Question: Application: Design-Build
Floods, storms, landslides, earthquakes, and many other types of natural disasters can leave an affected area without the ability to evacuate or to receive needed provisions. For example, transportation was severely limited on the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina due to the destruction of major highways and bridges. Several communities became "islands" due to the destruction of these bridges. Because people could not leave or receive needed materials and goods, a different approach was applied to re-building the highways and bridges there.
Design/Build was the process used, and this provided for the quick rebuilding of three major bridges. This process contrasts with Design/Bid/Build and combines the design, permit, and construction into one overlapping process. Design/Build involves hiring the same designer/contractor to oversee a project's design, bid, and construction. This process was so successful in Mississippi that the first bridge built, the St. Louis Bay Bridge, won an America Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Transportation Award in 2007. Might this same process be applied to disaster recovery when re-establishing communication, business and industry, housing, and human services?