This document details the steps followed by the research team in the development of NCHRP Report 574, "Guidance for Cost Estimation and Management for Highway Projects during Planning, Programming, and Preconstruction." NCHRP Report 574 will examine highway cost estimation practice and cost estimation management with the goal of helping achieve greater consistency and accuracy between planning, programming and preliminary design, and final design. The Guidebook will explore strategies, methods, and tools to develop, track, and document realistic cost estimates during each phase of the process.

This procedures guide presents practical and effective approaches for developing right-of-way (ROW) cost estimates and for then tracking and managing ROW cost during all phases of project development, including planning, programming, and preliminary and final design. It is a resource for managers, practitioners, and decision makers interested in developing and managing realistic and accurate estimates of ROW cost from the earliest ROW cost estimate made during planning through to the management of ROW acquisition cost during final design.

This guidebook provides guidance to state departments of transportation for using specific, practical, and risk-related management practices and analysis tools for managing and controlling transportation project costs. Containing a toolbox for agencies to use in selecting the appropriate strategies, methods and tools to apply in meeting their cost-estimation and cost-control objectives, this guidebook should be of immediate use to practitioners that are accountable for the accuracy and reliability of cost estimates during planning, priority programming and preconstruction.

'TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 574: Guidance for Cost Estimation and Management for Highway Projects During Planning, Programming, and Preconstruction explores approaches to cost estimation and management designed to overcome the root causes of cost escalation and to support the development of consistent and accurate project estimates through all phases of the development process, from long-range planning, through priority programming, and through project design. NCHRP Web-Only Document 98 details the steps followed by the research team in the development of NCHRP Report 574"--Publisher's description.