The objective of this research was to develop practical guidelines that can be used to assess the effects of corrosion on structural details in steel highway bridges. The research resulted in two manuals for corrosion assessment: a field inspection manual which documents critical details and includes numerous photographs depicting qualitative corrosion severity indices; and a manual providing guidelines for office evaluation and bridge capacity rating due to the corrosion damage identified in the field. In addition, the final report provided recommended corrosion evaluation specification provisions for the AASHTO Manual for Maintenance Inspection of Bridges.

The two manuals and recommended specifications were published as NCHRP Report 333, "Guidelines for Evaluating Corrosion Effects in Existing Steel Bridges."