Washington Division

711 S. Capitol Way, Suite 501, Olympia, WA 98501
Phone: 360-753-9480, FAX: 360-753-9889
Washington.fhwa@fhwa.dot.gov

National Bridge Inspection Program

FHWA requires inspections of all bridges carrying traffic on public roads. This program was initially mandated in the Federal-aid Highway Act of 1968, which led to the National Bridge Inspection Standards established in the Federal Register in 1971.

The NBIS require States to:

• Maintain an organization capable of performing the inspections, keeping the data, and insuring repairs
• Maintain an accurate inventory of bridge data
• Perform regular inspections of bridges, normally not to exceed a 2-year interval
• Use qualified personnel
• Calculate load carrying capacity, and scour vulnerability for each bridge

Washington State Bridges

In Washington State there are 8,014 bridges carrying public roads that are subject to the Federal inspection requirements. 3085 of those structures are State owned, with 4143 bridges owned by local agencies, and 786 owned by other agencies (Federal, Tribal, etc.).

Other key statistics:

• 934 Scour Critical Bridges
• 187 Fracture Critical Bridges
• 317 Bridges Requiring Underwater Inspections
• 306 Posted Bridges (State posted bridges: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/fossc/maint/motor/POSTEDLIST.cfm)

Back to Washington Division Bridge Program Page

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