CONTENT EXPIRES: December 31, 2024

The I-270 North Design-Build Project is Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MODOT) largest project in the past decade. The project is reconstructing eight miles of Interstate 270 in St. Louis County. Within the project limits, soil contaminated with radioactive waste generated from the Manhattan Project presented a major environmental risk to the project scope and schedule. The I-270 North Design-Build Team partnered with US Army Corps of Engineers FUSRAP division (Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program), early in the development of the bridging documents to identify the soil contamination and establish parameters for construction activities within the contaminated areas. During procurement MoDOT developed a flexible RFP to allow proposing teams multiple pathways for its interactions with FUSRAP. Facilitated meetings between Design-Build Teams and FUSRAP built a partnering relationship between all entities, allowing teams to confidentially propose construction methods and schedules and ultimately reduce risk to the Design-Build Team’s project schedule and scope. The close collaboration between entities continues through construction and has resulted in thousands of cubic yards of contaminated soil being remediated, benefitting all partners and the community, without impacting the I-270 North Project schedule. 

Four Objectives  

1. Analyze opportunities with Public Entities to reduce risk for Design-Build Teams.  

2. Define best practices for introducing Design-Build Teams to potential environmental risks before and during procurement.  

3. Develop flexible contracting language to increase contractor engagement in project scope.  

4. Facilitate collaborative relationships between owners, teams, and external partners for project success