You are on page 1of 1

Fourth US-Taiwan Bridge Engineering Workshop

New Practices in Bridge Inspection and Maintenance


To be presented at the 2008 US-Taiwan Bridge Engineering Workshop.
By M. Myint Lwin, Director, Office of Bridge Technology
FHWA, Washington, D.C. USA
August 4-6, 2008

ABSTRACT

The highway bridges in the United States are aging and deteriorating at an alarming rate.
At the same time, the funding for bridge rehabilitation and replacement is eroding
through increasing costs in materials and construction. It is vitally important that we use
new or improved bridge inspection and maintenance practices to extend the service life of
highway bridges and to assure safety, reliability and efficiency of the highway
infrastructure.

FHWA in coordination with AASHTO has been and will be investing in the development
of new and enhanced bridge inspection and maintenance training courses to improve the
knowledge and skills of bridge inspection and maintenance personnel. These courses are
expected to help bridge inspectors in producing quality inspection and uniform condition
evaluation and assessment of bridges. FHWA supports research and development of
new and improved nondestructive evaluation and inspection techniques that can be used
by the bridge inspectors to more readily and accurately detect flaws early in the bridge
life cycle. These techniques will aid in the establishment of systematic preventive
maintenance.

This paper will discuss the market-ready and emerging technologies in bridge inspection
and maintenance.

Paper 01 1 Princeton, New Jersey | August 4-6, 2008

You might also like