A Comparative Analysis of Three Methodological Frameworks for Bridge Asset Management

Abstract

Bridge asset management refers to the process of planning, organizing, and directing all activities related to the life cycle of bridges. The process includes strategies to prioritize maintenance and provide cost-effective decisions about rehabilitation or replacement. In the US, the transportation agency of each state has its own guideline to prioritize intervention. In some cases, this is done by applying systematic methodologies based on different characteristics of the assets in order to schedule timely interventions and minimize adverse effects. In the study presented in this paper, three data-driven strategies based on the aggregation of information from the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) were applied to the bridges of Pennsylvania. Using data related to the year 2021, a ranking of the worst to the best bridge was obtained from each strategy. Then, three representative bridges of the city of Pittsburgh were selected and the NBI data related to the timeframe 1992–2023 were imported to identify trends attributable to degradation. The results show that the methods lead to three different rankings, whereas their the long-term trends agree.