In a previous $5 million facility upgrade, the Air Force had used a design-build contract through the Army Corps of Engineers. While that project was a success, the Army Corps of Engineers charged an 8% premium to manage it. This time around, the Air Force wanted to cut costs. It saw the design-bid-build route as a less-expensive option.

But what the Air Force lost by using a design-bid-build contract was the proverbial "one throat to choke." As problems arose, new requests for information were issued, and multiple teams had to negotiate fixes -- adding months of delays. The Air Force had to work with contracting officers, financial managers, engineers, project managers and others, all of whom were being pulled by other priorities.

"It can be a very tedious process," said Brian Schafer, the infrastructure management chief for the Air Force's supercomputing center. "You can introduce delays that you really didn't anticipate."

With a design-build, there's a single point of contact, someone who knows the project and "can do that change quickly," said Schafer. "I think that was our main issue with this project."