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LONG-TERM BRIDGE PERFORMANCE (LTBP) NEWSLETTER

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION (FHWA) 

INFOHIGHWAYTM WEB PORTAL GOES LIVE

InfoHighway is FHWA’s Web portal, providing access 

to the various Info portals: Long-Term Pavement 

Performance (LTPP) InfoPaveTM, Long-Term Bridge 

Performance (LTBP) InfoBridgeTM, FHWA InfoMaterialsTM, 

and FHWA InfoTechnologyTM. Additional Info portals will 

soon be added to the site. Stay tuned. 

INFOBRIDGE: RECENT ENHANCEMENTS

The most recent version of InfoBridge, released in 

January 2023, includes several usability enhancements, 

tools, and products resulting from research performed by 

the LTBP program. For a complete list of new InfoBridge 

features and enhancements, visit InfoBridge Update Notes. 

New InfoBridge highlights are as follows:

• Bridge Condition Transition History—The Bridge 

Condition Transition History tool in InfoBridge produces 

a list of bridges that have transitioned from one condition 

state to another over a user-specified period. In the Data 

menu, select the Performance History item, and then 

select the Bridge Condition Transition History tab to 

access the tool. The tool can also be accessed under the 

Tools menu.

The starting year selection is limited to the year 

from which InfoBridge maintains condition data for 

all bridges; in most cases this year is 1985. The tool 

generates a list of bridges that meet the user-specified 

requirements. The list includes a few pertinent National 

Bridge Inventory (NBI) items. The tool displays bridge 

condition as good, fair, or poor for each year of the 

specified duration. The list can be exported into a 

Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet.

Source: FHWA.

Figure 2. Screenshot. Bridge condition transition history.1

Source: FHWA. 

Figure 1. Screenshot. FHWA InfoHighway home screen.1 

Spring 2023

WINNER OF THE 2022 STUDENT 

DATA ANALYSIS CONTEST

The LTBP committee selected one paper for the first-place 

award in the Bridge category of the 2022 Long-Term 

Infrastructure Performance (LTIP) Student Data analysis 

Contest. The student winner is Chan Yang from Rutgers 

University, First place (Bridge): “Correlation of Bridge 

Deck Deterioration with Truck Load Spectra Based on 

Weigh-in-Motion Data.”

The winner received an all-expenses paid trip to 

attend the 2023 Transportation Research Board (TRB) 

Annual Meeting in January. FHWA recognized Ms. Yang 

with an award certificate at the Long-Term Bridge 

Performance (LTBP) Lectern Session at TRB. Ms. Yang 

presented her paper at the LTBP session.

The LTIP Student Data Analysis Contest encourages 

students to use the LTPP Web portal, LTPP InfoPave, 

or the LTBP Web portal, InfoBridge, to address specific 

infrastructure issues or challenges. Entries for the 2023 

contest are due August 1, 2023.

• Historical changes to lightweight aggregate 

concrete—A new module was added to the Historical 

Spec Changes tool. A historical review of the lightweight 

aggregate concrete design development is available 

through the first edition of the load-and-resistance 

factor design specifications under the Library menu.
Spring 2023 LTBP NEWS PAGE 2

INFOBRIDGE RECENT ENHANCEMENTS (CONTINUED)

• Historical trends of the health index (HI)—InfoBridge 

can now show the historical trend of the HI for the 

various bridge elements in a graphic format. HI for a 

specific bridge element is the weighted average of the 

number of elements in each of the four condition states.

• Export graph data in comma-separated values (CSV) 

format—Users can now export NBI Historical Graphs 

data into CSV format for further processing.

LTBP STAFF MET WITH TRB EXPERT TASK 

GROUP (ETG) ON BRIDGES AND LTIP 

ADVISORY COMMITTEES

LTBP program staff met with the TRB LTIP Advisory 

Committee in November 2022 and the ETG on Bridges 

and August 2022. The committees are representatives 

from State departments of transportation, academia, and 

industry. LTBP staff provided updates on enhancements 

to InfoBridge, ongoing research projects, communication 

and outreach activities, and data collection efforts.

LTBP SESSION AT 2023 TRB ANNUAL MEETING

FHWA presented a session on the LTBP program at the 

2023 TRB Annual Meeting. The session provided updates 

on the LTBP program, accelerated bridge performance 

testing, the January 2023 release of InfoBridge, the 

Transportation Pooled Fund Study TPF 5(474) on the 

Bridge Deck Preservation Portal, and a presentation by 

the first-place winner of the FHWA 2022 LTIP Student 

Data Analysis Contest (Bridge).

The TRB Standing Committee on Structures and 

Maintenance (AKT40) sponsored the session, and the 

TRB Standing Committees on Bridge and Structures 

Management (AKT50), Bridge Preservation (AKT60), 

and Testing and Evaluation of Transportation Structures 

(AKB40) cosponsored.

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Distribution—FHWA’s LTBP News is being distributed per a standard distribution. Direct distribution is being made to the FHWA 

divisions and Resource Center.

Availability—This newsletter may be obtained at https://highways.dot.gov/research/publications/LTBP-news-list.

Key Word—Infrastructure, bridges, research, TRB, InfoBridge, InfoBridge Updates.

Notice—The LTBP News is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in the 

interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this 

document. The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names appear in 

the LTBP newsletter only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.

Quality Assurance Statement—The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve 

Government, industry, and the public in a manner promoting 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.

Source: FHWA. 

Figure 3. Screenshot. Historical trend of HI.1

FHWA-HRT-23-082

HRDI-30/05-23(Web)E

Recommended citation: Federal Highway Administration, 

LTBP Newsletter Spring 2023 Issue (Washington, DC: 2023) 

https://doi.org/10.21949/1521386

• Filter for bridges by city—Many Place Code values in the 

NBI are outdated or erroneous. InfoBridge has a new 

filter, City (InfoBridge Place Code-Place Name), under 

Advanced Find. Bridges are assigned to cities based on 

the NBI-reported bridge location and the United States 

Census Bureau Place Code and Place Name locations.

• Enhanced Export Data option—In addition to the 

Current Year and All Years options, users can now 

specify a range of years to export data under the 

Selected Bridges’ Table options. A new option allows 

exporting data on bridges in Metropolitan Planning 

Organizations, Political Districts, and Cities. 1

Federal Highway Administration. n.d. “LTBP InfoBridgeTM” (web page). 

https://infobridge.fhwa.dot.gov/Home, last accessed April 12, 2023.