Bridge Safety Reporting

Course Description:

The Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Inspectors Reference Manual (BIRM) is a comprehensive manual on programs, procedures, and techniques for inspecting and evaluating a variety of in-service highway bridges. BIRM serves as the basis of a comprehensive National Highway Institute training program in bridge-safety inspections. The present course is based on BIRM’s Chapter 4, Bridge Inspection Reporting, and discusses

·         Structure inventory

·         Condition and appraisal

·         Record keeping and appraisal

·         The inspection report

·         AASTO commonly recognized (CoRe) elements

Learning Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Be familiar with the FHWA structure inventory, appraisal, and condition ratings
• Be familiar with over all culvert ratings
• Understand the concepts of functionally obsolete and structurally deficient
• Be cognizant of the concept of sufficiency ratings
• Be familiar with general items in the bridge record
• Be familiar with appropriate inspection documentation
• Know the basic components of a comprehensive bridge inspection report
• Be familiar with the terminology, requirements, and identification of AASHTO Commonly Recognized (CoRe) elements.