AASHTO Journal, 1 May 2015
The Federal Highway Administration has begun collecting new data from state departments of transportation to more closely monitor bridge conditions throughout the nation.
Each year, state DOTs provide bridge inspection information to an FHWA national database by the end of April, and starting this year that includes more detailed “element-level” descriptions of conditions.
“Smart data can drive smart infrastructure planning and make transportation safer,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “We can use this data to help state and local governments target bridge investments.”
The FHWA provides funding to assist states in replacing and rehabilitating bridges, and helps ensure their safety through federal inspection regulations and oversight of state programs.
States have traditionally reported one overall score to rate the condition of the major bridge systems – the surface or “deck,” superstructure and substructure. Under the new system, which was required in the 2012 MAP-21 surface transportation law, the FHWA said each square foot of the bridge deck – and its other elements such as joint seals – will receive separate ratings.
Separately, the AASHTO Bookstore recently began selling a 2015-updated version of its “Manual for Bridge Element Inspection,” which is designed for state DOTs and other agencies that perform element-level inspections. Here is a description of that publication.
Earlier versions of that manual were used as the basis of FHWA requirements, said Patricia Bush, AASHTO program manager for bridges and structures.
The FHWA said the goal of its more detailed reporting is to help engineers better understand the extent of bridge deterioration by dividing bridge components into smaller, more manageable elements, so they can make more informed decisions about repair, preservation and replacement.
Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau said the data will help authorities to focus on the source of a bridge problem instead of using an overall characterization of a bridge deficiency. “This is part of our ongoing commitment to improving the bridge program that has led to the overall decrease in the percentage of deficient bridges nationwide,” he said.
Over the last decade, while the number of bridges in the nation’s inventory increased from 595,668 to 610,749, the percentage of those classified as structurally deficient shrank from 13.1 percent in 2005 to 10 percent in 2014.
