How Do Agencies Prioritize Bridge Repairs with Limited Budgets? The Role of Infrastructure Asset Management
Infrastructure Asset Management helps transportation agencies make informed decisions when funding is limited. Infrastructure owners rarely have enough funding to address every maintenance need immediately. As a result, transportation agencies must develop strategies for prioritizing bridge repairs while maximizing public safety and asset performance. One common approach is condition-based prioritization, where bridges with the lowest condition ratings receive the highest priority. While effective in some situations, this method does not always account for broader risk factors. Modern bridge management programs increasingly use risk-based decision-making frameworks. These approaches evaluate factors such as structural condition, traffic volume, economic importance, detour length, and potential consequences of failure. As part of an effective Infrastructure Asset Management strategy, agencies can evaluate these factors together to make more informed maintenance and investment ...