Bridge management for the 21st century
01 Jan 2000-Transportation Research Record (Transportation Research Board of the National Academies)-Vol. 1696, Iss: 1696, pp 197-203
TL;DR: The bridge health index (HI) as discussed by the authors is an improved and more comprehensive numerical rating system that uses the element inspection data to determine the remaining asset value of a bridge or network of bridges.
Abstract: Bridge management has been a subject of intense interest and development for the past 10 years. In support of improved bridge management, FHWA funded the development of the Pontis bridge computer program, which is now in use by approximately 40 of the 50 states. In addition, many new guide specifications have been produced to assist bridge managers in their efforts to better manage the nation's aging bridge inventory. The AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures has taken the lead along with FHWA in implementing the improved bridge management systems. California and a few other states have been critical of the current ranking system for bridge maintenance and have been working to develop an improved performance measure. The bridge health index (HI), an improved and more comprehensive numerical rating system that uses the element inspection data to determine the remaining asset value of a bridge or network of bridges, is discussed. The HI is more consistent with the element-level evaluation data colle...
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TL;DR: In this paper, a synthesis of specification-based versus performance-based civil engineering and articulates the committee's conclusions in framing and articulating the following questions: What is performance based civil engineering? How can we objectively define performance? What are the issues that should be recognized along the way to performance and their possible resolutions?
Abstract: During the 1999 SEI/ASCE Structures Congress, the Executive Committee of the Technical Activities Division of the Structural Engineering Institute approved a new technical committee for defining the “performance of a civil engineering facility.” The new committee’s purpose is as follows: “facilitating the development and adoption of realistic, effective, comprehensive and reliable performance-based design and evaluation techniques and procedures for civil engineering facilities, and helping to establish the foundations for specifications, model codes and commentaries for performance-based design and evaluation” ASCE 2000 . The Committee met four times from 2000 to 2003 and organized two technical sessions at the 2003 Structures Congress at Seattle. Its membership comprised approximately 30 individuals— representing academe, government and the consulting industry, and included individuals who are not engineers. The committee recognized that formulating and articulating a clear, comprehensive, and consistent consensus definition for the performance of a civil engineered facility is an important step and in fact a prerequisite for serving as an intellectual foundation before making any transition to a performance-based approach in civil engineering. This paper offers a synthesis of specification-based versus performance-based civil engineering and articulates the committee’s conclusions in framing and articulating the following questions: What is performance-based civil engineering? How can we objectively define performance? What are the issues that should be recognized along the way to performance-based engineering and their possible resolutions? While this report was being completed and circulated within the committee and Performance of Structures TAC members, steps were taken to merge the Performance-Based Design and Evaluation of Civil Engineering Facilities Committee with the Performance of Full-Scale Structures Committee. This merger took place during the 2004 Congress, and a critical mass of committee members from professional practice and academe continue
43 citations
01 Sep 2019
TL;DR: A new ranking system methodology based on weighted VIKOR method with proposed criteria for ranking bridge projects is presented and the influence of these criteria to the bridge condition is checked and verified by using data information in NBI databased.
Abstract: With the development of intelligent and automated information system in the information era, the need for more efficient decision making method is growing. An effective method used to rank concrete bridge projects affected by reinforcement corrosion damage will help decision makers of bridge management agencies to better understand the different degrees of urgency for each project. The priority ranking process of different bridge repair projects is complex, since it is hard for decision makers to directly decide which bridge has higher priority when considering many criteria at the same time. The ranking of the different bridge repairing projects can be similar to solving multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problems. The VIKOR (VlseKriterijumska Optimizcija I Kaompromisno Resenje in Serbian) method is a distance-to-target method which is developed and used to solve MCDM problems in material selection research. Since weights play a significant role in the priority ranking problems, objective weights based on Entropy concept and Target-based standard deviation method and dependent weights are also applied in this study. Several important criteria, which have not been considered in previous literatures, are proposed and the influence of these criteria to the bridge condition is checked and verified by using data information in NBI databased. A numerical example is proposed to illustrate the application of proposed method. Therefore, in this research a new ranking system methodology based on weighted VIKOR method with proposed criteria for ranking bridge projects is presented.
39 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a ranking and prioritizing procedure for bridge networks is proposed, based on multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP), which is a technique to develop utility functions.
Abstract: Purpose – A bridge network is a major capital asset that requires continuing investment in order to maintain the network within acceptable limits of safety and serviceability. Ranking and prioritizing procedures have been widely used by several departments of transportation to select bridges for intervention and to distribute the available funds among competing projects. The available ranking and prioritizing procedures have various drawbacks, and an improved, rational ranking and prioritizing procedure is needed. The paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach – The requirements and characteristics of an innovative ranking and prioritizing method are identified during interviews with professionals involved in bridge management. Based on these requirements, multi‐attribute utility theory (MAUT) is selected to develop the method. A technique to develop utility functions based on the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is discussed. A hierarchy structure that captures the decision‐making e...
34 citations
Additional excerpts
...The HI is a performance measure for bridges which has been developed for the California Department of Transportation ( Roberts and Shepard, 2000...
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TL;DR: In this article, two semi-Markov approaches for modeling the deterioration of certain bridge elements are developed and compared against a previously developed semi-markov approach, the traditional Markov chain deterioration approach, and the change in the average actual condition indices of bridge elements that deteriorated for 8 years after being constructed.
Abstract: Many bridge management systems (BMSs) use a Markov chain model to forecast the deterioration process. The Markov property may be considered to be restrictive when modeling the deterioration of transportation assets, primarily because of the memoryless property and assumption of exponential distribution for sojourn times in the condition states. This study addresses some of the limitations that arise from the use of purely Markov chain deterioration models for transportation infrastructure by introducing alternative approaches that are based on the semi-Markov process. Two semi-Markov approaches for modeling the deterioration of certain bridge elements are developed. These are compared against a previously developed semi-Markov approach, the traditional Markov chain deterioration approach, and the change in the average actual condition indices of bridge elements that deteriorated for 8 years after being constructed. The results obtained from this study indicated that semi-Markov models are feasible...
25 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present their recent work on load rating of the reinforced concrete T-beam bridge population in Pennsylvania to objectively re-qualify them based on field-testing.
Abstract: There is consensus on the importance of objectively and reliably assessing the condition and load capacity of aged bridges. Although each bridge may be considered as a unique structure, the behavior of many bridge types may be governed by only a few mechanisms and related parameters, especially if a population is constructed from standard designs. By identifying these parameters, and their variation within the population, it is possible to extend findings such as load rating obtained from a statistical sample to the entire population. Bridge type-specific strategies for load rating and condition assessment in conjunction with statistical sampling may therefore offer significant advantages for inspecting and load rating bridges sharing common materials, similar geometry and detailing, and the same critical behavior mechanisms. In this paper, the writers present their recent work on load rating of the reinforced concrete T-beam bridge population in Pennsylvania to objectively re-qualify them based on field-...
21 citations