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.

"This Program Manual will be used by NDOR [Nebraska Department of Roads], FHWA [Federal Highway Administration], local bridge owners and engineering consultants to reference and clarify the requirements set forth by the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) and NDOR. . . .The objective and intent of the manual is to assure consistent application of the NBIS and NDOR requirements for the maintenance of the Bridge Inventory in the State of Nebraska. This Manual is to be used in conjunction with the NBIS, FHWA and AASHTO [American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials] publications on bridge inspection and inventory maintenance" (page i).

The Recording and Coding Guide for the Structure Inventory and Appraisal of the Nation's Bridges (the Guide) has been revised several times in the past. This latest edition revises the Guide to convert all of the units of measurement to the International System of Units (SI). It also provides more thorough and detailed guidance in evaluating and coding specific bridge data. New items have been added to include the reporting of Federal Lands Highway Systems, each State's existing linear reference system, and the methods used to determine the load ratings. Some items in the Guide have also been expanded to provide more definitive and explicit explanations and instructions for coding. Further, more basic definitions applicable to the instructions in the Guide are provided. The changes are based on comments received on the previous Guide and the metric version draft Guide. This revised Guide should be thoroughly reviewed by each individual involved with the National Bridge Inspection Program.

This synthesis reports bridge inspection practices in the United States and selected foreign countries. The synthesis is a collection of information on formal inspection practices of departments of transportation (DOTs). These are primarily visual inspections and they provide data to bridge registries and databases. For U.S. inspection practices, this synthesis reports on inspection personnel, inspection types, and inspection quality control and quality assurance. Staff titles and functions in inspection programs are reported, together with qualifications and training of personnel, formation of inspection teams, and assignment of teams to bridges. Inspection types are described in terms of their scope, methods, and intervals. Quality control and quality assurance programs are reviewed in terms of the procedures employed, staff involved, quality measurements obtained, and the use of quality findings in DOT inspection programs. Foreign practices are presented in the same organization of inspection personnel, types, and quality programs. Comparisons of U.S. and foreign inspection practices are included. Information was obtained from a questionnaire sent to U.S. state transportation departments, similar questionnaires modified individually for transportation agencies in selected foreign countries, and formal documents used by transportation departments and agencies. These documents primarily included bridge inspection manuals, inspection training manuals, and technical memoranda, but also included blank forms for inspections, DOTs job descriptions for inspectors, and descriptions of inspection training courses. Overall, this synthesis includes information from forty U.S. state transportation departments and from roads agencies in eight foreign nations (Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). The synthesis also includes, in an appendix, information from a few provincial and municipal transport agencies in Canada.