Best Practices in Bridge Management Decision-Making

This report is a domestic scan focusing on practices among U.S. transportation departments (DOT) for identification, prioritization, and execution of programs for management of highway bridges. The scan includes reviews of DOT manuals, guidelines, and policy statements; a collection of responses to amplifying questions from DOTs; and travel to seven sites for meetings with DOT staff. The most detailed information was collected from 13 DOTs that participated in meetings with the scan team. Document review includes input from 11 other DOTs. All sources are state or local government agencies of the United States. The scan team observed that certain practices in current use in bridge maintenance are effective in improving overall bridge conditions. These key observations/findings are divided into three main categories: the bridge management process, preventive maintenance, and agency support. The first of these categories, the bridge management process, further touches upon four elements of an effective process: identification of maintenance needs, performance measures, prioritization, and verification. State departments of transportation were either visited, or information was obtained from them via questionnaires.