Minimizing Barriers to Implementing a Risk-Based Inspection Planning Framework in State Departments of Transportation (DOTs)

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is looking into allowing a risk-based approach for scheduling bridge inspections. However, diverging from the uniform 2-year cycle used by most state bridge owners to schedule inspections might require significant time and resources to adjust. The risk-based approach proposed by the FHWA is based on expert judgement which could be subjective and inaccurate. Also, the FHWA risk-based model only focuses on determining inspection time, but not inspection type or method. Therefore, in this research project the research team aims to develop a robust decision framework that will help enhance the risk-based inspection, minimize subjectivity, and streamline the inspection planning process. Bayesian analysis will be used to integrate deterioration models and inspection data with expert judgment to improve the robustness of the decision process. An optimization problem will also be formulated to help determine the inspection method that will help maximize the probability of damage detection before failure and minimize inspection cost. The location and properties of bridges will also be incorporated in the planning process to facilitate the logistics of inspection actions. The framework will be applied on low-risk bridges in Colorado, which is expected to lead to most cost-savings.

Language

  • English

Project

  • Status: Active
  • Funding: $121000
  • Contract Numbers:

    69A3551747108

  • Sponsor Organizations:

    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

    University Transportation Centers Program
    Department of Transportation
    Washington, DC  United States  20590
  • Managing Organizations:

    Mountain-Plains Consortium

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, ND  United States  58108
  • Project Managers:

    Tolliver, Denver

  • Performing Organizations:

    Colorado State University

    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
    Campus Delivery 1372
    Fort Collins, CO  United States  80523
  • Principal Investigators:

    Guo, Yanlin

    Atadero, Rebecca

  • Start Date: 20211217
  • Expected Completion Date: 20230731
  • Actual Completion Date: 0
  • USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
  • Source Data: MPC-680

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01832317
  • Record Type: Research project
  • Source Agency: Mountain-Plains Consortium
  • Contract Numbers: 69A3551747108
  • Files: UTC, RIP
  • Created Date: Jan 9 2022 8:59PM