PROGRAM AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
AND THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION
FOR COMPLIANCE WITH
THE NATIONAL BRIDGE INSPECTION STANDARDS

This Program Agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is to help ensure safety of bridges on public roads under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Government. This Program Agreement documents the processes and responsibilities of each agency to meet the requirements included in Title 23,Code of Federal Regulations, Part 650, Subpart C, Sections 650.301 through 650.311 (23 CFR Part 650, Subpart C, §§650.301-650.311) for the National Bridge Inspection Standards (hereinafter referred to as NBIS).

1. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for meeting the staffing, inspection, and reporting requirements prescribed in:

Title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 650, Subpart C, Sections 650.301 through 650.311 (23 CFR Part 650, Subpart C, 650.301-650.311);

FHWA Technical Advisory T 5140.21, Revisions to the NBIS;

FHWA Technical Advisory T 5140.23, Evaluating Scour at Bridges;

The Manual for Condition Evaluation of Bridges,American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 1994, (AASHTO Manual); and

The "Recording and Coding Guide for the Structure Inventory and Appraisal of the Nation's Bridges" (Coding Guide) FHWA, December 1995.

In addition, the Tennessee Valley Authority shall:

• Identify all bridges subject to the NBIS that are on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers roads open to public travel as defined in 23 CFR Part 460, Section 460.2(c);



• Process all data through the Edit/Update Program prior to transmittal to the FHWA;



• Correct all errors identified in the error list for the next annual NBIS submission;



• Document the NBIS processes and the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures used to monitor the bridge inventory and inspection processes; and



• Submit annually FHWA Coding Guide data to FHWA's Federal Lands Highway (FLH) in accordance with the January 4, 1995, memorandum from the Chief, Bridge Division (Attachment 1).



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may procure engineering services to assist in performing inspections, completing NBIS Coding Data, performing edit checks, submitting coding data, and documenting QA/QC procedures related to the NBIS.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall annually submit to FHWA a list of all U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bridges on public roads, and all U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public road mileage in each State. (See Attachment 2 for a suggested reporting format.)

2. The FHWA




The FHWA shall ensure all Federal bridge-owning agencies meet the staffing, inspection, and reporting requirements prescribed in:

23 CFR Part 650, Subpart C, §§650.301-650.311;

FHWA Technical Advisory T 5140.21;

FHWA Technical Advisory T 5140.23;

The AASHTO Manual; and

The Coding Guide.

The FHWA shall provide NBIS and public road bridge and mileage data to the States through organizational channels as prescribed in the January 4, 1995, memorandum from the FHWA's Chief, Bridge Division.

The FHWA shall assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, when requested, with establishment and documentation of their NBIS inspection and inventory processes, including establishment or review of QA/QC procedures.

The FLH shall ensure compliance with the NBIS and shall provide other assistance as agreed between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FLH as authorized under 23 U.S.C. §308(a).

The FLH and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall annually negotiate the amount of contract authority and obligation limitation to be transferred to the U.S. Corps of Engineers by the FLH, as provided by under 23 U.S.C. §204(i), for the inventory and inspection of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' bridges on public roads.

Any commitments agreed to by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by virtue of this Program Agreement are subject to the availability of appropriations, as supplemented by any additional funds provided by the FLH under 23 U.S.C. §204(i).

The FLH will transfer contract authority and obligation limitation to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via letter. This transfer of contract authority and obligation limitation allows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enter into obligations. The FHWA Budget Division will provide an FHWA Form 370 to confirm this transfer. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall request liquidating cash from the FHWA Finance Division when cash is needed to pay obligations. This request may be made 90 days prior to the outlay. Liquidating cash will be transferred via an SF 1151, Non-Expenditure Transfer Authorization. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall report status of funds quarterly to the FHWA via an SF 133, Report of Budget Execution.