Four projects executed using Bridging. From left to right: New campus for Georgia Tech in Savannah, Georgia. The Peninsula Mandalay, South San Francisco, California. The Wakefield Luxury Cooperative, Atlanta, Georgia. Federal Courthouse, Las Vegas, Nevada.

About the Bridging Method

Bridging is a better method of organizing the roles of architects, engineers and contractors. It reduces costs, construction time and exposure for the Owner to contractor-initiated change orders and claims. Bridging also reduces costs, disputes and delays in correcting design or construction flaws discovered after occupancy. It accomplishes all of this without any loss of opportunity for creativity or loss of control over design or construction quality.

With Bridging, the Owner obtains a highly enforceable contract price for the full construction in about half the time and at about half the “front end” at-risk cost as compared to the traditional Design-Bid-Build method, a price far more dependable than a GMP issued on less than 100% complete design documents.

Bridging is a hybrid of the traditional Design-Bid-Build method and the Design-Build method. It retains those aspects of both methods which are beneficial to the Owner and eliminates those aspects of both which often cause problems for the Owner.

The Bridging method of project delivery is highly applicable to practically all new-construction projects throughout the United States and abroad including projects of significant complexity. It is also highly applicable to most major expansion and remodeling projects.

George T. Heery, Chairman of Brookwood Group of Atlanta, has been the primary developer of the Bridging method, starting with its antecedents in the early 1980s. The name “Bridging” was suggested by Shepherd Heery, Mr. Heery's eldest son, who is today a real estate developer and architect in San Francisco. Others Mr. Heery credits with making contributions to the development of Bridging include Charles B. “Chuck” Thomsen, former Chairman of 3DI; a client, Alvin Ferst of Atlanta; Shepherd Heery, and other members of Mr. Heery’s firm: Brint Smith, Bob Bunker, Vic Maloof and Bill Ray.

For projects outside the United States for which the Owner is an American company, governmental agency or individual, Bridging allows the “buyer” of the construction to maximize the use of in-country contractors, architects and engineers while retaining control over the design and construction quality and reducing exposure to unexpected costs.

For facilities to be acquired by a build-to-suit lease Bridging is the best answer for the tenant/user in terms of obtaining the best lease rates and terms for major projects throughout the U.S. and abroad. A 4 page PDF document entitled "In the Interest of the Lessee", which details how to use Bridging for build-to-suit leases, is now available from the Downloads section of this website.

Bridging/CM is a more recent version of Bridging which combines the CM-at-Risk project delivery method with Bridging to provide additional benefits to the Owner. A primer for Bridging/CM can be found in the Bridging/CM section of this website and a more detailed publication on Bridging/CM is available in PDF format from the Downloads section of this website.

Employing the Bridging method for infrastructure projects such as water and wastewater treatment plants, bridges, highways, utility systems, communications towers, tunnels including conductor tunnels, transit projects, airfields, parks and the like is not only quite feasible but has been done with success and has significant advantages for the owner.  For more information go to the downloadable publication, Bridging Method for Infrastructure Projects.