BRIDGE MANAGEMENT UNDER A LEVEL OF SERVICE CONCEPT PROVIDING OPTIMUM IMPROVEMENT ACTION, TIME, AND BUDGET PREDICTION (NORTH CAROLINA)

An analysis system considering bridge ownership and user costs was developed to determine the optimum improvement action and time for each individual bridge under various desired level of service goals.;The bridge user costs were determined for vehicular accidents and detours due to bridge load capacity, deck width, vertical clearance, or approach roadway alignment level of service deficiency. The bridge user costs were varied as a function of the functional classification of the roadway carried.;A computer program incorporating parameters and relationships of bridge ownership and user costs was created to analyze North Carolina bridges as an example. Based on the optimum improvement alternative selected for each individual bridge, the future funding needs, bridge conditions, load capacity, and bridge level of service deficiencies were predicted under different combinations of condition and user level of service goals.;Bridge ownership costs concerning maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement and bridge user costs due to level of service deficiency were evaluated. The bridge maintenance needs were determined based on bridge element condition. The bridge rehabilitation needs were determined as a function of bridge element conditions before and after rehabilitation and desired user level of service goals. The bridge replacement costs were determined based on the desirable level of service goals for various roadway functional classifications.