BRIDGE MAINTENANCE DECISION-MAKING MODEL

Abstract

As bridge infrastructure continues to age and deteriorate, maintenance is essential for keeping the bridges in good condition. However, owners have limited funds, thus, they need to select the most suitable maintenance option at the right time to minimize the cost. With all the advancements in processes and tools used to manage the bridge infrastructure, many US States continue to report high numbers of structurally deficient bridges, one of which is California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The objective of this study is (1) identifying effective practices used by owners in bridge maintenance management and (2) developing a decision-making model to maintain the bridges, using Caltrans as a case study. To achieve this objective, the methodology of the study is divided into three steps: (1) a review of the current state of practice of bridge maintenance decision-making processes and bridge asset management strategies currently used by US Department of Transportations (DOTs) that had shown improvement in their bridge management strategies, (2) a conducted in-depth case study of the Caltrans maintenance decision-making practices, (3) based on both the review of literature and the data collected from the case study, a revised bridge maintenance decision-making process is developed and presented using a swim lane diagram. The proposed model builds on exiting DOTs’ effective practices and optimizes the selection of bridge maintenance decisions, including repair, rehabilitation, and replacement. The developed maintenance decision-making framework could potentially improve the effectiveness of bridge maintenance operations and help decision-makers effectively select and prioritize the bridge maintenance options.