Environmental Classification Scheme for Pontis

About the report:

In an effort to comply with the federal mandate for bridge management systems, many states have chosen to implement an existing system rather than develop their own. One such system is Pontis, the network-level bridge management system developed through the Federal Highway Administration's Demonstration Project 71. Although this system is intended for general application, the actual implementation process must be tailored to meet the needs of each state. One component of this implementation process involves assigning the bridge elements to one of four environments, each of which has a unique stochastic model associated with it. The environments used in Pontis-benign, low, moderate, and severe - are not explicitly defined. They represent relative distinctions between rates of deterioration resulting from operating practices and climatic exposure. This research presents a systematic strategy for developing a definition of these environments suitable to the needs of individual states. Instructions are included for data collection, and various classification methods are presented and compared. A step-by-step procedure for collecting the necessary data using easily constructed surveys is explained. Regression analysis can then be used to analyze the data, thereby providing a way of defining the environments. The strategy is demonstrated by applying it to concrete bridge decks.

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