Analysis of visual inspection data for a sample of highway bridges in the UK

Abstract

The UK has a large stock of highway bridges that is ageing and deteriorating. This paper presents the results of a programme of work to understand the reliability of the visual inspection data that are used to inform the management of Highways England’s structures. This paper presents a data set comprising evidence collected during the presence of research team inspectors at the principal inspection and/or testing of 200 bridges randomly sampled from Highways England’s bridge network, coupled with asset-management data for Highways England’s entire bridge stock. Recommendations are made for future improvements in visual inspection practice and use of such data in future asset-management efforts.