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Road Construction & Management

The private sector has long been used to undertake road construction and minor repairs. However, over recent decades, there has been some experimentation with new contracting models, which transfer some of the risk for maintaining the quality of the road surface to private companies.

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Procurement of the M25 Private Finance Contract (Web Page)
National Audit Office (NAO), 2010

This report finds that the Highways Agency's PFI contract to widen the M25 could have been better value for money.

UK


Roads to Recovery: Reducing Congestion through Shared Ownership (PDF)
Mulheirn, Ian and Furness, David, 2010
Social Market Foundation

This report proposes a new model for introducing road-user charging by reforming the collective ownership of trunk roads and motorways through issue of tradeable shares to all citizens.



UK


Improving the Strategic Roads Network - The M1/Westlink and M2 Improvement Schemes (PDF)
Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO), 2009

This report examines the procurement of motorway construction and improvement in Northern Ireland. In particular it examines the choice of PPP over traditional procurement, the project management arrangements and the funding arrangements.

UK


Noteworthy PPPs in 2009 (PDF)
Gilroy, Leonard, 2009
Reason
A review of "noteworthy public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects that have advanced in 2009."

UK


Maintaining the State Road Network (PDF)
Western Australian Auditor General, 2009
Office of the Auditor General

This report looks back on ten years of contracting road maintenance in WA. The expected results of this unprecedented step have not been realised. This report explains why: major capital projects are complex, demanding focus in the long term. It provides a series of lessons for the next round of contracts.



Australia


Privately Financed Roads in Britain: A Policy Assessment
Bain, Robert, 2009

A comprehensive study of the performance of the UK Private Finance Initiative as applied to the roads sector. It explores project risk, both in construction and then traffic, and examines the economic and financial performance.


ISBN 978-0-9561527-0-1
UK


Towards better transport: Funding new infrastructure with future road pricing revenue (PDF)
Wellings, Richard; Libson, Briar; Hartwich, Oliver Marc (ed.), 2008
Policy Exchange
Starting from the premise that transport infrastructure in the UK is highly deficient and urgently in need of renewal and expansion, and that there are insufficient funds available from the Treasury, this report examines one possible solution to financing transport development by combining road pricing, the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and solid institutional and fiscal frameworks.



UK


Highway Public-Private Partnerships: More Rigorous Up-front Analysis Could Better Secure Potential Benefits and Protect the Public Interest (PDF)
Government Accountability Office, 2008

An examination of the costs and benefits of using PPPs to build roads and the role of local and federal government in overseeing this. Evidence from Australia, Canada and Spain is also reviewed.

USA


Building New Roads through Public-Private Partnerships: Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
Gilroy, Leonard C; Poole, Robert W;Samuel, Peter and Segal, Geoffrey, 2007
Reason Foundation
A briefing on the use of PPP's to design, finance, operate and maintain new roads.

USA


Performance-Based Contracting for Preservation and Improvement of Road Assets (PDF)
Worldbank, Transport and Urban Development, 2006

A case study of the used of performance-based contracting in Australia.

USA


Highways Agency: Maintaining England's Motorways and Trunk Roads (PDF)
National Audit Office (NAO), 2003
The Stationery Office
A report that examines the maintenance of motorways and truck roads in England by the Highways Agency.
HC 431
UK


Contracting for Road and Highway Maintenance (PDF)
Segal, Geoffrey F.; Moore, Adrian T. and McCarthy, Samuel , 2003
How-to-Guide No.21, Reason Foundation
A report on the lessons learned and best practice achieved by city, county and state governments in outsourcing road maintenance so as to reduce costs and improve quality. 

USA


Public Private Partnerships in Toll Roads in PRC (PDF)
Wood, W.G., 2002
Paper prepared for the PPIAF/ADB Conference on Infrastructure Development - Private Solutions for the Poor: The Asian Perspective, Manila, 28-30 October
A report looking at the legal and financial background for private sector investment in toll roads in the eastern provinces of the People's Republic of China and the implications for the poor.

Philippines


A New Approach to Private Roads (PDF)
Engel, Eduardo; Fischer, Ronald and Galetovic, Alexander, 2002
The Cato Review of Business and Government 25 (3), Fall
A report arguing that states can attract more effective private interest in highways, through the use of an innovative method for awarding franchise rights.

USA


Road Infrastructure Concession Practice in Europe (PDF)
Fayard, Alain and Bousquet, Franck, 2001
World Bank Working Paper
A study comparing and contrasting road infrastructure concession practices in Europe. Chief among the main differences highlighted by the document are the degree of risk sharing between the authority and the private sector, toll setting formulas; and concession company selection criteria.
WPS2675
International


An Organizational Analysis of the Public-Private Partnership in the Provision of Public Infrastructure
Daniels, Ronald J. & Trebilcock, Michael , 2000
Pauline Vaillancourt Rosenau (ed), Public-Private Policy Partnerships, Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press
Brief case studies on the 407 Express Route in Ontario, Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and Toronto's Pearson International Airport

Canada


Transportation: Policy-Level Partnerships and Project-Based Partnerships
Dunn, James A. Jr , 2000
Pauline Vaillancourt Rosenau (ed), Public-Private Policy Partnerships, Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, 2000
A study of the impact of public-private partnerships in the development of transport infrastructure. The author describes some scenarios in which such policies have been undertaken and analyses their outcomes.

Canada


Highways Agency: Getting Best Value from the Disposal of Property (PDF)
National Audit Office (NAO), 1999
The Stationery Office
A report that examines whether the Highways Agency has achieved best value from disposals of property acquired for planned road schemes.
HC 58
UK


Road Construction in Victoria: Major Projects Managed by VicRoads (Web Page)
Victorian Auditor General's Office, 1999

A summary of the results extracted from a performance audit which examined the manner in which Victoria's key road authority, VicRoads, managed major road construction projects within its jurisdiction. The report concludes that road construction projects are managed appropriately by the authority through the commitment to guarantee that roads of an acceptable quality are constructed efficiently and the State's interests in contractual arrangements are adequately protected.

Australia


Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW: Planning for Road Maintenance (PDF)
Auditor General, NSW, 1999
Auditor General, NSW Report No.69, 1999-2000
A report that endorses decider/provider split and greater use of competition.

Australia


The Private Finance Initiative: The Contract to Complete and Operate the A74(M)/M74 in Scotland (Report) (Web Page)
National Audit Office, 1999
The Stationery Office
A report that examines methods of enhancing the effectiveness of PPP projects in road construction through maintaining competitive tension in the procurement process, inviting an independent contractor to participate in the development of the public sector comparator, and adopting a value engineering approach in the assessment of the most economical public sector alternative.
HC 356
UK


The Private Finance Initiative: The First Four Design, Build, Finance and Operate Roads Contracts (Web Page)
House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 1998
The Stationery Office
A report assessing the overall procurement, value for money and contract management of these initial road contracts.
HC 580
UK


The Private Finance Initiative: The First Four Design, Build, Finance and Operate Roads Contracts
National Audit Office (NAO), 1998
The Stationery Office
A report on the value for money of the first four PFI roads contracts in the UK.
ISBN: 0102847983
UK


Road Maintenance by Contract: What Are the Risks and Benefits?
Austroads Inc. & ARRB Transport Research Ltd, 1998
Proceedings of the Austroads Workshops held throughout Australia and New Zealand
A summary of the findings of workshops conducted to report on the various approaches to Maintenance By Contract and their advantages and disadvantages.

Australia / New Zealand


The Skye Bridge (Recommendations only) (Web Page)
National Audit Office, 1997
The Stationery Office
A report assessing the PFI project to build a bridge connecting mainland Scotland with the Isle of Sky and the operation of a toll charge by the private sector investors. The report provides some useful recommendations for future privately financed projects such as the need for departments to carry out, and document, a comprehensive analysis of all important risks to the project, showing which party or parties will bear them.
HC 5
UK


A Case Study on the First Eight DBFO Road Contracts and their Development (Web Page)
Private Finance Panel Executive and Highways Agency, 1996
Office of Government Commerce, Department of Transport
Study that concludes that DBFO contracts have accelerated the introduction of cost efficiencies, innovative techniques and whole-life cost analysis into the design and construction of road schemes and the operation of roads.     

UK


Measured Partnering: The Only Way to Know Whether you are Succeeding
M41 Case Study Project No. 20, 2000
Constructing Excellence
Constructing Excellence aims to deliver improved industry performance resulting in a demonstrably better built environment. This case study provides guidelines on performance-measurement in partnerships in this sector.

UK


Highways Agency: The Bridge Programme
National Audit Office (NAO), 1996

A NAO report evaluating he Highways Agency's management of the £2.2 billion, fifteen year bridge programme. The report highlights the need to improve the use of performance indicators to determine whether the bridge programme as a whole is being delivered to time, cost and quality as well as the necessity of monitor costs more closely min order to determine the reasons for significant differences.

UK


Revolutionising Road Maintenance: A Case Study
Dixon, Rebecca & Jensen, Paul, 1995
The Contracting Casebook, Domberger, Simon & Hall, Christine (eds), Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, pp.155-167
A case study on a pilot project which allowed comparison of public and private delivery of road maintenance on arterial roads around Sydney.

Australia


Private Participation in the Provision of Public Infrastructure: The Roads and Traffic Authority
Auditor General of New South Wales, 1994

An analysis of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and M4 & M5 tollways. Report to NSW Parliament.

Australia


Department of Transport: Environmental Factors in Road Planning and Design
National Audit Office (NAO), 1994

A report that examines the measures adopted in order to develop an effective transport system while achieving a balance between conservation and improvement of the environment.

UK


A Case Study in Competitive Tendering and its Implementation: Australia
Rimmer, S., 1991
Privatisation and Public Enterprise: The Asia-Pacific Experience, G. Gouri (ed), Asian and Pacific Development Centre and the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad, Chapter 22
An overview of the outcomes and lessons learned from the competitive tendering of road sealing, mechanical street sweeping and municipal tipping facilities in Glenorchy, a small Tasmanian city.

Australia


Last Updated: 06 October 2011