For over thirty years the LA DOTD has assisted local bridge owners in meeting the requirements of bridge ownership by performing the required routine biannual compliance inspections on all bridges including the locally owned, off-system bridges and has submitted the results on behalf of the local bridge owners to the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) at FHWA. This has relieved local agencies of the need to maintain or contract certified bridge inspectors to meet the inspection requirements and ensured consistency across the state. However, local agencies have still been required to follow all other bridge program management requirements. Local bridge owners are required to:
- provide the initial load rating of all bridges
- conduct interim or special inspections of posted bridges
- maintain and repair bridges; follow closure requirements
- reevaluate load ratings of bridges when the conditions change and maintain adequate documentation.
Meeting the NBIS Program Metrics
In 2009 based on findings from the U.S. Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued new oversight guidelines which passed into law and is known as the National Bridge Inspection Program Metrics. This law contains 23 specific metrics that are evaluated for full compliance. The FHWA evaluation of the 23 Metrics for Louisiana resulted in a finding of “conditionally compliant” which required the LA DOTD to develop and submit a Plan of Corrective Action with a goal of full compliance by December 2017. The failure of the state to achieve compliance will likely have serious consequences including increasing the liabilities of operating a bridge system network deemed to be not compliant with the federal inspection program.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LA DOTD) is responsible for ensuring compliance with all federal requirements related to public bridges in Louisiana including the off-system bridges on locally owned roads. In Louisiana, the bridge owner is responsible for all aspects of bridge program management with the exception of the biannual compliance inspections, which LA DOTD conducts and documents. All interim inspections, maintenance and repair, initial load ratings, posting and closures, load rating reviews, file maintenance, etc., are the responsibility of the local bridge owner. Local bridge owners play a significant role in meeting the requirements of seven of the key metrics including Metric 11- Frequency Criteria, Metric 13- Load Rating; Metric 15 – Bridge Files; and Metric 20 – Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC), Metric 21 – Critical Findings, Metric 22 – Inventory Preparation and Maintenance, and Metric 23 – Timely Updating Inventory Data. The new rules as well as the previous one requires that the bridge owner conduct and report an initial bridge rating and to rerate a bridge in poor condition when the condition changes.
To ensure the safety of all bridges and to meet current federal regulations, the LA DOTD has identified bridges that lack sufficient load ratings and/or adequate files documenting the design, history and condition. The LA DOTD has begun an aggressive project to collect all available information on these bridges and to enforce the rating requirement. Action will be required by each local bridge owner. This may range from confirming ownership and verifying information on file to assembling missing file data and/or conducting load ratings. In addition, all bridge owners must attend a mandatory Bridge Program Management meeting which will be announced by each LA DOTD District Administrator. Technical assistance will be available to facilitate this important effort and if necessary a compliance schedule will be developed based on specific situations. **NOTE: All bridge owners received a letter in August 2015 which includes a request for required information. A copy of the letter sent to all parishes and other local bridge owners can be viewed here.