Bridge Design Consulting Fees

[BaneThomp]

Hi all,
I am looking at how to accurately price the design of a simple rural bridge. The bridge is a simply supported steel girder style bridge supported by reinforced concrete abutments with a reinforced concrete deck. I'm new to pricing full bridge designs and could use some help on general rules for pricing. If there are any good documents available which detail this process I'd appreciate the help.
Thanks

 

[oldestguy]

As written you have opened a can of worms. Question is too vague and likely you may not like all the comments

 

[bridgebuster]

There is not set price. The fee is what you negotiate with the client based upon the scope of work. As oldest guy points out your question is vague.

 

[ukbridge]

I agree with the guys above, but don't want to leave you empty handed. You might be able to glean some information from pricing books like Spons (if they even cover bridges), which will give you at least a sense of orders of magnitude. There's a good paper by Brian Duguid "Benching marking cost and value of landmark footbridges" which give some nice graphs of cost per metre vs longest span, albeit for bridges on the more expensive side.

 

[71corvette]

When it comes to estimating experience and judgement are a designers best tools.

That said, what is the estimated construction cost for replacing the bridge? If all else fails start with about 10% of construction as a total design fee (preliminary and final design). It's an old rule of thumb but it can get you in the ball park.

However, as others have pointed out, more information would be required to provide more meaningful guidance. For instance,what phases of design are included? What are the soils like? What type of reinforced concrete abutments? Will the beams be rolled shapes or plate girders? Is it a river or highway crossing? Are you also responsible for designing the roadway approaches? What about maintenance of traffic? The list goes on.

If you don't feel comfortable developing an estimate on your own I suggest gauging a more experienced designer. Based on your question you'll likely want to have this person engaged in the design of the project anyway to help guide you.

 

[civilperson]

Try $65/sq ft for first estimate and use Standard Plans from AASHTO and the DOT for details and examples. Any changes from these assumptions will require a higher fee.

 

[MichSt]

Make a detailed task list (part of your scope of work). Estimate hours for each task and apply rates. Add costs for services your firm does not provide (e.g. survey, geotech, traffic, etc.). Use 10% of construction cost, mentioned above, as a check. That said, if it's a local agency job that is selected by price, it will be a game of how low can you go.

 

[BaneThomp]

Thank you all for the responses. I took the general approach of "MichSt" and applied this to my pricing scheme a few weeks ago actually. Fingers are crossed the client likes the price. Thanks.

 

[CELinOttawa]

If this was your first go at the merry-go-round, I do hope you included some "goof" factors on your pricing.