Project Description:
The Central Avenue Value Engineering project investigates whether alternative construction approaches can offer advantages in terms of cost, time, safety, and public impact compared to an already executed major infrastructure project in Baltimore, Maryland. Allan Myers, the general contractor on the design-build project, was required by the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to maintain traffic flow by keeping one lane open in each direction throughout all stages of construction. This constraint led to a construction plan being executed in six distinct phases. Working alongside our mentors, we set out to analyze the effects of completing construction in fewer phases, focusing on the intersection of Fleet Street and Central Avenue. We proposed a full closure, a two-phase approach, and a three-phase approach, and quantified the impacts of each on affected stakeholders. Ultimately, we identified the trade-offs between prolonged minor disruptions and shorter, more intensive construction work in dense urban environments in which our findings can be applied to other major infrastructure projects facing similar constraints.
