Project bundling is a process through which a single contract is awarded for the continued development of multiple bridges or roadways, i.e., their preservation, rehabilitation, or replacement. One question that past studies on project bundling have not answered is that of how to quantify its benefits on engineering projects. This paper shows the extent to which project bundling enables optimal use of resources and promotes quicker project completion. It also explains how project bundling effectively leverages these efficiencies by simplifying project delivery and exploiting alternative and traditional contracting approaches. Indeed, because the process of bundling individual projects into larger “umbrella” contracts simplifies design, contracting, and construction, it enables organizations to leverage economies of scale for significantly increased efficiency. This process also encourages more partnering during project delivery, execution, and project completion. In addition to discussing the efficiency of bundling, this paper also identifies implementation strategies and scenarios for project bundling that can be applied by counties, municipalities, districts, or states. These implementation practices can also be layered to allow any combination of project types, beyond the combinations most common to current bundling contracts. Ultimately, this research shows that overall contract cost can be significantly reduced through carefully designed strategic project bundling.
