Evaluating different bridge management strategies using the bridge management research system (bmrs)
Abstract
This project investigated the effects of varying two different elements of bridge management strategies. The first element was a trigger value (an NBI condition rating for a bridge component) at which a maintenance treatment can be performed. The second element was the budget. A new software program, the Bridge Management Research System (BMRS), was created to test these elements of bridge management strategies for Indiana's bridge network. BMRS is a simplified version of a previous bridge management software package developed by Purdue University, the Indiana Bridge Management System (IBMS). To test variations in the trigger values, three different bridge management strategies were proposed: a standard maintenance strategy, an early maintenance strategy, and a late maintenance strategy. The standard maintenance strategy allows for maintenance for bridge components with condition ratings from 1 to 5, the early maintenance strategy allows for maintenance for components with condition ratings from 1 to 6, and the late maintenance strategy allows for maintenance for components with condition ratings from 1 to 4. To test variations in the budget for Indiana's bridge network, three different budgets were used: a $150 million budget, a $200 million budget, and a $250 million budget. To evaluate each bridge management strategy, a distribution analysis, a threshold analysis, and a utility analysis were all performed. Distribution analysis looks at how many bridges are between two component condition ratings, threshold analysis looks at how many bridges have ratings greater than or equal to a given component condition rating, and utility analysis looks at how well each maintenance strategy meets certain criteria. After performing these analyses, this study found that, for any of the three budget levels, the standard maintenance strategy leads to better systemwide bridge performance than either the early or late maintenance strategies.
Degree
M.S.C.E.
Advisors
Fricker, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Civil engineering
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