The objective of this research is to develop a handbook for possible adoption by AASHTO that will assist state departments of transportation in making bridge preservation investment decisions for an individual bridge, for a category of bridges with similar characteristics, and at the network level. The handbook should include a decision-making process and associated tools to assist in quantifying the benefits of selecting appropriate bridge preservation actions and investment strategies.
PHASES
PHASE I—Preservation Actions That Impact Bridge Service Life
Deliverables in this Phase shall include:
1. A critical review of existing technical literature, pertinent international and domestic scans, and NCHRP research that impact bridge service life including NCHRP Report 523: Optimal Timing of Pavement Preventive Maintenance Treatment Application; NCHRP Web-Only Document 45: A Process for Selecting Strategies for Rehabilitation of Rigid Pavements; and NCHRP Report 668: Framework for a National Database System for Maintenance Actions on Highway Bridges. In addition, the review should include owner and industry practices, the FHWA Long Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Program, and other research findings from both foreign and domestic sources.
2. A catalog of bridge element preservation actions.
3. Determination of which aspects of bridge service life are positively impacted by bridge element preservation actions.
4. Metrics that can be used to analyze the effectiveness of bridge preservation actions considering when and which action to apply and the impacts of applying or delaying an action.
5. A proposed method, for further analysis in Phase II, to prioritize bridge preservation actions according to the identified metrics.
6. A proposed method to determine appropriate levels of funding to achieve bridge agency selected goals and performance measures at network-level bridge preservation.
7. A detailed outline for the handbook. The handbook shall consider the bridge surrounding environment and be developed for direct use with the flexibility to be customized by bridge owners. In addition, the handbook shall consider bridges at the element level and at the network and sub-network levels.
8. Data archiving and sharing plan as described in Special Note B.
9. Interim Report No. 1 that documents deliverables 1 through 8 of Phase I, and provides an updated work plan for the remainder of the project no later than 8 months after contract award. The updated plan must describe the process and rationale for the work proposed for Phases II through IV.
PHASE II— Development and Validation of the Proposed Methods
Deliverables in this Phase shall include:
1. A detailed method with examples to prioritize bridge preservation actions according to the identified metrics in Phase I. Proposals shall describe the number of examples to be provided. The examples shall consider different bridge types and the surrounding environment. The method shall be implemented into decision-making tool(s).
2. A detailed method with examples to determine appropriate levels of funding to achieve bridge agency selected goals and performance measures at the network-level. The research team shall consider consequences of different investment scenarios.
3. An annotated description of each section and subsection of the proposed handbook along with the expected level of detail of each subsection.
4. A complete sample section that is publication ready with appropriate level of detail.
5. Interim Report No. 2 that documents deliverables 1 through 4 of Phase II and provides an updated work plan for the remainder of the project no later than 12 months after Phase I approval. The updated plan must describe the process and rationale for the work proposed for Phases III through IV.
PHASE III—Draft Handbook for Bridge Preservation
The deliverable for this phase will be a draft handbook with examples. The handbook should be submitted no later than 6 months before the contract end date.
PHASE IV—Final Products
Deliverables in this Phase shall include:
1. Revised handbook for bridge preservation after consideration of panel’s review comments.
2. An implementation plan.
3. A final report that documents the entire research effort.
