ABSTRACT
The Federal Highway Administration has initiated the Long Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) program as authorized in the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)”, signed into law in August of 2005. The LTBP Program is a 20-year, multi-faceted research effort that is strategic in nature and has both specific short-term and long-range goals. It is anticipated that the LTBP program will provide a better understanding of bridge deterioration, focusing on its numerous causes including corrosion, fatigue, environment and loads. The program will collect information regarding the effectiveness of current maintenance and improvement strategies, and information on the operational performance of bridges, focusing on congestion, delay and accidents. It is envisioned that the quantitative database developed under the LTBP program will be used to solve a variety of bridge condition assessment and management problems, to develop new tools, and to advance the state-of-the-knowledge of bridge design, maintenance and preservation.
