Concurrent engineering: Large time savings through Concurrent Engineering applied to transport infrastructure design and Works: lessons from theory and practice.

Concurrent Engineering is used for years in space, aviation, car manufacturing sectors; the heavy time constrains for transport infrastructure design and construction justified a technology transfer. This has been done both by a detailed benchmarking exercise on the methodology and has also been successfully implemented on a large project. The recourse to concurrent engineering allowed the Engineering and Design Department ALISEE (BOUYGUES / SCETAUROUTE) to carry out in only 19 months the phase of design and development of the motorway A28 Rouen / Alencon (120 km; West of France), that is about half a traditional time. With concurrent engineering, the design, the consultation and the definition of the methods of construction are carried out simultaneously and not in a sequential way. The definite alignment of the motorway is worked out gradually while integrating, progressively, all the elements coming from these three sources. Part of the challenge lies in a permanent integration of the modifications, which requires the most extreme rigour. That also supposes the installation of a common information system where each actor has access to the updated project. This system generates an extra work for the whole of the project team, since it results in adapting the project uninterrupted as new constraints appear. But this investment proves to be very profitable because of the time saved (A). For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD E212343.