FHWA Bridge Maintenance Manual—Non-Structural Items Course Overview - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Architects and Surveyors

FHWA Bridge Maintenance Manual—Non-Structural Items Course Overview

Course Outline

This three-hour online course discusses a variety of maintenance procedures for bridge components other than the major structural elements of the superstructure and substructure. For example, maintenance issues with the bridge approach, guardrails, debris issues, bank erosion, and scour are discussed. A final section on the maintenance concerns in winter is included.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Be familiar with approach settlement;
Be cognizant of the method of mud jacking;
Understand methods of guardrail attachment;
Know the method of installing relief joints in approach pavement;
Be familiar with bridge damage caused by debris;
Be familiar with the need for debris removal;
Know debris countermeasures;
Understand principles of scour countermeasures;
Know the use of revetments;
Be familiar with channel modifications;
Be familiar with the repair of scour and substructure undermining by replacement of material;
Be cognizant of rebuilding scoured streambed;
Know methods for repair of settled and tilted piers;
Be familiar with the effects of ice and snow on the deck;
Understand principles of ice and snow removal from the bridge;
Be familiar with snow plow damage to the bridge; and
Understand principles of chemicals and abrasives applied to combat snow and ice.

Intended Audience

This course is intended primarily for civil, construction, and structural engineers, and would be of particular interest to consulting engineers or to engineers serving in government organizations concerned with the maintenance of bridges.

Benefit to Attendees

An attendee of this course will be familiar with and able to apply procedures for maintenance of bridge components other than the major structural components.

Course Introduction

Proper maintenance of bridge approaches is often as important as proper maintenance of the bridge itself. Problems on the approach may be greater than those of the bridge and can ultimately affect the condition of the bridge. Similarly, debris removal from the channel and scour protection for the foundation can be important for the preservation of the bridge. These issues require the careful attention of the bridge maintenance supervisor.

Course Content

This course is based on Chapter XIII (Miscellaneous Maintenance Procedures) and Chapter XIV (Winter Maintenance Procedures) of the Federal Highway Administration Bridge Maintenance Training Reference Manual, Publication No. FHWA- NHI-03-045, March, 2003.

FHWA Bridge Maintenance Manual—Non-Structural Items Course Overview

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

Maintenance procedures for bridge components other than the major structural elements of the superstructure and substructure are described in a manner that is useful in the maintenance of bridges. Procedures explicitly related to wintertime conditions are included.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/training/course_detail.aspx?num=FHWA-NHI-134029&topicnum=134

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.