Companion Guide to Video February 2020

www.fhwa.dot.gov/federal-aidessentials

Does your agency recognize that preventive 

maintenance programs increase the useful life 

of bridges? Even if it does, most operational 

staff will say that reactive repairs and bridge 

closures dominate their daily priorities. And if 

responding to these complaints is done at the 

expense of essential preventive tasks, such as 

removing debris or sealing or replacing leaking 

joints, new and more costly problems will soon 

develop— making you feel like you are running 

in circles. 

To gain forward momentum, operational staff 

at State and local levels are starting to develop 

innovative approaches to tackling the problem 

of deferred maintenance with some 

encouraging results. 

How about your agency? Are you analyzing and 

piloting new approaches to maintenance, or is it 

business as usual and at what impact to the 

inventory of bridges over time?

Here we’ll look at three strategies for adding 

preventive maintenance to your work routine 

and follow one maintenance department as it 

develops its own pilot program. 

As our first strategy, consider implementing 

short-term maintenance contracts to perform 

bridge preservation activities rather than longterm construction contracts. Maintenance 

contracts have several advantages. 

First, they allow agencies to follow a more 

streamlined process for preparing and letting 

bids which are managed by maintenance field 

staff. By using experienced bridge maintenance 

workers to manage maintenance contracts, 

agencies can expand their capacity for bridge 

preservation activities and better control job 

quality. Additionally, short term traffic closures 

standards can be applied to these smaller 

contracts which result in less impact on traffic 

flow. 

Federal-aid Program Overview

Bridge Preservation

Bridge Preservation Strategies for Operations Staff.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

As an alternative to contracting, consider 

developing a crew of bridge preservation 

experts who are knowledgeable in general 

preservation strategies and the extensive 

details of bridge preservation work. If you’re 

wondering where your department is going to 

find the time and money for training and 

development, look to your State Department of 

Transportation, and the Federal Highway 

Administration for guidance, or contact your 

Local Technical Assistance Program, or LTAP. 

LTAPs provide practical access to training at 

low- to no-cost to your agency. 

And lastly, as an alternative to developing a 

general crew of bridge preservation experts, 

consider creating specialized work crews that 

focus on a single preservation activity, such as 

joint sealing or bridge washing. The division of 

labor among crews can increase efficiency and 

result in the completion of more preservation 

work.

The American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials, or AASHTO, places an 

emphasis on bridge preservation activities for 

bridges. AASHTO has established a 

Transportation System Preservation Technical 

Service Program, or TSP2, to support bridge 

preservation activities, which includes informal 

peer groups.

Let’s follow the experience of an agency’s 

maintenance department as it utilizes a peer 

group and moves forward with an efficient use 

of bridge funds.

While attending the annual meeting of a Bridge 

Preservation Peer Group, Greenville County’s 

bridge maintenance engineer learned that 

nearby St. Clair County had recently piloted a 

new contracting process. St. Clair’s new bridge 

deck sealing contract gave the agency flexibility 

when scheduling the work. By focusing work on 

single corridors, St. Clair County reduced both 

the cost of traffic control and inconvenience to 

the public. 

Impressed with the results at St. Clair County, 

Greenville County’s bridge management 

engineer collaborated with Greenville’s 

maintenance supervisor to evaluate a similar 

strategy at their agency. Together, they 

demonstrated to county leadership that a 

maintenance contract with flexible scheduling 

would likely result in more timely bridge 

preservation activities and an anticipated 

improvement in the overall bridge network 

condition over time. County leadership 

approved the proposed plan and allocated the 

funding for a pilot program. 
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

The success with a new contracting process has 

led the bridge management engineer and 

maintenance supervisor to develop additional 

plans to improve the useful life of the bridge 

network within their jurisdiction. They intend 

to:

• Research additional innovative and costeffective ways to preserve bridge 

conditions from the AASHTO website;

• Analyze the cost and benefit to the bridge 

network of various strategies over time; 

and

• Make further recommendations and 

proposals for funding to county leadership.

The bridge maintenance engineer is optimistic 

this proposed approach will reduce reactive 

repairs and bridge closures over time. 

Our example illustrates the benefits of:

• Participating in the Bridge Preservation 

Peer Group or other professional 

associations;

• Tracking and evaluating results; and

• Communicating your organization's role in 

solving the problem of deferred 

maintenance. 

Does your maintenance department already 

have a bridge preservation program in place? If 

not, reach out to peer agencies who have 

successfully implemented a program to see how 

they got started. Planning for and applying 

preservation activities as a regular part of your 

maintenance work can keep you moving 

forward with limited budgets and keep your 

bridges in better shape.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

The content of this 

document is not a 

substitute for 

information obtained 

from State departments 

of transportation, 

appropriate FHWA 

Division Offices, and 

applicable laws. 

Scenarios have been 

simplified for emphasis 

and do not necessarily 

reflect the actual range 

of requirements 

applicable to the 

scenario or this topic. 

This document was 

created under contract 

number DTFH61-13-A00001 by the Federal 

Highway Administration, 

U.S. Department of 

Transportation, and is 

offered to the public to 

heighten and focus 

awareness of Federal-aid 

requirements within the 

local public agencies 

community and 

reinforces the 

importance of these 

necessary policies, 

procedures, and 

practices.

This Companion 

Resource is the script 

content for the video 

production of the same 

name. 

Additional Resources

The FHWA Bridge Preservation Guide - dated Spring 2018.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/preservation/guide/guide.pdf

FHWA Bridges & Structures bridge preservation website with links to preservation 

guidance, training classes, and other resources.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/preservation/

The FHWA and State DOT sponsored Local Technology Assistance Programs (LTAP) 

provide support to local agencies for their Road and Highway programs.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/clas/ltap/

FHWA Guidance memo on preservation of highway infrastructure.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/preservation/memos/160225.cfm

FHWA program policy and guidance center website with information for bridge 

program.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pgc/index.cfm?ddisc=110

AASHTO TC3 is a technical services program that is focused on the web-based 

training. These trainings are free to AASHTO member states that financially 

contribute. They are also available to local agencies for free through the FHWA’s 

LTAP and TTAP programs. Currently, they offer 4 specific trainings on the Bridge 

Preservation Guide; Thin-Polymer Bridge Deck Overlay Systems; Bridge Cleaning;

and Removal and Replacement of Bridge Coatings.

https://store.transportation.org/