Data collected during federally mandated bridge inspections are a valuable resource. Evaluations based on these data influence levels of federal funding and determine types of funding uses. Nevertheless, the states and other owners have significant flexibility in selecting bridges for replacement and rehabilitation. Methods are needed for analyzing the data to facilitate bridge management functions and long-range planning related to replacement, rehabilitation, and maintenance. In this paper research efforts to develop methods to enhance use of North Carolina inspection data by evaluating bridges based on deficiency, as related to acceptable and desirable levels of service, are described. Methods of assigning priorities are also introduced. The long-range goal of the research is to develop a maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement priority system with the capability of estimating future funding needs.

The establishment of a federally mandated system for bridge inspection, evaluation, and reporting (1) has provided the states with a valuable data resource. Regularly updated individual inspection reports, and especially the computerized Structure Inventory and Appraisal data fil. e, have been essential for rapid evaluation and identification of bridges. Three sununary evaluations are made for each bridge under the federal system. The sufficiency rating, which ranges from O to 100 points, is calculated; the bridge is classified as structurally deficient or not, and as functionally obsolete or not. Depending on the sufficiency rating, a bridge may be eligible for federal funding for replacement or rehabilitation. However, within broad ranges of sufficiency rating (O to 50 for replacement or rehabilitation and SO to 80 for rehabilitation), the states may assign priorities for the order of funding.