Review of Decision-Making Tools for Accelerated Bridge Construction in the United States

Abstract

Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) projects in the United States (U.S.) have consistently demonstrated the significant advantages of prefabrication over conventional construction methods. Since the early 2010s, the adoption of ABC has expanded steadily, with projects achieving substantial reductions in construction duration while concurrently mitigating traffic disruptions. Screening-level evaluation and decision-making tools for selecting between ABC and conventional construction methods emerged in the U.S. in the mid-2000s. These tools, together with cost-estimation tools developed to support them, have continued to evolve. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review examining the evolution of screening-level evaluation, decision-making, and cost-estimation tools for ABC projects in the U.S. The review indicates that existing qualitative and quantitative evaluation and decision-making approaches remain practically useful for the selection of ABC methods but exhibit limited methodological robustness when applied to support decisions across a broad range of influencing factors. However, hybrid approaches based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) represent an important advancement toward more structured Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM). In particular, AHP hybrid models constitute a significant progression beyond traditional AHP by mitigating several of its inherent limitations. The review also highlights that early cost-estimation approaches incorporated within evaluation and decision-making frameworks primarily focused on short-term construction costs and road user costs associated with the construction phase. However, with sustainability becoming a principal objective of modern infrastructure management, Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) estimation should comprehensively incorporate long-term Maintenance and Rehabilitation (M&R) expenditures throughout the entire service life of bridge infrastructure. Furthermore, the review highlights the need for improved screening-level MCDM tools capable of strengthening the identification and selection of preferred ABC alternatives during the earliest stages of project development while enhancing their long-term sustainability.