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Transportation Asset Management Case Studies
BRIDGE MANAGEMENT
Experiences of California, Florida, and South Dakota
Presented by
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San Francisco Bay Bridge, San Francisco, CA
1
Note From the Director
The Federal Highway Administration Office of Asset Management is pro-moting
a different way for transportation agencies to distribute their
resources among alternative investment options. This new way of doing
business, “ Asset Management,” is a strategic approach for getting the best
return on dollars spent for transportation improvements.
Each State transportation agency will likely have different methods for
implementing an Asset Management strategy. For example, some agencies
will pursue a data integration strategy in order to ensure comparable data
for the evaluation of investment alternatives across asset classes. Others will
move to deploy economic analysis tools to generate fact- based information
for decisionmakers. Still others will want to integrate new inventory assess-ment
methods into their decisionmaking process.
Pontis ® is a comprehensive bridge management system tool developed to
assist in the challenging task of bridge management. Initially developed by
FHWA, Pontis ® now is an AASHTO BRIDGEWare ® product. It stores bridge
inventory and inspection data; formulates networkwide preservation and
improvement policies for use in evaluating the needs of each bridge in a
network; and makes recommendations for what projects to include in an
agency’s capital improvement program for deriving the maximum benefit
from limited funds. The software is continuously upgraded and improved
based on various users’ input.
The FHWA in 2002 sponsored the development of a training course for
Pontis ® that was offered to State highway agencies beginning in July 2002
as part of the National Highway Institute training curriculum. Since then,
the course has been modified to include changes in the software and has
been presented in 17 States.
A majority of the States licensing Pontis ® use this tool for collecting bridge
inventory and inspection data only. On behalf of the Office of Asset Manage-ment,
I am pleased to present this case study highlighting the business and
decisionmaking processes for three State transportation agencies: California,
Florida, and South Dakota. The Office encourages other States to move to the
next level in using the software capabilities to the full extent. This study, along
with the previous studies on data integration, economics in Asset Manage-ment,
the Highway Economic Requirements System— State Version, and life-cycle
cost analysis, will help agencies meet the challenges of managing their
transportation programs and implementing Asset Management.
David R. Geiger, P. E.
Director, Office of Asset Management
2
Note to the Reader
The Transportation Asset Management Case Study series is the
result of a partnership between State departments of trans-portation
and the Federal Highway Administration ( FHWA)
Office of Asset Management. FHWA provides the forum from
which to share information, and the individual States provide
the details of their experiences. For each case study report,
FHWA interviewed State transportation staff, and the resulting
material was approved by the State. As such, the reports rely
on the agencies’ own assessment of their experience. Readers
should note that the reported results may or may not be repro-ducible
in other organizations. ■
Yankton Meridian Bridge on US 81 over the Missouri River, SD
3
Executive Summary
State Departments of Transportation are integrating electronic
databases and software applications to achieve efficiencies
and meet their performance goals. California, Florida, and
South Dakota have been making progressive inroads using
the Pontis ® Bridge Management System, and here they share
their approaches as a guide for other States who want to do
the same.
All the information necessary to manage the integrity of
California’s bridge infrastructure is contained in a single data-base
with sharing features achieved using the Pontis ® data
structure. Pontis ® is used not only to generate bridge reports,
but is also accessed by district maintenance crews, project
planners, Caltrans management, and the California Transporta-tion
Commission for their various lists and reports.
Florida has simplified management and found cost- effective
solutions by integrating Pontis ® with the Citrix ® MetaFrame
Access Suite and the Project- Level Analysis Tool ( PLAT). Citrix ®
MetaFrame is a Web tool for bridge inspections that efficiently
provides users a single point of access from any location, for
any number of people, using many devices, over any connec-tion.
PLAT is a decision support system tool that makes rou-tine
policy, programming, and budgeting decisions regarding
preservation and improvement of the State’s bridges.
Like all States, South Dakota’s goal is to preserve their
aging structures. Pontis ® is a valuable tool in this regard
because it calculates the rate of deterioration for all the vari-ous
bridge materials such as concrete, prestressed concrete,
steel, and timber. The South Dakota Department of Trans-portation
saved approximately 900 annual man- hours in labor
by customizing the Pontis ® check- out/ check- in process and
abandoning their previous practice of entering inspection
data from paper forms.
An overview of the bridge management practices in these
three States is presented here to help State departments of
transportation shape their Asset Management programs in a
way that leads them to achieve their goals and performance
measures efficiently and cost effectively. ■
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BACKGROUND
Asset Management is presently a key focus area for many transportation
agencies in the United States and abroad. Asset Management merges quali-ty
asset data with well- defined objectives to help improve a transportation
department’s business processes for resource allocation and utilization. In
short, Asset Management is “ a strategic approach to managing transporta-tion
infrastructure.”
Asset Management uses data from the following management systems:
• Pavement Management
• Bridge Management
• Tunnel Management
• Ancillary Structure Management ( sign structure, high- mast light poles,
retaining walls, roadway appurtenances)
• Information Management
This case study focuses on the Bridge Management aspect of Asset
Management and, in particular, the role played by the Pontis ® Bridge
Management System.
CASE STUDY
The Pontis ® Bridge Management System is a tool used by 39 States,
5 municipalities, and 5 international agencies. It supports users in collect-ing
bridge inventory and inspection data; in formulating networkwide
preservation and improvement policies for use in evaluating the needs
of each bridge in a network; and in developing recommendations for
identifying projects to include in an agency’s capital plan for deriving the
maximum benefits from limited funds.
Pontis ® integrates the objectives of public safety and risk reduction, user
convenience, and preservation of investment to produce budgetary, main-tenance,
and program policies. Additionally, it provides a systematic proce-dure
for the allocation of resources to the preservation and improvement
of the bridges in a network. Pontis ® accomplishes this by considering both
the costs and benefits of maintenance policies versus investments in
improvements or replacements.
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Figure 1 is a map of the United States color coded to show which States
are licensing Pontis ® and how they are applying the software. As seen in
the figure, most of the 39 licensing States use Pontis ® only for collecting
bridge inventory and inspection data. This case study highlights the busi-ness
and decisionmaking processes for State transportation agencies in Cal-ifornia,
Florida, and South Dakota using Pontis ® to manage their bridge
inventory. Their experience is presented to encourage more States to move
to the next level in using the software to its full extent. This study is based
on interviews conducted with representatives of the California, Florida,
and South Dakota State transportation agencies.
International Licensees:
Hungary; Estonia; Kuwait; Hokkaido, Japan; Italy
Inspection, Programming & Project Planning
Programming & Project Planning
Inspection & Project Planning
NV
HI
WA
FL
TX
TN
AZ
LA
NM MS
AR
SD
AL
MO
CT
OK
KS
GA
ND
KY
IL
UT
NC
WV
CO
MI
IA
CA
VA
ME
MN
IN
SC
MD
ID
NE
PA
NJ
DE
DC
FHWA
RI
OH
WY
VT
WI NY
MA
Inspection & Programming
Inspection
Implementing
OR
MT
AK
City of Phoenix
LA County
and City of LA
Santa Clara
County
NH
Figure 1. Pontis ® licenses and applications for the year 2005.
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CALIFORNIA
California is responsible for the inspection and preservation of approxi-mately
24,500 bridges. The California Department of Transportation ( Cal-trans)
Division of Maintenance Office in Sacramento, with a staff of more
than 140 bridge inspectors, structural engineers, and bridge management
engineers, performs periodic inspections and maintenance for all of Cali-fornia’s
12 districts. In addition, two independent city/ county agencies
perform bridge inspections on their own inventory. Of the 11 bridge
management engineers in the Division of Maintenance Office, 2 develop
software, 2 run bridge management programs in Pontis ® , 1 enters data,
and 6 monitor all ongoing projects.
Database
All the information necessary to manage the integrity of California’s bridge
infrastructure is contained in a single database with sharing features
achieved using the Pontis ® data structure ( figure 2). This interoperable
database design eliminates the need to move information from one com-ponent
to the other. Additional tables are linked to the Pontis ® structure
for various mission critical activities such as project tracking, maintenance
recommendations, detailed fracture critical, scour and load rating informa-tion,
and postearthquake inspection activities.
Structures
Maintenance
Web Page
SMART BIRIS
PONTIS
Database
®
Figure 2. Caltrans bridge management system schematic.
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Caltrans inspectors and engineers use three primary applications to
access the different components of the database:
• SMART
• Pontis ®
• BIRIS
The overall security of the bridge management database is controlled at
two levels. At the top level, all users are required to log into the Oracle
engine, and their privileges are set to the appropriate level. At the form
level, the SMART interface application ( figure 3) assigns additional con-trols
at the user login and validates the individual data items against the
predefined values in the National Bridge Inspection Coding Guide. Inspec-tors,
for example, can update any data item available to them through this
SMART interface, but they cannot delete a bridge from the system. Using
the Internet, district maintenance crews can access current recommenda-tions
for each bridge but are only allowed to update a single field, which
indicates that a work item has been completed.
Figure 3. Caltrans SMART interface.
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Bridge Inspections
Using SMART
Caltrans inspectors are required to
be State- licensed civil engineers.
The inspection teams are respon-sible
for all biennial inspections as
well as fracture critical and under-water
inspections. The teams col-lect
inventory data and condition
information in the field on system- generated pre- inspection reports and
enter the inspection results into an electronic format to comply with
National Bridge Inspection ( NBI) standards. Their inspections are based
on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Offi-cials
“ AASHTO Guide for Commonly Recognized ( CoRe) Structural
Elements” and custom developed elements that provide information on
the condition of each element on the bridge. The information includes
detailed fracture critical findings, load rating information, photos, and
commentary for each structure in the bridge inventory. All textual as well
as graphic information from these statewide inspections is then entered
into the centralized bridge management database. Bridge inspectors use
SMART, a custom inspection collection and report generation software,
which has a thin- client ( Web- based) interface that allows inspectors to
access the database from a remote location.
The bridge information entered into the database through the inspec-tion
process is ultimately presented in a bridge inspection report. The
inspection team is responsible for the inspection report and for making
recommendations for preservation actions based on their findings in the
field. The bridge inspection report documents the current condition of
the bridge and all recommended work for that structure. This inspection
report is the primary means of conveying the results of the inspection to
the bridge owners.
In addition to the bridge report, the bridge management database is
used to generate various lists and reports for district maintenance crews,
project planners, Caltrans management, and the California Transportation
Commission.
Bridge inspectors use
SMART, a custom inspection
collection and report genera-tion
software, which has a
thin- client ( Web- based)
interface that allows inspec-tors
to access the database
from a remote location.
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Project Prioritization Using Pontis ®
The bridge management staff uses the Pontis ® Bridge Management System
to perform deterioration modeling and project prioritization. Within the
Caltrans Division of Maintenance Office, the Office of Structure Mainte-nance
and Investigation has the primary role for determining scope and
priority for all bridge maintenance and preservation projects.
Bridge management engineers review and prioritize the needs identified
by the inspectors. Projects are designed to minimize impacts to traffic and
to maximize improvements with the funds available. Improvement projects
involving, for example, new alignment or bridge widening, are initiated by
the Caltrans Office of Planning along with Regional Transportation Plan-ning
Organizations.
These recommendations from all over the State are prioritized and vali-dated
by the Office of Structure Maintenance and Investigation against the
project recommended priority list generated by Pontis ® ( figure 4). Bridge
projects generated are manually coordinated with pavement management
system projects, which is done through data extraction of projects from
the bridge management database. Bridge managers use the comparison to
coordinate the scheduling of projects. In some cases, Caltrans has operated
Figure 4. Pontis ® work candidate priority list.
Bridge ID Feature Intersected Year Predom. Predom. Cost ($) Benefit ($) BCR
Action Object
24 0228R Stockton, 34th, 35th, & T 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 10,894 127,237 11.68
57 0551F Sign Structure 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 9,351 106,703 11.41
57 0772 Route 67 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 7,042 78,991 11.22
24 0289L UP, BNSF, 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 9,144 101,447 11.09
SCRTDLRT, Redding
24 0069R UP RR, BNSF, Amtrak, I ST 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 30,159 331,653 11.00
57 0713R San Luis Rey River 2007 Min Repair Pourable Joint Seal 6,802 74,562 10.96
57 0568L MTDB, BNSF, 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 5,671 62,018 10.94
Amtrak, 15, PAC
17 0070 Route 80 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 6,758 72,502 10.73
25 0099 South Fork American Riv 2007 Ovly Deck R/ Conc Approach Slab 6,869 70,879 10.32
57 0001L San Mateo Creek 2007 Min Repair Pourable Joint Seal 5,933 59,279 9.99
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using a Corridor Maintenance Policy, where segments of highways with a
variety of maintenance needs such as bridge, roadway, landscaping, and
drainage are publicized for full or substantial closure prior to performing
the necessary work.
The Division of Maintenance Office has adopted the bridge health
index as one performance measure toward its goal of preserving the bridge
inventory. The health index is a single number indicator of the structural
health of the bridge. This indicator is expressed as a percentage value from
0 percent to 100 percent, corresponding to the worst and best possible
conditions, respectively. The health index is calculated in Pontis ® as a func-tion
of the fractional distribution of the bridge’s element- level information
across the range of their applicable condition states. Caltrans has begun an
incentive program to encourage all districts to aim for a higher overall
bridge health index.
Project Archiving Using BIRIS
California maintains a complete image archive of all bridge “ as- built”
plans, bridge reports, photos, and other significant correspondence in
the bridge database. This information is scanned and indexed into the
database by a staff specifically trained for this task. The images archived in
the database are accessed using BIRIS, a Web application product devel-oped
specifically for Caltrans.
The database archive also contains
• Information on projects accomplished by State crews
• Completed State crew maintenance activities that are scheduled and
performed based on recommendations by inspectors ( documented in
the database by the particular
district crew performing the work
via a custom developed
Web page)
• Minor and major rehabilitation
projects completed by contractors.
California maintains a
complete image archive of
all bridge “ as- built” plans,
bridge reports, photos, and
other significant correspon-dence
in the bridge
database.
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Conclusion
Caltrans enjoys effective management of its entire bridge inventory
because the bridge management data are held in a single large database
that is accessible to all users through Pontis ® programming tools.
Bidwell Bar Bridge at Lake Oroville, CA
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FLORIDA
Florida is divided into seven geographic districts and one Turnpike district,
as shown in figure 5. Each district is responsible for element- level inspec-tions
of Florida’s 11,100 bridges ( 6,300 State highway bridges and 4,800
local bridges). To maintain, manage, and evaluate the needs of the State’s
bridge inventory, five personnel in the State Maintenance Office and two
programming personnel coordinate with the districts, the Work Program
Office, and the offices of Planning and Engineering Support Services.
Bridge Inspection Program
Inspectors working for the Florida Department of Transportation ( FDOT)
are required to be State- licensed professional engineers or certified bridge
inspectors who have completed the National Highway Institute course in
bridge inspection and meet FDOT’s experience requirements. Through
the Bridge Inspection Program, engineers identify needs and make recom-mendations,
which are recorded in the Pontis ® Bridge Management System.
Figure 5. Florida district map.
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Inspections are done by FDOT
engineers or with the help of consult-ants
and are entered in Pontis ® through
Web access into a centralized Oracle
database. Pontis ® also allows the option
of working from a database such as
Sybase ® ASA Adaptive Server Any-where.
To simplify the management of FDOT’s resources and make them
more cost effective to operate, FDOT has adopted the third- party software
Citrix ® MetaFrame Access Suite to integrate with Pontis ® . Citrix ®
Metaframe provides a single point of access from any location, for any
number of people, using many devices, over any connection. The software
can be customized to allow State DOTs to design a system that gives indi-viduals
access to Web tools for bridge inspections. The benefits of Citrix ®
MetaFrame are as follows:
• Centrally consolidated applications, reducing costs and complexity
• Increased productivity
• Diminished business/ technical disruptions
• “ Observation dashboard” showing where, how, when, and by whom
systems are accessed
• Software as a utility and access control
• Security that ensures only the intended users have access to the appro-priate
resources
• Office- like environment, ensuring no compromise in quality, regardless
of location
• Users connect and compute over any network
• User movement from device to device, wire to wireless, office to office,
site to site
FDOT’s “ Bridge Inspectors Field Guide of Structural Elements” is
a modified version of the “ AASHTO Guide for Commonly Recognized
( CoRe) Structural Elements.” CoRe elements and non- CoRe elements are
grouped into a logical numbering sequence mimicking the AASHTO
guide as follows:
• 1– 99 deck elements
• 100– 199 superstructure elements
• 200– 299 substructure elements
The software can be
customized to allow State
DOTs to design a system
that gives individuals access
to Web tools for bridge
inspections.
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• 300– 399 miscellaneous elements and smart flags
• 400– 499 FDOT miscellaneous elements ( e. g., high- mast light poles
and sign structures)
• 500– 599 movable bridge elements
Feasible Action Review Committee
A Feasible Action Review Committee ( FARC) in each district office is
responsible for reviewing and prioritizing the needs identified by the
inspectors. FARC uses the Project- Level Analysis Tool ( PLAT), an integrat-ed
software customized for FDOT. PLAT ( figure 6) is a decisions support
system tool that makes routine policy, programming, and budgeting deci-sions
regarding preservation and improvement of the State’s bridges. The
bar graph display is dynamic. As the user moves the mouse over the graph,
it changes to show how conditions adjust by year. Engineers are able to
visualize deterioration rates for different elements on the bridge ( figure 7),
to predict economies of scale, and to scope several scenarios.
Specific new PLAT models developed for FDOT are:
• Accident risk and user cost due to roadway width and alignment
deficiencies
• User cost of load capacity, vertical clearance restrictions, and movable
bridge openings
• Project- level prediction models for bridge element conditions and costs
These new PLAT models are displayed graphically in a spreadsheet format
as an aid in decision making.
Engineers use PLAT to determine the economic health of a structure,
and they use it as a design tool for candidate projects to program into the
management process. When
the engineer modifies a candi-date
by changing the element
action selections, quantities, or
various cost factors, PLAT
responds, immediately updat-ing
its predictive results. This
new project- level decision sup-port
framework complements
and builds on the existing
Lake Ockeechobee Rim Canal Swing Bridge
in Palm Beach County, FL
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network- level analysis in Pontis ® . Florida is one of the few States integrat-ing
Pontis ® to do network- level analysis applications.*
FDOT’s development program classifies the inspectors’ needs and
recommendations into three categories:
• Routine maintenance
• Periodic maintenance and repair
• Replacements
Once the inspectors’ recommendations are sorted into the three cate-gories
above, the next step is to create work orders in Pontis ® and upload
them to FDOT’s customized mainframe Maintenance Management System
Figure 6. Project- level analysis tool.
Figure 7. Predicted condition and candidate action.
* Network- level analysis refers to a group of bridges ( all bridges in a State, district, or
county) and does not distinguish among individual bridges.
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( MMS) ( figures 8 and 9). Work orders are given priority ratings from 1 to
4, priority 1 being an emergency situation requiring work to be completed
within 60 days; priority 2, an urgent situation with a 180- day limitation;
priority 3, routine work to be done within 1 year; and priority 4, no
immediate deadline but information is provided. One of FDOT’s
performance measures is to monitor delinquency of work orders. All work
orders are scheduled and performed by the districts or by an independent
asset management contractor.
State Bridge Replacement Program
The State Bridge Replacement Program addresses bridges on State high-ways,
local roads, Federal- aid highways, and non- Federal- aid systems as
well as construction of any new replacement bridges for pre- existing defi-cient
structures. The Bridge Replacement Program objectives established
by FDOT are consistent with Florida Statutes and place primary emphasis
on structurally deficient or weight- restricted bridges on State highways.
The FDOT State Maintenance Office develops this list annually to review
the inventory for posted bridges that need replacement, thus accomplish-ing
one of its performance measures. Pontis ® generates a Deficient Bridge
List ( figure 10) using the following qualifying definitions ( customized
from FHWA’s definitions of deficient bridges) to identify bridges:
• Strength Replacement bridges are
either ( 1) structurally deficient or
( 2) posted for weight restrictions.
These bridges are programmed for
construction within 6 years of defi-ciency
identification.
• Economy Replacement bridges
require structural repair but are
more cost effective to replace.
These bridges are programmed
within 9 years of deficiency
identification.
State Bridge Repair Program
The State Bridge Repair Program
addresses routine maintenance,
Broadway Bridge on US 92 over the
Intracoastal Waterway, Daytona Beach, FL
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Figure 8. Work order in Pontis ® .
Figure 9. Work order in Maintenance Management System.
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periodic maintenance, and specified rehabilitation activities on bridge
structures for which FDOT has maintenance responsibilities. Each district
receives funding based on its portion of the total State bridge inventory.
Funds are allocated based on number of movable bridges and fender sys-tems,
tonnage of structural steel for painting, and the district’s total quan-tity
of deck area for bridges with an overall structural appraisal rating of
“ fair” or “ poor.” These funds are programmed and managed by each dis-trict.
The Turnpike District is responsible for repair of bridges on the
Turnpike Enterprise system and bridge projects funded by Turnpike funds.
Pontis ® is able to assimilate bridges under all the different programs and
show how they fit into the various funding categories.
As in the State Bridge Replacement Program, the State Bridge Repair
Program identifies bridges programmed for replacement from the annual
Deficient Bridge List ( figure 10), identified by one of the following
definitions:
• Rehabilitation includes strengthening a bridge to increase its load carry-ing
capacity, deck replacement, deck rehabilitation, or superstructure
rehabilitation.
Figure 10. Deficient Bridge List customized applet in Pontis ® .
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• Periodic Maintenance includes movable rebuild, deck major repair,
superstructure major repair, paint system replacement, deck joint
replacement, deck overlay, scour countermeasures, or fender
repair/ replacement.
• Routine Maintenance includes deck joint, deck, railing, superstructure,
substructure, and channel maintenance and repair.
States can customize their own definitions to fit their needs, as Florida
has done.
Movable Bridge Program
Florida is the only State at this time that manages its movable bridges
through Pontis ® . FDOT’s inventory of 98 movable bridges includes 3 lift
type, 94 bascule type, and 1 swing type bridge. Florida customized Pontis ®
to coincide with the elements, units, and condition states of movable
bridges in the FDOT “ Bridge Inspectors Field Guide of Structural
Elements,” as follows:
• Drive system
• Gears
• Shaft bearings and couplings
• Brakes
• Hydraulic power units
• Piping and cylinders
• Control and interlock system
• Transformers/ thyristors
• Submarine cables
• Programmable logic controllers and control consoles
• Miscellaneous and traffic control elements
• Navigational light system
• Operator facilities
• Resistance and warning gates
• Traffic signals
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Conclusion
Florida is successfully achieving its performance goals by using the Pontis ®
Bridge Management System to store inspection information and generate
work orders and priority ratings through MMS software. In addition,
FDOT has customized Pontis ® by adding the following modules to man-age
and report a variety of information from the FDOT database:
• An administrative module permits control of access to the bridge man-agement
system in Oracle and sets rights of users.
• A bridge module allows monitoring of the Deficient Bridge List,
load rating information, scour, and channel profiles with plotting
capabilities.
• A reports module enables customized inspection information, work
orders, and management reports ( figure 11).
Figure 11. Customized reports.
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SOUTH DAKOTA
The South Dakota Department of Transportation ( SDDOT), under the
guidance of the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Technology,
adopted the Pontis ® Bridge Management System to manage their bridge
inventory. Pontis ® software can be used with either an Oracle database or
Sybase ® ASA Adaptive Server Anywhere SQL client- server database.
SDDOT has chosen to use Sybase ® and Powersoft Infomaker ® to generate
reports and forms.
Bridge Inventory
SDDOT has customized Pontis ® with data input screens ( figure 12) that
allow for entering of more data items than those required by the FHWA
NBI translator. Key customization features include
• Six tables for roadway, structure unit, inspection information, substruc-ture
items, and accident data associated with bridges
• Forms for data entry
• New structure lists built around SDDOT’s business practices
• Database security measures
Figure 12. Customized form for bridge data.
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• Data transfer techniques using Pontis ® Data Interchange ( PDI)
• Pontis ® check- out/ check- in quality assurance procedures
• Modified reports
SDDOT’s bridge inventory data are valuable to a number of South
Dakota State agencies. For example, the State Department of Agriculture
uses the inventory and appraisal information to plan and locate new
ethanol plants. The inventory shows which bridges are on the proposed
routes and whether the existing bridges are posted for load limits. The
State Historical Office has used the inventory information to locate his-toric
structures in South Dakota.
Bridge Inspections
SDDOT inspects bridges using the AASHTO CoRe elements and some
custom developed elements. For example, a precast culvert is added to
track cast- in- place versus precast concrete culverts. SDDOT uses the
FHWA NBI translator to create the NBI ratings for deck, superstructure,
substructure, and culverts. State inspectors are responsible for inspection
data at the element level and for running the NBI translator, while Central
Office personnel are responsible for inventory, appraisal, and load rating
Forest City Bridge on US 212 over Lake Oahe, SD
23
information. Consultants performing bridge inspections for local govern-ments
are responsible for inventory, appraisal, inspection data, and load
rating information.
SDDOT saved approximately 900 man- hours per year in labor by cus-tomizing
the Pontis ® check- out/ check- in process. The initial practice was
to enter inspection data from paper forms. The objective of this cus-tomization
was to accomplish both State and non- State electronic inspec-tions
according to SDDOT business rules. For instance, the customization
allows SDDOT to limit only one bridge inspection to be checked- in and
only certain data fields to be updated from the checked out database into
their master database. They use this feature extensively throughout the
year, as on average 2,000 bridges are checked out to consultants perform-ing
local government bridge inspections.
Bridge Management
Like Caltrans, SDDOT maintains only the State- owned structures, which
total 1,811 and consist of 1,298 bridges and 513 culverts. The 4,062
structures owned by local governments include 3,469 bridges and 593 cul-verts.
Like most States, a majority of the bridges in the South Dakota State
system were built during the interstate era of the 1960s. Over 50 percent
are reinforced concrete bridges, and about 36 percent are steel girder
bridges, whereas for deck area, only 35 percent is reinforced concrete and
50 percent is steel girders ( figure 13). Because the goal is to preserve these
aging structures, SDDOT finds Pontis ® a valuable tool because it calcu-lates
the individual rates of deterioration for all the various materials.
During 2002 and 2003, SDDOT used Pontis ® to begin setting up
improvement models based on established policies and standards. Efforts
Concrete
Prestressed
Concrete
Steel
Timber 11% 16%
36%
53%
50% 34%
0% 0%
Figure 13. Material type by number of bridges ( left) and by deck area ( right).
24
in developing the preservation policy were concentrated on the most com-mon
elements in the inventory and the type of preservation work most
commonly performed, namely,
• Deck treatments such as epoxy chip seal overlays
• Low slump dense concrete overlays
• Membrane and asphalt overlays
• Waterproofing joints
• Bridge rail modifications
• Steel fatigue retrofits
• Approach slabs and approach modifications
SDDOT recognized the efficiency of programming Pontis ® for the
most prevalent elements first, and in time, it plans to continue program-ming
to cover policies for all NBI elements. The deterioration calculations
were initially based on expert elicitations, and it is expected that as more
element- level inspection data are collected, the historical data will super-sede
the expert elicitations. In other words, Pontis ® has the capability of
“ learning” from the inspection information that is input every 2 years.
Pontis ® learns how different materials deteriorate at different rates and can
thus modify repair and replacement policies. After, say, six inspection
cycles, Pontis ® can predict policies over a 20- year cycle.
The cost calculations for element actions in the preservation policy are
based on using average bid prices from previous years’ projects. SDDOT
bridge management personnel ensure that the bid item quantity units are
in the same format as defined element quantities in Pontis ® . An example
Fort Pierre Bridge on US 14 over the Missouri River, Pierre, SD
25
of cost calculation for low slump dense concrete ( LSDC) overlay for a
bridge deck in condition state 3 is illustrated in figure 14, where it is seen
that the unit costs for decks in condition states 4 and 5 reflect the addi-tional
costs needed for removal, preparation, and new material. Pontis ®
calculates each condition as a separate and independent element.
As part of developing its preservation policy, SDDOT must define fail-ure
cost for each element in its environment. SDDOT has adopted the
approach of letting Pontis ® calculate the minimum failure cost for each
element and adding a 10 percent increase to derive the revised failure
costs. This formula is used to force Pontis ® to trigger a definite action in
the worst condition state for an element, rather than defaulting to the “ Do
Nothing” option.
SDDOT uses Pontis ® to recommend bridge projects for its 5- year Sur-face
Transportation Improvement Program. The bridge simulation in Pon-tis
® allows the following three categories of projects, and further cus-tomization
is possible if needed:
• Inspector- generated work candidate projects
• Projects that are part of long- range programs
• Projects generated by Pontis ® based on incremental cost- benefit ratio
Avg. Bid Cost
Bridge Bid Item Quantity Unit ( 2004– 2005) Total Cost
Bridge Elevation Survey 1 Lump Sum $ 942.00 $ 942.00
LSDC Bridge Deck Overlay 22.3 yd3 $ 285.98 $ 6,377.35
Concrete Removal Type 1A 297.7 yd2 $ 17.45 $ 5,194.87
Concrete Removal Type 2A 73.5 yd2 $ 3.50 $ 257.25
Concrete Removal Type 1B 29.4 yd2 $ 70.15 $ 2,062.41
Concrete Removal Type 1C 14.7 yd2 $ 55.98 $ 822.91
Concrete Removal Type 1D 14.7 yd2 $ 62.53 $ 919.19
Concrete Removal Type B 10 ft $ 8.29 $ 82.90
Class A45 Concrete Fill 3.9 yd3 $ 180.50 $ 703.95
Finishing and Curing 294 yd2 $ 39.25 $ 11,539.50
Total LSDC cost = $ 28,902.33
Total deck area = 297.7 yd2
$ 97 Per yd2
$ 11 Per ft2
$ 116 Per m2
Figure 14. Cost calculations for low slump dense concrete overlay for bridge decks.
26
The first list generated is then reviewed and re- scoped to include indi-rect
costs ( e. g., mobilization, traffic control, contingencies, preliminary
and construction engineering) and is rerun through the program simula-tion
( figure 15). The revised list is then ranked manually by SDDOT per-sonnel
based on engineering judgment. Like Caltrans, SDDOT’s use of
Pontis ® helps SDDOT achieve its performance measure of reducing the
number of structurally deficient bridges and improving the overall health
index at the network level.
Conclusion
Because of efficiencies it has gained using Pontis ® , SDDOT has been able
to go to the next level of bridge management, embarking on a project
called Concept to Contract ( C2C). C2C incorporates all management sys-tems
into the new State Transportation Improvement Program ( figure 16).
Figure 15. Sample programmed list.
27
C2C includes the following subsystems:
• Maintain Candidate is a consolidated database containing South
Dakota’s highway system needs.
• Scoping and Estimating identifies alternatives for specific work to be
done on a project and its cost.
• Scheduling and Task Management identifies the tasks to be completed
prior to bidding, and by whom.
• Funding identifies what funding to be used on what projects and when
to use it.
• Bid Letting allows preparation of bidding documents and electronic
interaction with contractors.
Through the C2C program, SDDOT envisions having several comput-er
programs working together as a system to share common information
that is part of a highway construction project. It is anticipated that the
information will follow the life of the construction project from concep-tion
to the time it is advertised for construction.
Figure 16. C2C concept.
Consolidated
Database
Bridge
Management
Pavement
Management
Planners
Safety
Engineers
Traffic
Engineers
Maintenance
Workers
Regions &
Areas
Public
Opinion
Railroad
Crossings
Aeronautics &
Transit
Local
Government
28
STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES
AND PONTIS ®
States using the Pontis ® Bridge Management System have found its fea-tures
beneficial in terms of how it supports users in collecting bridge
inventory and inspection data; in formulating networkwide preservation
and improvement policies for use in evaluating the needs of each bridge in
a network; and in developing recommendations for identifying projects to
include in an agency’s capital plan for deriving the maximum benefits
from limited funds. Further benefits are that Pontis ® integrates the objec-tives
of public safety and risk reduction; is convenient to use; and aids in
the production of budgetary, maintenance, and program policies. Most
notably, it provides a systematic procedure for the allocation of resources
to the preservation and improvement of the bridges in a network by con-sidering
both the costs and benefits of maintenance policies versus invest-ments
in improvements or replacements.
Most of the 39 licensing States presently use Pontis ® only for collecting
bridge inventory and inspection data. This case study, in highlighting the
business and decisionmaking processes for State transportation agencies in
California, Florida, and South Dakota using Pontis ® , hopes to encourage
more States to move to the next level in using the software to its full extent.
Keystone Wye
Bridge on
US 16A, SD
Further Information
Michael B. Johnson, P. E.
California Department of Transportation
Division of Maintenance MS9- 1/ 91
1801 30th Street, P. O. Box 168041, Sacramento, CA 95816- 8041
916- 227- 8768 • Michael_ b_ johnson@ dot. ca. gov
Richard I. Kerr, P. E.
Florida Department of Transportation
State Maintenance Office
605 Suwannee Street, MS52, Tallahassee, FL 32399- 0450
850- 410- 5757 • Richard. kerr@ dot. state. fl. us
Todd S. Thompson, P. E.
South Dakota Department of Transportation
Office of Bridge Design
700 E. Broadway Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501
605- 773- 3285 • Todd. thompson@ state. sd. us
Raj K. Ailaney, P. E.
Office of Asset Management
Federal Highway Administration
400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590
202- 366- 1567 • Raj. Ailaney@ fhwa. dot. gov
Trademarks
AASHTOWare ® and BRIDGEWare ® are registered trademarks of the
American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials ( AASHTO).
Pontis ® is a registered trademark and proprietary software product of AASHTO.
Citrix ® is a registered trademark of Citrix Systems, Inc.
Quality assurance statement:
The Federal Highway Administration ( FHWA) provides high- quality information to serve Government,
industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used
to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically
reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.
Photography Credits
Photographs courtesy of California, Florida, and South Dakota State
Departments of Transportation
Front cover: Venetian Causeway, Miami, FL
Office of Asset Management
Federal Highway Administration
U. S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street, SW, HIAM- 30
Washington, DC 20590
Telephone: 202- 366- 0392
Fax: 202- 366- 9981
www. fhwa. dot. gov/ infrastructure/ asstmgmt
FHWA IF- 05- 040