Transportation agencies face significant challenges in the maintenance, repair and operation of the nation's bridge infrastructure as these structures continue to age and deteriorate. Compounding the issue is a chronic lack of adequate funding to perform recommended improvements, an increase in the frequency and magnitude of oversized commercial vehicles, and a dramatic reduction in the number of bridges built or reconstructed over the last decade. In response to a USDOT audit recommending the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) develop and implement minimum requirements for data-driven, risk-based bridge oversight during FHWA annual National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) compliance reviews improve, and to develop a comprehensive plan to routinely conduct systematic, data-driven analysis to identify nationwide bridge safety risks for remediation in coordination with the States, FHWA identified twenty three (23) specific metrics to assess states compliance with National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) requirements and to identify potentially at-risk structures using a data driven approach. These metrics were implemented in 2011 and revised in 2012. This paper presents the results of efforts by the New Mexico Department of Transportation to refine a prototype bridge information system developed in 2010 to include a simplified means to query data contained in the National Bridge Inventory Database and to provide the means to prepare reports and randomized lists of bridges in categories related to these metrics to assist federal oversight personnel in assessing state compliance levels and recommending follow-up actions.

Provides the results of an audit of the Fed. Hwy. Admin. (FHWA) to improve its oversight of states¿ bridge inspections, load ratings, and max. weight postings. FHWA should encourage states to use more detailed data to manage their bridge programs. Shortly after the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, MN on Aug. 1, 2007, killing 13 people, the Sec. of Transportation asked whether FHWA¿s Nat. Bridge Inspection Program delivered the highest level of bridge safety. Objectives for this audit were to evaluate FHWA¿s: (1) implementation of data-driven, risk-based oversight to target bridge safety risks most in need of attention, particularly those related to load ratings and postings; and (2) promotion of state use of bridge management systems. Table.

In recent years, recognizing the importance of collecting and analyzing highway infrastructure data, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)launched an effort to develop a web-based system for collecting data on compliance review for the National Bridge Inventory (NBI). The intent of this project is to help the FHWA provide oversight to State Department of Transportation (DOT) to more efficiently perform their bridge inventory assessment and to help them reduce any possible human error related to random sampling and/or assessment record management. The Web-based system has four main features: · Parse NBI Data · Perform Compliance Assessment · Generate an Assessment Report · Maintain Compliance Assessment History First, the system parses encoded data from NBI and stores the decoded data into a MySQL database. Second, the system provides functionalities to enable the users to perform compliance assessment, including form filling and file uploading. Third, the users are able to generate assessment report to serve their various needs. Finally, the system maintains compliance assessment history so the users can get back to any review sessions at any given time. Other features are built and made available to the users to support the main features. The system is built on a Windows version of the XAMPP stack, "an easy to install Apache distribution containing Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl." [1] Itis deployed on a removable computer storage device (e.g. a typical USB drive).Since the users of the system potentially will have many travels to bridge sites, the main advantage of having this deployment method is that it enables the users to take the system with them to their site visits.

In 2012, Congress passed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and committed to the development of a data-driven, risk based approach to asset management in the United States. This law requires the collection and submission of element level bridge inspection data for all National Highway System bridges, in addition to the National Bridge Inspection condition rating data. Ultimately, the data collected during element level bridge inspections should satisfy the requirements of the Federal Highway Administration and MAP-21 and be utilized by INDOT to evaluate bridge condition, predict deterioration, and guide decision making. The objective of this project is to develop recommendations for element level bridge inspection techniques, data collection, and inspector training based on a survey of INDOT peer agencies and a literature review of existing research and bridge inspection guidance. In order to collect consistent and reliable data, a rigorous inspector training program and detailed quality control procedures are necessary. INDOT must provide inspectors with the tools to be successful, including clearly defined expectations and instructions, comprehensive training and technical support, and effective inspection equipment. Similarly, robust quality control measures and periodic performance testing should be implemented to improve inspection quality and assess the agency's performance.