Study Investigates Lock Project Costs, Delays, Solutions

Waterways Council Inc. (WCI) released a study January 14 focused on examining why the costs of lock and dam projects in the United States have escalated while timelines for completion slip.

Titled “Recommendations for Improving the Delivery of Inland Waterway Capital Projects,” the study was completed for WCI by HDR Inc. It focuses specially on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects on the nation’s inland waterways.

The study included interviews with Corps customers and others to obtain perspectives on improving project delivery. HDR also conducted background research and broader analyses of the challenges associated with delivering large-scale infrastructure projects on time and within the established budget.

WCI noted that lock and dam infrastructure has been slow to modernize over the past 40 years, with only 10 projects to modernize or expand locks on the inland system completed since 1987.

“Seven of those projects were started and finished between 1987 and 1997 with an average cost overrun of 33 percent,” WCI said in announcing the study results. “For many years, inadequate or uncertain annual funding was cited as the primary cause of cost overruns and schedule delays, but what has become clear since the infusion of $2.9 billion from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill is that project execution challenges extend beyond funding.”

Among its findings, HDR recommended treating inland navigation infrastructure projects as a system instead of a series of individual projects. That system should be managed holistically, HDR said, ensuring consistency with the Capital Investment Strategy (CIS). The CIS is a 20-year plan developed by the Corps in coordination with the Inland Waterways Users Board to prioritize funding for lock, dam and waterways infrastructure upgrades, focusing on reliability and efficiency. Additionally, HDR said it was important to effectively apply lessons learned across projects as challenges at one project can, and very often do, impact other projects within a portfolio.

Other recommendations include: systematically applying programmatic funding; creating a centralized program management office at Corps headquarters for inland waterways construction; improving cost estimating and value engineering; using standard designs for locks and dams, where possible; expanding site investigation efforts; utilizing 3D modeling and conducting constructability reviews; and centralizing competencies and deepening the Corps’ knowledge base.

Most of the study’s findings that the Corps of Engineers could implement require support and approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), WCI noted. The findings also spotlight the consequences of OMB’s interpretation of Executive Order 12322, a Reagan-era executive order, and how OMB limits access to continuing contracts and alternative delivery methods. WCI contends that continuing contracts and alternative delivery methods would provide considerable opportunity to improve execution and reduce risk.

Key recommendations from the HDR study to follow the CIS and take a systemic approach with programmatic funding also require OMB participation, WCI noted.

“WCI is pleased with the depth and clarity provided in HDR’s study recommendations,” WCI President and CEO Tracy Zea said. “The analysis underscores the complex challenges facing lock and dam project delivery and highlights the importance of collaboration and alignment among the Corps, industry, Congress and the administration. WCI will continue to support and implement workable solutions that improve project execution and reliability of our nation’s critically important inland waterways system.”

More information is available at WCI’s website, www.waterwayscouncil.org.