c1 Transportation Asset Management Case Studies

BRIDGE MANAGEMENT

Experiences of California, Florida, and South Dakota

Presented by
c2

San Francisco Bay Bridge, San Francisco, CA
1

Note From the Director

The Federal Highway Administration Office of Asset Management is promoting a different way for transportation agencies to distribute their

resources among alternative investment options. This new way of doing

business, “Asset Management,” is a strategic approach for getting the best

return on dollars spent for transportation improvements.

Each State transportation agency will likely have different methods for

implementing an Asset Management strategy. For example, some agencies

will pursue a data integration strategy in order to ensure comparable data

for the evaluation of investment alternatives across asset classes. Others will

move to deploy economic analysis tools to generate fact-based information

for decisionmakers. Still others will want to integrate new inventory assessment methods into their decisionmaking process. 

Pontis® is a comprehensive bridge management system tool developed to

assist in the challenging task of bridge management. Initially developed by

FHWA, Pontis® now is an AASHTO BRIDGEWare® product. It stores bridge

inventory and inspection data; formulates networkwide preservation and

improvement policies for use in evaluating the needs of each bridge in a

network; and makes recommendations for what projects to include in an

agency’s capital improvement program for deriving the maximum benefit

from limited funds. The software is continuously upgraded and improved

based on various users’ input. 

The FHWA in 2002 sponsored the development of a training course for

Pontis® that was offered to State highway agencies beginning in July 2002

as part of the National Highway Institute training curriculum. Since then,

the course has been modified to include changes in the software and has

been presented in 17 States.

A majority of the States licensing Pontis® use this tool for collecting bridge

inventory and inspection data only. On behalf of the Office of Asset Management, I am pleased to present this case study highlighting the business and

decisionmaking processes for three State transportation agencies: California,

Florida, and South Dakota. The Office encourages other States to move to the

next level in using the software capabilities to the full extent. This study, along

with the previous studies on data integration, economics in Asset Management, the Highway Economic Requirements System—State Version, and lifecycle cost analysis, will help agencies meet the challenges of managing their

transportation programs and implementing Asset Management. 

David R. Geiger, P.E.

Director, Office of Asset Management
2

Note to the Reader

The Transportation Asset Management Case Study series is the

result of a partnership between State departments of transportation and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

Office of Asset Management. FHWA provides the forum from

which to share information, and the individual States provide

the details of their experiences. For each case study report,

FHWA interviewed State transportation staff, and the resulting

material was approved by the State. As such, the reports rely

on the agencies’ own assessment of their experience. Readers

should note that the reported results may or may not be reproducible in other organizations. ■

Yankton Meridian Bridge on US 81 over the Missouri River, SD
3

Executive Summary 

State Departments of Transportation are integrating electronic

databases and software applications to achieve efficiencies

and meet their performance goals. California, Florida, and

South Dakota have been making progressive inroads using

the Pontis® Bridge Management System, and here they share

their approaches as a guide for other States who want to do

the same. 

All the information necessary to manage the integrity of

California’s bridge infrastructure is contained in a single database with sharing features achieved using the Pontis® data

structure. Pontis® is used not only to generate bridge reports,

but is also accessed by district maintenance crews, project

planners, Caltrans management, and the California Transportation Commission for their various lists and reports.

Florida has simplified management and found cost-effective

solutions by integrating Pontis® with the Citrix® MetaFrame

Access Suite and the Project-Level Analysis Tool (PLAT). Citrix®

MetaFrame is a Web tool for bridge inspections that efficiently

provides users a single point of access from any location, for

any number of people, using many devices, over any connection. PLAT is a decision support system tool that makes routine policy, programming, and budgeting decisions regarding

preservation and improvement of the State’s bridges.

Like all States, South Dakota’s goal is to preserve their

aging structures. Pontis® is a valuable tool in this regard

because it calculates the rate of deterioration for all the various bridge materials such as concrete, prestressed concrete,

steel, and timber. The South Dakota Department of Transportation saved approximately 900 annual man-hours in labor

by customizing the Pontis® check-out/check-in process and

abandoning their previous practice of entering inspection

data from paper forms.

An overview of the bridge management practices in these

three States is presented here to help State departments of

transportation shape their Asset Management programs in a

way that leads them to achieve their goals and performance

measures efficiently and cost effectively. ■
4

BACKGROUND

Asset Management is presently a key focus area for many transportation

agencies in the United States and abroad. Asset Management merges quality asset data with well-defined objectives to help improve a transportation

department’s business processes for resource allocation and utilization. In

short, Asset Management is “a strategic approach to managing transportation infrastructure.”

Asset Management uses data from the following management systems: 

• Pavement Management

• Bridge Management

• Tunnel Management

• Ancillary Structure Management (sign structure, high-mast light poles,

retaining walls, roadway appurtenances)

• Information Management

This case study focuses on the Bridge Management aspect of Asset

Management and, in particular, the role played by the Pontis® Bridge

Management System. 

CASE STUDY

The Pontis® Bridge Management System is a tool used by 39 States, 

5 municipalities, and 5 international agencies. It supports users in collecting bridge inventory and inspection data; in formulating networkwide

preservation and improvement policies for use in evaluating the needs 

of each bridge in a network; and in developing recommendations for 

identifying projects to include in an agency’s capital plan for deriving the

maximum benefits from limited funds.

Pontis® integrates the objectives of public safety and risk reduction, user

convenience, and preservation of investment to produce budgetary, maintenance, and program policies. Additionally, it provides a systematic procedure for the allocation of resources to the preservation and improvement

of the bridges in a network. Pontis® accomplishes this by considering both

the costs and benefits of maintenance policies versus investments in

improvements or replacements.
5

Figure 1 is a map of the United States color coded to show which States

are licensing Pontis® and how they are applying the software. As seen in

the figure, most of the 39 licensing States use Pontis® only for collecting

bridge inventory and inspection data. This case study highlights the business and decisionmaking processes for State transportation agencies in California, Florida, and South Dakota using Pontis® to manage their bridge

inventory. Their experience is presented to encourage more States to move

to the next level in using the software to its full extent. This study is based

on interviews conducted with representatives of the California, Florida,

and South Dakota State transportation agencies.

International Licensees:

Hungary; Estonia; Kuwait; Hokkaido, Japan; Italy

Inspection, Programming & Project Planning

Programming & Project Planning

Inspection & Project Planning

NV 

HI 

WA 

FL 

TX 

TN 

AZ 

LA 

NM MS 

AR 

SD 

AL 

MO 

CT 

OK 

KS 

GA 

ND 

KY 

IL 

UT 

NC 

WV 

CO 

MI 

IA 

CA 

VA 

ME

MN

IN 

SC 

MD 

ID 

NE 

PA 

NJ 

DE 

DC 

FHWA 

RI 

OH 

WY 

VT 

WI NY 

MA

Inspection & Programming

Inspection 

Implementing

OR 

MT 

AK 

City of Phoenix 

LA County 

and City of LA 

Santa Clara 

County 

NH

Figure 1. Pontis® licenses and applications for the year 2005.
6

CALIFORNIA

California is responsible for the inspection and preservation of approximately 24,500 bridges. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Maintenance Office in Sacramento, with a staff of more

than 140 bridge inspectors, structural engineers, and bridge management

engineers, performs periodic inspections and maintenance for all of California’s 12 districts. In addition, two independent city/county agencies

perform bridge inspections on their own inventory. Of the 11 bridge 

management engineers in the Division of Maintenance Office, 2 develop

software, 2 run bridge management programs in Pontis®, 1 enters data,

and 6 monitor all ongoing projects. 

Database

All the information necessary to manage the integrity of California’s bridge

infrastructure is contained in a single database with sharing features

achieved using the Pontis® data structure (figure 2). This interoperable

database design eliminates the need to move information from one component to the other. Additional tables are linked to the Pontis® structure

for various mission critical activities such as project tracking, maintenance

recommendations, detailed fracture critical, scour and load rating information, and postearthquake inspection activities.

Structures

Maintenance 

Web Page

SMART BIRIS

PONTIS

Database

®

Figure 2. Caltrans bridge management system schematic.
7

Caltrans inspectors and engineers use three primary applications to

access the different components of the database:

• SMART 

• Pontis®

• BIRIS

The overall security of the bridge management database is controlled at

two levels. At the top level, all users are required to log into the Oracle

engine, and their privileges are set to the appropriate level. At the form

level, the SMART interface application (figure 3) assigns additional controls at the user login and validates the individual data items against the

predefined values in the National Bridge Inspection Coding Guide. Inspectors, for example, can update any data item available to them through this

SMART interface, but they cannot delete a bridge from the system. Using

the Internet, district maintenance crews can access current recommendations for each bridge but are only allowed to update a single field, which

indicates that a work item has been completed.

Figure 3. Caltrans SMART interface.
8

Bridge Inspections 

Using SMART

Caltrans inspectors are required to

be State-licensed civil engineers. 

The inspection teams are responsible for all biennial inspections as

well as fracture critical and underwater inspections. The teams collect inventory data and condition

information in the field on system-generated pre-inspection reports and

enter the inspection results into an electronic format to comply with

National Bridge Inspection (NBI) standards. Their inspections are based

on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials “AASHTO Guide for Commonly Recognized (CoRe) Structural 

Elements” and custom developed elements that provide information on

the condition of each element on the bridge. The information includes

detailed fracture critical findings, load rating information, photos, and

commentary for each structure in the bridge inventory. All textual as well

as graphic information from these statewide inspections is then entered

into the centralized bridge management database. Bridge inspectors use

SMART, a custom inspection collection and report generation software,

which has a thin-client (Web-based) interface that allows inspectors to

access the database from a remote location. 

The bridge information entered into the database through the inspection process is ultimately presented in a bridge inspection report. The

inspection team is responsible for the inspection report and for making

recommendations for preservation actions based on their findings in the

field. The bridge inspection report documents the current condition of 

the bridge and all recommended work for that structure. This inspection

report is the primary means of conveying the results of the inspection to

the bridge owners. 

In addition to the bridge report, the bridge management database is

used to generate various lists and reports for district maintenance crews,

project planners, Caltrans management, and the California Transportation

Commission.

Bridge inspectors use 

SMART, a custom inspection

collection and report generation software, which has a

thin-client (Web-based) 

interface that allows inspectors to access the database

from a remote location.
9

Project Prioritization Using Pontis®

The bridge management staff uses the Pontis® Bridge Management System

to perform deterioration modeling and project prioritization. Within the

Caltrans Division of Maintenance Office, the Office of Structure Maintenance and Investigation has the primary role for determining scope and

priority for all bridge maintenance and preservation projects.

Bridge management engineers review and prioritize the needs identified

by the inspectors. Projects are designed to minimize impacts to traffic and

to maximize improvements with the funds available. Improvement projects

involving, for example, new alignment or bridge widening, are initiated by

the Caltrans Office of Planning along with Regional Transportation Planning Organizations.

These recommendations from all over the State are prioritized and validated by the Office of Structure Maintenance and Investigation against the

project recommended priority list generated by Pontis® (figure 4). Bridge

projects generated are manually coordinated with pavement management

system projects, which is done through data extraction of projects from 

the bridge management database. Bridge managers use the comparison to

coordinate the scheduling of projects. In some cases, Caltrans has operated

Figure 4. Pontis® work candidate priority list.

Bridge ID Feature Intersected Year Predom. Predom. Cost ($) Benefit ($) BCR

Action Object

24 0228R Stockton, 34th,35th, & T 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 10,894 127,237 11.68

57 0551F Sign Structure 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 9,351 106,703 11.41

57 0772 Route 67 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 7,042 78,991 11.22

24 0289L UP,BNSF, 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 9,144 101,447 11.09

SCRTDLRT,Redding

24 0069R UP RR,BNSF,Amtrak, I ST 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 30,159 331,653 11.00

57 0713R San Luis Rey River 2007 Min Repair Pourable Joint Seal 6,802 74,562 10.96

57 0568L MTDB,BNSF, 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 5,671 62,018 10.94

Amtrak,15,PAC

17 0070 Route 80 2007 Rehab Elem Other Bridge Railing 6,758 72,502 10.73

25 0099 South Fork American Riv 2007 Ovly Deck R/Conc Approach Slab 6,869 70,879 10.32

57 0001L San Mateo Creek 2007 Min Repair Pourable Joint Seal 5,933 59,279 9.99
10

using a Corridor Maintenance Policy, where segments of highways with a

variety of maintenance needs such as bridge, roadway, landscaping, and

drainage are publicized for full or substantial closure prior to performing

the necessary work. 

The Division of Maintenance Office has adopted the bridge health

index as one performance measure toward its goal of preserving the bridge

inventory. The health index is a single number indicator of the structural

health of the bridge. This indicator is expressed as a percentage value from

0 percent to 100 percent, corresponding to the worst and best possible

conditions, respectively. The health index is calculated in Pontis® as a function of the fractional distribution of the bridge’s element-level information

across the range of their applicable condition states. Caltrans has begun an

incentive program to encourage all districts to aim for a higher overall

bridge health index.

Project Archiving Using BIRIS 

California maintains a complete image archive of all bridge “as-built”

plans, bridge reports, photos, and other significant correspondence in 

the bridge database. This information is scanned and indexed into the

database by a staff specifically trained for this task. The images archived in

the database are accessed using BIRIS, a Web application product developed specifically for Caltrans.

The database archive also contains 

• Information on projects accomplished by State crews

• Completed State crew maintenance activities that are scheduled and

performed based on recommendations by inspectors (documented in

the database by the particular 

district crew performing the work

via a custom developed 

Web page)

• Minor and major rehabilitation

projects completed by contractors. 

California maintains a 

complete image archive of 

all bridge “as-built” plans,

bridge reports, photos, and

other significant correspondence in the bridge 

database.
11

Conclusion

Caltrans enjoys effective management of its entire bridge inventory

because the bridge management data are held in a single large database

that is accessible to all users through Pontis® programming tools. 

Bidwell Bar Bridge at Lake Oroville, CA
12

FLORIDA

Florida is divided into seven geographic districts and one Turnpike district,

as shown in figure 5. Each district is responsible for element-level inspections of Florida’s 11,100 bridges (6,300 State highway bridges and 4,800

local bridges). To maintain, manage, and evaluate the needs of the State’s

bridge inventory, five personnel in the State Maintenance Office and two

programming personnel coordinate with the districts, the Work Program

Office, and the offices of Planning and Engineering Support Services.

Bridge Inspection Program

Inspectors working for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)

are required to be State-licensed professional engineers or certified bridge

inspectors who have completed the National Highway Institute course in

bridge inspection and meet FDOT’s experience requirements. Through

the Bridge Inspection Program, engineers identify needs and make recommendations, which are recorded in the Pontis® Bridge Management System. 

Figure 5. Florida district map.
13

Inspections are done by FDOT

engineers or with the help of consultants and are entered in Pontis® through

Web access into a centralized Oracle

database. Pontis® also allows the option

of working from a database such as

Sybase® ASA Adaptive Server Anywhere. To simplify the management of FDOT’s resources and make them

more cost effective to operate, FDOT has adopted the third-party software

Citrix® MetaFrame Access Suite to integrate with Pontis®. Citrix®

Metaframe provides a single point of access from any location, for any

number of people, using many devices, over any connection. The software

can be customized to allow State DOTs to design a system that gives individuals access to Web tools for bridge inspections. The benefits of Citrix®

MetaFrame are as follows:

• Centrally consolidated applications, reducing costs and complexity

• Increased productivity

• Diminished business/technical disruptions

• “Observation dashboard” showing where, how, when, and by whom

systems are accessed

• Software as a utility and access control

• Security that ensures only the intended users have access to the appropriate resources 

• Office-like environment, ensuring no compromise in quality, regardless

of location

• Users connect and compute over any network

• User movement from device to device, wire to wireless, office to office,

site to site

FDOT’s “Bridge Inspectors Field Guide of Structural Elements” is 

a modified version of the “AASHTO Guide for Commonly Recognized

(CoRe) Structural Elements.” CoRe elements and non-CoRe elements are

grouped into a logical numbering sequence mimicking the AASHTO

guide as follows:

• 1–99 deck elements 

• 100–199 superstructure elements

• 200–299 substructure elements

The software can be 

customized to allow State

DOTs to design a system

that gives individuals access

to Web tools for bridge

inspections. 
14

• 300–399 miscellaneous elements and smart flags

• 400–499 FDOT miscellaneous elements (e.g., high-mast light poles

and sign structures)

• 500–599 movable bridge elements

Feasible Action Review Committee

A Feasible Action Review Committee (FARC) in each district office is

responsible for reviewing and prioritizing the needs identified by the

inspectors. FARC uses the Project-Level Analysis Tool (PLAT), an integrated software customized for FDOT. PLAT (figure 6) is a decisions support

system tool that makes routine policy, programming, and budgeting decisions regarding preservation and improvement of the State’s bridges. The

bar graph display is dynamic. As the user moves the mouse over the graph,

it changes to show how conditions adjust by year. Engineers are able to

visualize deterioration rates for different elements on the bridge (figure 7),

to predict economies of scale, and to scope several scenarios.

Specific new PLAT models developed for FDOT are: 

• Accident risk and user cost due to roadway width and alignment 

deficiencies

• User cost of load capacity, vertical clearance restrictions, and movable

bridge openings 

• Project-level prediction models for bridge element conditions and costs 

These new PLAT models are displayed graphically in a spreadsheet format

as an aid in decision making. 

Engineers use PLAT to determine the economic health of a structure,

and they use it as a design tool for candidate projects to program into the

management process. When

the engineer modifies a candidate by changing the element

action selections, quantities, or

various cost factors, PLAT

responds, immediately updating its predictive results. This

new project-level decision support framework complements

and builds on the existing 

Lake Ockeechobee Rim Canal Swing Bridge 

in Palm Beach County, FL
15

network-level analysis in Pontis®. Florida is one of the few States integrating Pontis® to do network-level analysis applications.*

FDOT’s development program classifies the inspectors’ needs and 

recommendations into three categories:

• Routine maintenance

• Periodic maintenance and repair

• Replacements

Once the inspectors’ recommendations are sorted into the three categories above, the next step is to create work orders in Pontis® and upload

them to FDOT’s customized mainframe Maintenance Management System

Figure 6. Project-level analysis tool.

Figure 7. Predicted condition and candidate action.

*Network-level analysis refers to a group of bridges (all bridges in a State, district, or

county) and does not distinguish among individual bridges. 
16

(MMS) (figures 8 and 9). Work orders are given priority ratings from 1 to

4, priority 1 being an emergency situation requiring work to be completed

within 60 days; priority 2, an urgent situation with a 180-day limitation;

priority 3, routine work to be done within 1 year; and priority 4, no

immediate deadline but information is provided. One of FDOT’s 

performance measures is to monitor delinquency of work orders. All work

orders are scheduled and performed by the districts or by an independent

asset management contractor.

State Bridge Replacement Program

The State Bridge Replacement Program addresses bridges on State highways, local roads, Federal-aid highways, and non-Federal-aid systems as

well as construction of any new replacement bridges for pre-existing deficient structures. The Bridge Replacement Program objectives established

by FDOT are consistent with Florida Statutes and place primary emphasis

on structurally deficient or weight-restricted bridges on State highways.

The FDOT State Maintenance Office develops this list annually to review

the inventory for posted bridges that need replacement, thus accomplishing one of its performance measures. Pontis® generates a Deficient Bridge

List (figure 10) using the following qualifying definitions (customized

from FHWA’s definitions of deficient bridges) to identify bridges:

• Strength Replacement bridges are

either (1) structurally deficient or

(2) posted for weight restrictions.

These bridges are programmed for

construction within 6 years of deficiency identification.

• Economy Replacement bridges

require structural repair but are

more cost effective to replace.

These bridges are programmed

within 9 years of deficiency 

identification.

State Bridge Repair Program

The State Bridge Repair Program

addresses routine maintenance, 

Broadway Bridge on US 92 over the 

Intracoastal Waterway, Daytona Beach, FL
17

Figure 8. Work order in Pontis®.

Figure 9. Work order in Maintenance Management System.
18

periodic maintenance, and specified rehabilitation activities on bridge

structures for which FDOT has maintenance responsibilities. Each district

receives funding based on its portion of the total State bridge inventory.

Funds are allocated based on number of movable bridges and fender systems, tonnage of structural steel for painting, and the district’s total quantity of deck area for bridges with an overall structural appraisal rating of

“fair” or “poor.” These funds are programmed and managed by each district. The Turnpike District is responsible for repair of bridges on the

Turnpike Enterprise system and bridge projects funded by Turnpike funds.

Pontis® is able to assimilate bridges under all the different programs and

show how they fit into the various funding categories. 

As in the State Bridge Replacement Program, the State Bridge Repair

Program identifies bridges programmed for replacement from the annual

Deficient Bridge List (figure 10), identified by one of the following 

definitions:

• Rehabilitation includes strengthening a bridge to increase its load carrying capacity, deck replacement, deck rehabilitation, or superstructure

rehabilitation.

Figure 10. Deficient Bridge List customized applet in Pontis®.
19

• Periodic Maintenance includes movable rebuild, deck major repair,

superstructure major repair, paint system replacement, deck joint

replacement, deck overlay, scour countermeasures, or fender

repair/replacement.

• Routine Maintenance includes deck joint, deck, railing, superstructure,

substructure, and channel maintenance and repair.

States can customize their own definitions to fit their needs, as Florida

has done.

Movable Bridge Program

Florida is the only State at this time that manages its movable bridges

through Pontis®. FDOT’s inventory of 98 movable bridges includes 3 lift

type, 94 bascule type, and 1 swing type bridge. Florida customized Pontis®

to coincide with the elements, units, and condition states of movable

bridges in the FDOT “Bridge Inspectors Field Guide of Structural 

Elements,” as follows: 

• Drive system 

• Gears

• Shaft bearings and couplings

• Brakes

• Hydraulic power units

• Piping and cylinders

• Control and interlock system

• Transformers/thyristors

• Submarine cables

• Programmable logic controllers and control consoles

• Miscellaneous and traffic control elements

• Navigational light system

• Operator facilities

• Resistance and warning gates

• Traffic signals 
20

Conclusion

Florida is successfully achieving its performance goals by using the Pontis®

Bridge Management System to store inspection information and generate

work orders and priority ratings through MMS software. In addition,

FDOT has customized Pontis® by adding the following modules to manage and report a variety of information from the FDOT database:

• An administrative module permits control of access to the bridge management system in Oracle and sets rights of users.

• A bridge module allows monitoring of the Deficient Bridge List, 

load rating information, scour, and channel profiles with plotting 

capabilities.

• A reports module enables customized inspection information, work

orders, and management reports (figure 11).

Figure 11. Customized reports.
21

SOUTH DAKOTA

The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT), under the

guidance of the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Technology,

adopted the Pontis® Bridge Management System to manage their bridge

inventory. Pontis® software can be used with either an Oracle database or

Sybase® ASA Adaptive Server Anywhere SQL client-server database.

SDDOT has chosen to use Sybase® and Powersoft Infomaker® to generate

reports and forms. 

Bridge Inventory

SDDOT has customized Pontis® with data input screens (figure 12) that

allow for entering of more data items than those required by the FHWA

NBI translator. Key customization features include

• Six tables for roadway, structure unit, inspection information, substructure items, and accident data associated with bridges

• Forms for data entry

• New structure lists built around SDDOT’s business practices

• Database security measures

Figure 12. Customized form for bridge data.
22

• Data transfer techniques using Pontis® Data Interchange (PDI) 

• Pontis® check-out/check-in quality assurance procedures

• Modified reports

SDDOT’s bridge inventory data are valuable to a number of South

Dakota State agencies. For example, the State Department of Agriculture

uses the inventory and appraisal information to plan and locate new

ethanol plants. The inventory shows which bridges are on the proposed

routes and whether the existing bridges are posted for load limits. The

State Historical Office has used the inventory information to locate historic structures in South Dakota.

Bridge Inspections

SDDOT inspects bridges using the AASHTO CoRe elements and some

custom developed elements. For example, a precast culvert is added to

track cast-in-place versus precast concrete culverts. SDDOT uses the

FHWA NBI translator to create the NBI ratings for deck, superstructure,

substructure, and culverts. State inspectors are responsible for inspection

data at the element level and for running the NBI translator, while Central

Office personnel are responsible for inventory, appraisal, and load rating

Forest City Bridge on US 212 over Lake Oahe, SD
23

information. Consultants performing bridge inspections for local governments are responsible for inventory, appraisal, inspection data, and load

rating information. 

SDDOT saved approximately 900 man-hours per year in labor by customizing the Pontis® check-out/check-in process. The initial practice was

to enter inspection data from paper forms. The objective of this customization was to accomplish both State and non-State electronic inspections according to SDDOT business rules. For instance, the customization

allows SDDOT to limit only one bridge inspection to be checked-in and

only certain data fields to be updated from the checked out database into

their master database. They use this feature extensively throughout the

year, as on average 2,000 bridges are checked out to consultants performing local government bridge inspections.

Bridge Management

Like Caltrans, SDDOT maintains only the State-owned structures, which

total 1,811 and consist of 1,298 bridges and 513 culverts. The 4,062

structures owned by local governments include 3,469 bridges and 593 culverts. Like most States, a majority of the bridges in the South Dakota State

system were built during the interstate era of the 1960s. Over 50 percent

are reinforced concrete bridges, and about 36 percent are steel girder

bridges, whereas for deck area, only 35 percent is reinforced concrete and

50 percent is steel girders (figure 13). Because the goal is to preserve these

aging structures, SDDOT finds Pontis® a valuable tool because it calculates the individual rates of deterioration for all the various materials. 

During 2002 and 2003, SDDOT used Pontis® to begin setting up

improvement models based on established policies and standards. Efforts

Concrete 

Prestressed

Concrete

Steel

Timber 11% 16%

36%

53%

50% 34%

0% 0%

Figure 13. Material type by number of bridges (left) and by deck area (right).
24

in developing the preservation policy were concentrated on the most common elements in the inventory and the type of preservation work most

commonly performed, namely,

• Deck treatments such as epoxy chip seal overlays

• Low slump dense concrete overlays

• Membrane and asphalt overlays

• Waterproofing joints

• Bridge rail modifications

• Steel fatigue retrofits

• Approach slabs and approach modifications

SDDOT recognized the efficiency of programming Pontis® for the

most prevalent elements first, and in time, it plans to continue programming to cover policies for all NBI elements. The deterioration calculations

were initially based on expert elicitations, and it is expected that as more

element-level inspection data are collected, the historical data will supersede the expert elicitations. In other words, Pontis® has the capability of

“learning” from the inspection information that is input every 2 years.

Pontis® learns how different materials deteriorate at different rates and can

thus modify repair and replacement policies. After, say, six inspection

cycles, Pontis® can predict policies over a 20-year cycle.

The cost calculations for element actions in the preservation policy are

based on using average bid prices from previous years’ projects. SDDOT

bridge management personnel ensure that the bid item quantity units are

in the same format as defined element quantities in Pontis®. An example

Fort Pierre Bridge on US 14 over the Missouri River, Pierre, SD
25

of cost calculation for low slump dense concrete (LSDC) overlay for a

bridge deck in condition state 3 is illustrated in figure 14, where it is seen

that the unit costs for decks in condition states 4 and 5 reflect the additional costs needed for removal, preparation, and new material. Pontis®

calculates each condition as a separate and independent element.

As part of developing its preservation policy, SDDOT must define failure cost for each element in its environment. SDDOT has adopted the

approach of letting Pontis® calculate the minimum failure cost for each

element and adding a 10 percent increase to derive the revised failure

costs. This formula is used to force Pontis® to trigger a definite action in

the worst condition state for an element, rather than defaulting to the “Do

Nothing” option. 

SDDOT uses Pontis® to recommend bridge projects for its 5-year Surface Transportation Improvement Program. The bridge simulation in Pontis® allows the following three categories of projects, and further customization is possible if needed:

• Inspector-generated work candidate projects

• Projects that are part of long-range programs

• Projects generated by Pontis® based on incremental cost-benefit ratio

Avg. Bid Cost

Bridge Bid Item Quantity Unit (2004–2005) Total Cost

Bridge Elevation Survey 1 Lump Sum $ 942.00 $ 942.00 

LSDC Bridge Deck Overlay 22.3 yd3 $ 285.98 $ 6,377.35 

Concrete Removal Type 1A 297.7 yd2 $ 17.45 $ 5,194.87 

Concrete Removal Type 2A 73.5 yd2 $ 3.50 $ 257.25 

Concrete Removal Type 1B 29.4 yd2 $ 70.15 $ 2,062.41 

Concrete Removal Type 1C 14.7 yd2 $ 55.98 $ 822.91 

Concrete Removal Type 1D 14.7 yd2 $ 62.53 $ 919.19 

Concrete Removal Type B 10 ft $ 8.29 $ 82.90 

Class A45 Concrete Fill 3.9 yd3 $ 180.50 $ 703.95 

Finishing and Curing 294 yd2 $ 39.25 $11,539.50 

Total LSDC cost = $28,902.33 

Total deck area = 297.7 yd2

$ 97 Per yd2

$ 11 Per ft2

$ 116 Per m2

Figure 14. Cost calculations for low slump dense concrete overlay for bridge decks.
26

The first list generated is then reviewed and re-scoped to include indirect costs (e.g., mobilization, traffic control, contingencies, preliminary

and construction engineering) and is rerun through the program simulation (figure 15). The revised list is then ranked manually by SDDOT personnel based on engineering judgment. Like Caltrans, SDDOT’s use of

Pontis® helps SDDOT achieve its performance measure of reducing the

number of structurally deficient bridges and improving the overall health

index at the network level. 

Conclusion

Because of efficiencies it has gained using Pontis®, SDDOT has been able

to go to the next level of bridge management, embarking on a project

called Concept to Contract (C2C). C2C incorporates all management systems into the new State Transportation Improvement Program (figure 16).

Figure 15. Sample programmed list.
27

C2C includes the following subsystems:

• Maintain Candidate is a consolidated database containing South 

Dakota’s highway system needs.

• Scoping and Estimating identifies alternatives for specific work to be

done on a project and its cost.

• Scheduling and Task Management identifies the tasks to be completed

prior to bidding, and by whom.

• Funding identifies what funding to be used on what projects and when

to use it.

• Bid Letting allows preparation of bidding documents and electronic

interaction with contractors.

Through the C2C program, SDDOT envisions having several computer programs working together as a system to share common information

that is part of a highway construction project. It is anticipated that the

information will follow the life of the construction project from conception to the time it is advertised for construction.

Figure 16. C2C concept.

Consolidated

Database

Bridge

Management

Pavement

Management

Planners

Safety

Engineers

Traffic

Engineers

Maintenance

Workers

Regions &

Areas

Public

Opinion

Railroad

Crossings

Aeronautics &

Transit

Local

Government
28

STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES 

AND PONTIS®

States using the Pontis® Bridge Management System have found its features beneficial in terms of how it supports users in collecting bridge

inventory and inspection data; in formulating networkwide preservation

and improvement policies for use in evaluating the needs of each bridge in

a network; and in developing recommendations for identifying projects to

include in an agency’s capital plan for deriving the maximum benefits

from limited funds. Further benefits are that Pontis® integrates the objectives of public safety and risk reduction; is convenient to use; and aids in

the production of budgetary, maintenance, and program policies. Most

notably, it provides a systematic procedure for the allocation of resources

to the preservation and improvement of the bridges in a network by considering both the costs and benefits of maintenance policies versus investments in improvements or replacements.

Most of the 39 licensing States presently use Pontis® only for collecting

bridge inventory and inspection data. This case study, in highlighting the

business and decisionmaking processes for State transportation agencies in

California, Florida, and South Dakota using Pontis®, hopes to encourage

more States to move to the next level in using the software to its full extent. 

Keystone Wye

Bridge on 

US 16A, SD
Further Information

Michael B. Johnson, P.E.

California Department of Transportation

Division of Maintenance MS9-1/91

1801 30th Street, P.O. Box 168041, Sacramento, CA 95816-8041

916-227-8768 • Michael_b_johnson@dot.ca.gov

Richard I. Kerr, P.E.

Florida Department of Transportation

State Maintenance Office

605 Suwannee Street, MS52, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0450

850-410-5757 • Richard.kerr@dot.state.fl.us

Todd S. Thompson, P.E.

South Dakota Department of Transportation

Office of Bridge Design

700 E. Broadway Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501

605-773-3285 • Todd.thompson@state.sd.us

Raj K. Ailaney, P.E.

Office of Asset Management

Federal Highway Administration

400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590

202-366-1567 • Raj.Ailaney@fhwa.dot.gov

Trademarks

AASHTOWare® and BRIDGEWare® are registered trademarks of the 

American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

Pontis® is a registered trademark and proprietary software product of AASHTO.

Citrix® is a registered trademark of Citrix Systems, Inc.

Quality assurance statement:

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government,

industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used

to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically

reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.

Photography Credits

Photographs courtesy of California, Florida, and South Dakota State 

Departments of Transportation

Front cover: Venetian Causeway, Miami, FL
Office of Asset Management

Federal Highway Administration

U.S. Department of Transportation

400 Seventh Street, SW, HIAM-30

Washington, DC 20590

Telephone: 202-366-0392

Fax: 202-366-9981

www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/asstmgmt

FHWA IF-05-040