Local Agency Experience with the Utilization of Bridge Management Systems in Finland and the United States

Abstract

In recent years significant efforts have been made to collect, review, manage and analyse information on bridge structures in many countries. In many cases these data are organized into computerized bridge management systems which usually include additional analytic and programmatic capabilities beyond mere record-keeping for structures. These systems often are intended to define and establish national bridge infrastructure priorities. In many cases local government agencies have been the primary collection agents for the various data maintained in bridge management systems which include inventory, structural conditions and appraisal information.

The national uses for bridge management systems tend to focus on network level programming and forecasting of resource utilization and have been widely discussed in a variety of different forums and professional publications. This paper discusses the actual uses that bridge management professionals working at the regional or local level have for BMS data bases. The paper is based on interviews conducted with bridge management staff in a local highway agency and an urban transit authority in the US and with district bridge engineers in Finland. The case study discussion is intended to provide BMS system users and designers with a better understanding of the positive and negative consequences of the elaboration of national bridge management systems at the grassroots level.