United States Department of Transportation
i
Analysis of Past NBI Ratings to Determine Future Bridge Preservation Needs [Report]
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2004-01-01
[PDF-1.02 MB]
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Abstract:Bridge Management System (BMS) needs an analytical tool that can predict bridge element deterioration and answer questions related to bridge preservation. PONTIS, a comprehensive BMS software, was developed to serve this purpose. However, the intensive data requirement in PONTIS has prevented the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LA DOTD), like 40 other state DOTs in the country, from fully utilizing PONTIS modeling capabilities, despite an annual maintenance fee of $25,000 paid to the program developer. To solve this problem, an innovative approach was developed in this project. The long-term performance of the bridge system under various alternatives of BMS was evaluated using readily available National Bridge Inventory (NBI) data in PONTIS. The deterioration process of three elements was thoroughly studied, and the element deterioration models were developed based on these observations. The bridge preservation plans and associated cost schemes were also developed according to LA DOTD’s current practice and available information.
The results from this project have demonstrated that it is feasible and practical to use rich historical NBI data for BMS analysis. The current LA DOTD $70 million annual budget for bridge systems seems sufficient to meet the preservation need, but it is not adequate for meeting the needs of bridge functional improvement. The bridge preservation plan, if implemented successfully, can maintain the bridge system in good operating conditions for a long time under a limited annual budget.
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