Appendix D to Subpart C of Part 170 - Cost To Construct


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  • Cost To Construct

    (Appendix D includes Tables 1-8 which BIA Division of Transportation developed based on internal IRR data and the negotiated rulemaking process.) This method utilizes the concepts of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' “Simplified Approach to Compute the Cost to Construct”. The concept has been modified to include computing costs for High Capacity Roads (multi-lane roads), non-road projects (snowmobile trails, boardwalks, footpaths, etc.) and other eligible transportation facility projects.

    The theory behind this concept is based on the procedure that information gathered during any inventory update can be used to compare the existing conditions to defined Adequate Standard Characteristics. This comparison can then be used to determine the total cost required to bring the transportation facility road up to a necessary Adequate Standard. The IRR Inventory database is used to determine the costs of a new transportation facility or in the case of an existing facility, the costs that will be necessary to improve the facility from it's existing condition to an adequate standard. Therefore, the Cost to Construct for a particular facility is the cost required to improve the facility's existing condition to a condition that would meet the Adequate Standard Characteristics (see Table 1). For roadways, the recommended design of the geometrics and surface type vary based on the road's functional classification and average daily traffic and will use four categories of cost. The four categories are Grade and Drain Costs, Aggregate Costs, Pavement Costs, and Incidental Costs. For bridges, costs are derived from costs in the National Bridge Inventory as well as the National Bridge Construction unit cost data developed by FHWA. For other transportation IRR transportation facilities, an inventory of needs must be developed with associated costs for new and existing IRR transportation facilities based on long range transportation planning. The BIA Regions and tribes must ensure the IRR Inventory is sufficiently updated to provide all the necessary information indicating the need, the condition and the construction cost data to compute the cost to construct of any proposed or existing facility.

    Basic Procedures

    The IRR Inventory, based on transportation planning must be developed for those tribes without data and updated for those tribes that have an existing IRR Inventory. Once the IRR Inventory database is current and all IRR transportation facilities needs are identified and verified, the Cost to Construct for those IRR transportation facilities can be developed.

    The procedure for determining the cost to construct of a proposed transportation facility is computed through the following step-by-step process:

    (a) Determine the Future ADT of the transportation facility as applicable, based upon tribal transportation planning or set default future ADT (see Table 2);

    (b) Determine the Class of transportation facility e.g., rural local, rural major collector, or other transportation facility, utilizing future ADT and based upon tribal transportation planning (see Table 1);

    (c) Identify, if appropriate, transportation facility terrain as flat, rolling, or mountainous;

    (d) Set Adequate Standard based on Class, and/or future ADT, and Terrain (see Table 1);

    (e) Identify the transportation facility's construction cost per unit (e.g., cost per mile, cost per linear foot) for the applicable components of construction: Aggregate, Paving, Grade/Drain, Incidental, or other costs associated with the transportation facility;

    (f) Multiply the construction cost per unit for each component of construction by the length of the proposed road or other appropriate unit of the transportation facility to determine the cost for each component of construction; and

    (g) Calculate the cost for the proposed road or transportation facility by adding together the costs for each component of construction.

    The procedure for determining the cost to reconstruct or rehabilitate an existing transportation facility is determined in the same manner as a proposed transportation facility, except that the existing condition of the project is evaluated to determine the remaining percentage of cost of each applicable component of construction that will be included in the cost for reconstruction. The steps are:

    (1) Evaluate existing condition of road or transportation facility in accordance with applicable management systems, guidelines or other requirements;

    (2) Identify the percentage of required cost for each component of applicable construction costs for the transportation facility by determining the Adequate Standards Characteristics (see Table 1) and existing condition of the transportation facility and by applying the applicable percent cost requirement tables for aggregate, paving, grade/drain, incidental, and bridge (see Tables 4-8);

    (3) Multiply the construction cost per unit for each component of construction by the corresponding percent of cost required (see Tables 4-8) and by the length of the road or other appropriate unit of the transportation facility to determine the reconstruction cost for each component; and

    (4) Calculate the reconstruction cost for the road or transportation facility by adding together the reconstruction costs for each component of construction.

    Average daily traffic (ADT) is acquired through actual traffic counts on the roadway sections. Where current ADT is practical to acquire, it should be acquired and future ADT calculated by projecting the current ADT at 2 percent per year for 20 years. If the road is proposed, the ADT impractical to acquire, or a current ADT does not exist, then BIA will assign a default current ADT and calculate future ADT by projecting the default current ADT at 2 percent per year for 20 years to form the basis of the Adequate Standard (see Table 1). Table 2 summarizes the default current and default future ADT by class of road.

    Functional Classification: Functional classification means an analysis of a specific transportation facility taking into account current and future traffic generators, and their relationship to connecting or adjacent BIA, state, county, Federal, and/or local roads and other intermodal facilities. Functional classification is used to delineate the difference between the various road and/or intermodal transportation facility standards eligible for funding under the IRR Program. As a part of the IRR Inventory system management, all IRR transportation facilities included on or added to the IRR Inventory must be classified according to the following functional classifications:

    (a) Class 1: Major arterial roads providing an integrated network with characteristics for serving traffic between large population centers, generally without stub connections and having average daily traffic volumes of 10,000 vehicles per day or more with more than two lanes of traffic.

    (b) Class 2: Rural minor arterial roads providing an integrated network having the characteristics for serving traffic between large population centers, generally without stub connections. May also link smaller towns and communities to major resort areas that attract travel over long distances and generally provide for relatively high overall travel speeds with minimum interference to through traffic movement. Generally provide for at least inter-county or inter-State service and are spaced at intervals consistent with population density. This class of road will have less than 10,000 vehicles per day.

    (c) Class 3: Streets that are located within communities serving residential areas.

    (d) Class 4: Rural Major Collector Road is a collector to rural local roads.

    (e) Class 5: Rural Local Road that is either a section line and/or stub type roads that collect traffic for arterial type roads, make connections within the grid of the IRR System. This class of road may serve areas around villages, into farming areas, to schools, tourist attractions, or various small enterprises. Also included are roads and motorized trails for administration of forest, grazing, mining, oil, recreation, or other use purposes.

    (f) Class 6: City Minor Arterial Streets that are located within communities, and serve as access to major arterials.

    (g) Class 7: City Collector Streets that are located within communities and serve as collectors to the city local streets.

    (h) Class 8: This classification encompasses all non-road projects such as paths, trails, walkways, or other designated types of routes for public use by foot traffic, bicycles, trail bikes, snowmobile, all terrain vehicles or other uses to provide for the general access of non-vehicular traffic.

    (i) Class 9: This classification encompasses other transportation facilities such as public parking facilities adjacent to IRR routes and scenic byways, rest areas, and other scenic pullouts, ferry boat terminals, and transit terminals.

    (j) Class 10: This classification encompasses airstrips that are within the boundaries of the IRR System grid and are open to the public. These airstrips are included for inventory and maintenance purposes only.

    (k) Class 11: This classification indicates an overlapping of a previously inventoried section or sections of a route and is used to indicate that it is not to be used for accumulating needs data. This class is used for reporting and identification purposes only.

    Construction Need: All existing and proposed transportation facilities in the IRR Inventory must have a Construction Need (CN) which is used in the Cost to Construct calculations. These transportation facilities are assigned a CN by the tribe during the long-range transportation planning and inventory update process using certain guidelines which are: Ownership or responsibility of the facility, whether it is within or provides access to reservations, groups, villages and communities in which the majority of the residents are Indian, and whether it is vital to the economic development of Indian tribes. As part of the IRR Inventory management, all facilities included on or added to the IRR Inventory must be designated a CN which are defined as follows:

    (a) Construction Need 0: Transportation facilities which have been improved to their acceptable standard or projects/facilities proposed to receive construction funds on an approved IRRTIP are not eligible for future inclusion in the calculation of the CTC portion of the formula for a period of 5 years thereafter.

    (b) Construction Need 1: Existing BIA roads needing improvement.

    (c) Construction Need 2: Construction need other than BIA roads needing improvement.

    (d) Construction Need 3: Substandard or other roads for which no improvements are planned, maintenance only.

    (e) Construction Need 4: Roads which do not currently exist and need to be constructed, proposed roads.

    ER19JY04.005

    Table 2—Default Current ADT and Default Future ADT

    Table 2 summarizes the default current and default future ADT by class of road. Default future ADT is calculated by projecting default current ADT at 2 percent per year for 20 years. 2 percent per year for 20 years yields a factor of 1.485.

    Table 2—Default Current ADT and Default Future ADTIRR Class No.Default current and default future ADT*1N/A, Must Exist2100 * 1.485 = 149325 * 1.485 = 37450 * 1.485 = 74550 * 1.485 = 74650 * 1.485 = 74750 * 1.485 = 74820 * 1.485 = 309N/A**10N/A**11N/A*** Default Future ADT is used for proposed roads or when impractical to acquire current ADT or when current ADT does not exist.** Class 9, 10, and 11 are point features in the inventory and do not have an ADT. All multiplication is rounded. Table 3—Future Surface Type

    Table 3 summarizes all possible scenarios of the future surface type either required or based on the various future ADT thresholds for each type or class of road in the inventory.

    Table 3—Future Surface TypeConst. needIRR class No.Future ADTFuture
  • surface type
  • 0,1,2,31AnyPaved0,1,2,32AnyPaved0,1,2,33,6,7<50
  • 50−250
  • >250
  • Earth
  • Gravel
  • Paved
  • 0,1,2,34,5<50
  • 50−250
  • >250
  • Earth
  • Gravel
  • Paved
  • 0,1,2,3,48N/AN/A*0,1,2,3,49N/AN/A**0,1,2,3,410N/AN/A***4***1N/A****N/A****42ANYPaved43,6,7<50
  • 50−250
  • >250
  • Earth
  • Gravel
  • Paved
  • 44<50
  • 50−250
  • >250
  • Earth
  • Gravel
  • Paved
  • 45<50
  • 50−250
  • >250
  • Earth
  • Gravel
  • Paved
  • * Class 8 does not have a future surface type. Per mile costs are applied independent of future surface type.** Class 9 does not have a future surface type. Costs are independent of future surface type.*** Class 10 does not have a future surface type. These are airstrips and is used for identification purposed only.**** Class 1 with Construction Need of 4 does not apply. Class 1 roads must exist. Table 4—Percent of Grade and Drain Cost Required

    Grade and Drain costs include the cost for constructing a roadbed to an adequate standard and providing adequate drainage. Specifically it includes the necessary earthwork to build the roadbed to the required horizontal and vertical geometric parameters above the surrounding terrain and provide for proper drainage away from the foundation with adequate cross drains.

    Table 4 summarizes the percentage of grade and drain costs required based on the existing roadbed condition observed in an inventory update.

    Table 4—Percent of Grade and Drain Cost RequiredCodeRoadbed conditionPercent grade and drain cost required
  • (Percent)
  • 0Proposed Road1001Primitive Trail1002Bladed Unimproved Earth Road, Poor Drainage, Poor Alignment1003Minimum Built-up Roadbed (Shallow cuts and fills) with inadequate drainage and alignment that generally follows existing ground1004A designed and constructed roadbed with some drainage and alignment improvements required1005A roadbed constructed to the adequate standards with good horizontal and vertical alignment and proper drainage06A roadbed constructed to adequate standards with curb and gutter on one side07A roadbed constructed to adequate standards with curb and gutter on both sides0
    Table 5—Percent of Aggregate Surface Cost Required

    Table 5 summarizes the percentage of aggregate surface costs required based on all possible scenarios of existing surface type conditions and calculated future surface type.

    Table 5—Percent of Aggregate Surface Cost RequiredExisting surface typeFuture surface typePaved
  • (percent)
  • Gravel
  • (percent)
  • Earth
  • (percent)
  • Proposed1001000.Primitive1001000.Earth1001000.Gravel100*1000.Bituminous <2″10000.Bituminous >2″0 or 10000.Concrete0 or 10000.*If the Surface Condition Index (SCI) is 40 or less indicating that reconstruction will be required, then 100 percent of the aggregate cost will be required. If greater than 40, then none of the aggregate cost will be applied.
    Table 6—Percent of Pavement Surface Cost Required

    Table 6 Summarizes the percentage of pavement surface costs for existing conditions required based on all possible scenarios of existing surface type conditions and calculated future surface type. Pavement overlays are calculated at 100 percent of the pavement costs.

    Table 6—Percent of Pavement Surface Cost RequiredExisting surface typeFuture surface typePaved
  • (percent)
  • Gravel
  • (percent)
  • Earth
  • (percent)
  • Proposed1001000.Primitive1001000.Earth1001000.Gravel1001000.Bituminous <2″10000.Bituminous >2″*0 or 10000.Concrete*0 or 10000.*If the Surface Condition Index (SCI) is 60 or less indicating that reconstruction will be required, then 100 percent of the aggregate cost will be required. If greater than 60, then none of the aggregate cost will be applied.
    Table 7—Percent of Incidental Construction Cost Required

    Incidental cost items are generally required if a project includes construction or reconstruction of the roadbed. Some incidental items are included in all road improvement projects, while others are only required for specific projects. Table 7 summarizes the incidental construction determination estimating procedure for each of the Roadbed Category Codes. As shown in Table 4, roadbed condition codes 0 through 2 will require 65 percent of the incidental costs for construction because they generally will not require maintenance of traffic during construction. If maintenance of traffic is required as will generally be the case for roadbed condition codes 3 and 4, the minimum percentage of incidental costs for these roadbed condition codes will be 75 percent. It is assumed that improvement roadbed condition codes 5, 6 and 7 will primarily be paving projects with little or no earthwork involved and the minimum percentage of the total incidental construction cost for these projects will be 30 percent.

    Table 7—Percent of Incidental Construction Cost RequiredCodeRoadbed conditionNew alignment
  • (percent)
  • Maintenance of traffic required
  • (percent)
  • 0Proposed road65N/A1Primitive trail65N/A2Bladed unimproved earth road, poor drainage, poor alignment65N/A3Minimum built-up roadbed (shallow cuts and fills) with inadequate drainage and alignment that generally follows existing groundN/A754A designed and constructed roadbed with some drainage and alignment improvements requiredN/A755A roadbed constructed to the adequate standards with good horizontal and vertical alignment and proper drainage. Requiring surfacingN/A306A roadbed constructed to adequate standards with curb and gutter on one side. Requiring surfacingN/A307A roadbed constructed to adequate standards with curb and gutter on both sides. Requiring surfacingN/A30

    Table 7 only accounts for those incidental construction costs normally found on a typical project. The construction items found in Table 8 may or may not be on any particular project and the cost of these items is 25 percent. Add the percentage required (from 0 to 25 percent) based on the Regional recommendation with verification. If there are no additional items required, use the default of zero.

    Table 8—Percent of Additional Incidental Construction CostAdditional incidental construction itemPercent of total incidental construction costFencing1Landscaping9Structural concrete9Traffic signals3Utilities3