Chapter 3: Qualifications and Responsibilities of Bridge Inspection Personnel
Anchor: #CIHHBFJASection 1: Requirements
Anchor: #i1002345General Requirements
Personnel involved in the various bridge inspection activities must be qualified for their specialized jobs. In general, depending on the level of responsibility, they must be knowledgeable in the various aspects of bridge engineering including design, load rating, construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance.
Anchor: #i1002355FHWA Requirements
The FHWA has specific requirements described in the Code of Federal Regulations for the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS), which are given in Appendix A. These are summarized as:
- The individual in charge of each
organizational unit (the Bridge Inspection Branch of the Bridge
Division, the Bridge Inspection Office in each district, or the
contract consultant firm) must:
- be a Licensed Professional Engineer, or
- be qualified for licensing, or
- have a minimum of ten years experience in bridge inspection assignments and have completed a comprehensive training course based on the Bridge Inspector’s Training Manual 90.1
- The individual in charge of a bridge inspection team must:
- have the same qualifications as above, or
- have a minimum of five years experience in bridge inspection assignments and have completed a comprehensive training course based on the Bridge Inspector’s Training Manual 90,2 or
- have certification as a Level III or IV Bridge Safety Inspector under the National Society of Professional Engineer’s program for National Certification in Engineering Technologies3 (NICET).
See the section in this chapter titled Routine Bridge Inspections for more information on how these requirements apply in Texas.
AASHTO Requirements
AASHTO also has essentially the same requirements as the FHWA. These are described in the current AASHTO Manual for Condition Evaluation of Bridges4.
Anchor: #i1002448TxDOT Requirements
At a minimum, all bridge inspection activities performed by TxDOT and by TxDOT consultants must comply with FHWA requirements. TxDOT requirements for bridge inspection personnel are also the same as those listed above for FHWA and AASHTO requirements, and, in addition, some jobs may require more specific job-related knowledge and skills such as:
- The use of breathing apparatus for underwater inspection
- The various applicable requirements for inspection safety including applicable Occupational, Safety, and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements
- Advanced computer skills related to bridge analysis
- Geotechnical and hydrological knowledge
- Familiarity with TxDOT bridge construction specifications and with current and old TxDOT bridge designs
TxDOT also has special requirements for consultants retained to perform bridge inspection tasks. All firms must be pre-qualified. Further information on consultant requirements is presented later in this chapter in the section titled “Bridge Inspection by Consultants.”
1. Bridge Inspector’s Training Manual 90, FHWA, 1991.
2. Bridge Inspector’s Training Manual 90, FHWA, 1991.
3. National Society of Professional Engineer’s program for National Certification in Engineering Technologies, National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET), current.
4. Manual for Condition Evaluation of Bridges, AASHTO, 1994.