Section 3: Elemental Coding

Overview

Texas Department of Transportation requires the collection of elemental data, National Bridge Elements (NBEs) and Bridge Maintenance Items (BMEs), for all on-system structures and any off-system structures on the National Highway System, as well as all offsystem bridges owned by Harris County. The element level data should be collected in accordance with the latest edition of the AASHTO
Manual for Bridge Element Inspection
. The SNBI includes elemental coding information, Subsection 7.2: Element Identification and Subsection 7.3: Element Conditions.

National Bridge Elements (NBEs)

These are the elements that represent the primary structural components of a bridge. These elements and their condition state are used to describe the primary load carrying members of the structure, including decks, slabs, girders, columns, abutments, etc.

Bridge Maintenance Elements (BMEs)

These are the elements that define secondary bridge components such as protective coatings. Collection of some BME data will facilitate bridge preservation needs assessment and performance measurement.