Several years ago, FHWA issued a set of twenty-three metrics that states and local governments are required to meet to be considered to be in conformance with the National Bridge Inspection Standards. The goal of the twenty-three metrics is to improve the data collection and documentation of the bridge inventory across the US. Two of these metrics; Metric 13 – Local Bridge Load Rating and Metric 15 – File/Document Maintenance requires information be gathered by Parish and local governmental agencies. Since 2017, Forte and Tablada has assisted St. Tammany Parish with satisfying Metrics 13 and 15 for numerous bridge locations. We have inspected and load rated 19 slab span bridges, 7 railcar bridges, 9 girder bridges, and 1 culvert. Specifically, we have performed the following scope of work as summarized below:
- Collected all available bridge files from all available resources, including LADOTD and Parish records, as well as any available records from the bridge engineer, the contractor, and sub-consultants.
- Performed an inspection of each bridge to observe the condition of the bridge and to determine/verify if the bridge was built in accordance with LADOTD Standard Plans.
- Performed a load rating on all bridges.
- Documented our findings in a Load Rating Summary Report for each bridge.
