Design Bulletins

2024-1. February 21, 2024. The purpose of this Bulletin is to provide information and instruction regarding revisions to Standard Specifications 101.02 and 106.11. Changes to the specifications were made to comply with the supplemental guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C. as contained in Memorandum M-24-02 released October 25, 2023, and based on the Notification of Final Guidance/Final Rule as published in the Code of Federal Regulations on August 23, 2023. Three revised specifications were issued as Standard Special Provisions (SSPs) on January 8, 2024 and should be applied to projects with a Construction Phase Federal Funding Authorization Date that occurred on or after October 23, 2023. Projects currently under ad or that have already been opened/awarded and that meet the criteria outlined herein should pursue a Revision Under Ad or a Contract Modification Order (CMO), respectively, to ensure the appropriate specification is included in the project. This would similarly apply to any Local Agency projects meeting the same criteria.

2023-3. September 22, 2023. Instructions on how to improve the Revisions under Advertisement process and reduce the potential for issuing multiple revisions. All revision packages are now required to be first submitted to the Repro Unit for a quality control review. The updated Section 2 of the Project Development Manual, coming soon, will include this and additional details about the Revisions under Advertisement process.

2023-2. August 16, 2023. The new Section 1 of the Project Development Manual (PDM) is now available for use. Please note that individual Design Bulletins will not be posted with the release of each new PDM section. Instead, updates regarding new sections made available will primarily be communicated through the Area Engineer's newsletter.

2023-1. June 27, 2023. Several electrical utility companies and CDOT Regions are now requiring that traffic signal projects include electrical one-line diagrams. Since most traffic signals have similar electrical power needs, CDOT has developed typical electrical one-line diagrams. The S-613-4 construction standards are intended to be applied at each intersection by the Engineer, for the specific power available at the site.

2022-2. February 17, 2022. The Engineering Estimates and Market Analysis (EEMA) Branch is implementing a new process to request Engineering Estimates for projects.

2022-1. February 8, 2022. The purpose of this Design Bulletin is to provide guidance for the use of the Utility Conflict Matrix (UCM) for the identification of utility conflicts with new roadway design features. UCMs are designed to help CDOT and utility companies identify the best and most cost-effective solutions. The UCM is designed to be scalable and support a range of project sizes and conditions, in varying levels of project design.

2021-3. December 1, 2021. As of September 1, 2021, projects will follow the revamped Systems Engineering Analysis (SEA) process. The SEA will no longer be a part of the Operations Evaluation. This revamped SEA requirements and individual processes are explained in the new section 4.13 of the Project Development Manual.

2021-2. December 1, 2021. On January 1, 2016 all projects with a Design Scoping Review on or after February 1, 2016 required a Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSM&O) Evaluation. A new name, "Operations Evaluation", was issued when the Operations Evaluation Web Tool went live on January 21st, 2021.

2021-1. March 22, 2021. The purpose of this Design Bulletin is to outline changes to the Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) Templates based on the February 1, 2021 permit modification.

2020-6. August 10, 2020. The purpose of this Bulletin is to inform CDOT project personnel that the Construction Management (CM) Staffing Tool is available for use to estimate internal and consultant construction project staffing needs.

2020-5. July 24, 2020. Construction projects may include an extended landscape establishment period to ensure the successful establishment of revegetation, environmental mitigations, plantings, and seeding.  Successful landscape establishment is required to close permits.  The purpose of this Design Bulletin is is to provide information concerning two new options for completing landscape/vegetation re-establishment maintenance work for low and medium risk, design-bid-build projects.  For these options, final project acceptance is issued when construction is complete and a new Post Construction Landscape Establishment Phase (PCEP) is initiated.

2020-4. July 9, 2020. Revised on September 25, 2020. The purpose of this Design Bulletin is to provide information regarding approved Standard Special Provisions (SSPs) and Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) technical support resources available during Design. Phase agendas and worksheets are also being introduced to improve the quality assurance (inspection/verification tools) for project topsoil management, soil amendment products, and seeding procedures. To be use on all projects that have an advertisement date on or after January 1, 2021.

2020-3. June 29, 2020. The purpose of this Design Bulletin is because the Standards and Specifications Unit is revising and updating the implementation policy for MASH (Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware) tested 31-inch guardrail.

2020-2. June 8, 2020. The purpose of this Design Bulletin is to provide guidance for the Findings in the Public Interest (FIPI) and the Certification Processes for Proprietary Items.

2020-1. April 29, 2020. Projects not being validated in AASHTOWare Project Preconstruction prior to project advertisement. The three required AASHTOWare validation reports used to check that all pay items have been included and the project is within budget. Execution of these three validation reports is required for project advertisement.

2019-4. November 19, 2019. The purpose of this Design Bulletin is to provide guidance regarding the new CDOT Visual Impact Assessment (VIA) guidelines, templates, and questionnaire that address the visual impacts of our highways.

2019-2. May 3, 2019. An implemented Form 463 improvement suggestion from region management will be reflected in SAP beginning May 16, 2019. This new format would more clearly highlight instances where design standards are not being met in the proposed condition.

2019-1. March 28, 2019. The purpose of this Bulletin is to provide information and instruction regarding the revisions to Standard Specifications 107.25 and 208 issued on March 27, 2019. Changes to these specifications were made to ensure compliance with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) new Colorado Discharge Permit System General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities (SCP) (COR400000).

2018-7. October 25, 2018. The 2018 release of the CDOT Roadway Design Guide (RDG) is synchronized with the AASHTO 2011, "A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, 6th Edition" (Green Book).