FHWA's International Scan on Ensuring Bridge Safety and Serviceability

A growing number of bridge owners and experienced engineers in the United States are seeking to expand and mainstream the use of more rigorous design and evaluation approaches in everyday practice for both simple and complex bridges to achieve more economical use of materials, better understand the structural reliability, and ensure the traveling public a quantifiable level of safety and serviceability. To this end, an 11-member team was formed to study European practices. The team visited Finland, Austria, Germany, France, and England in June 2009. Specific topics of interest studied included safety and serviceability (design and construction; operations) and refined analysis (design, construction, and operations). The scan team identified many practices and technologies related to these topics of interest. These practices included (a) widespread use of refined methods of analyzing, designing, and assessing highway structures; (b) use of enhanced refined analysis to assess safety; (c) quality assurance and quality control practices in place; and (d) widespread use of performance-based approaches for durable structures. The scan team is in the process of developing a detailed implementation plan for the recommended initiatives and practices. Included in the plan will be a number of technical presentations and written papers at national meetings and conferences sponsored by FHWA, AASHTO, and other organizations to disseminate information from the scan. Also to be included in the plan are coordination requirements with AASHTO and FHWA to advance these initiatives and practices and to develop new FHWA and AASHTO standards and guidelines governing design and analysis.