed to achieve a set of prescribed performance results. This paper discusses the design and pavement management process for DBFO P3 flexible pavements and presents a case study of a project highlighting a particularly complex distribution-based roadway condition performance specification.