Section 4: Data Submittal

General Data Submittal Requirements

Consultants shall provide monthly submissions of files unless otherwise directed by the District Bridge Inspection Office.
All data included in the Bridge Record are prepared to meet the requirements of the National Bridge Inspection. Texas requires that updates to AssetWise, the Bridge Inspection Management System, be made within three (3) months for all bridges. This includes updating inspection findings, adding new bridges to the inventory, documenting modifications to existing bridges, and making changes to the status of bridges (load posting changes and closures).
All bridge inspections will be performed within, or before, the anniversary month of the previous inspection based on National Bridge Inventory Items 90 and 91 [SNBI Items B.IE.02 and B.IE.05]. If the inspection is performed, or planned to be performed, after the anniversary month of the previous inspection, the inspector shall provide an explanatory statement on a coversheet, to be added to the bridge inspection report, citing the reason (e.g., scheduling flexibility or weather delays). TxDOT will notify FHWA in advance of the anticipated delinquency when any type of bridge inspection (e.g. routine, underwater, or nonredundant steel tension member) will occur later than one month past the anniversary month.

Presentation of Documents

All inspection results submitted to the District Bridge Inspection Coordinator shall be submitted via AssetWise. Consultant inspectors shall provide the State with the following list of structures, as a Microsoft Excel file, updated with each submittal, and a cumulative version at the end of each work authorization. The State will not accept Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Consultant inspectors report this information to the State in the Excel spreadsheet titled “Lists of Structures” which is provided by the State. Off-System bridges must be grouped by local jurisdiction.
  • List of bridges recommended for NSTM or underwater inspections
    . This list shall include bridges to be added to the State’s current NSTM and underwater lists. Structures already coded for these types of inspections shall not be included in this list. The inspector includes a photo of components that require the NSTM or underwater inspection. The list must include a brief comment describing the NSTM to be inspected. For structures that require an underwater inspection, the Engineer shall provide the depth of water at the component(s) requiring a diving inspection. Photographs shall be appended to the list using a format similar to that described in Section 3 under Bridge Inspection Photographs.
  • List of bridges with missing scour documentation or recommended coding changes for NBI Items 113, 113.1, and 113.2 [SNBI B.C.11 and B.AP.04]
    . This list includes structures with: (1) scour documentation that needs to be reevaluated because of changes of site conditions (e.g., improvement, repair, degradation); or (2) missing scour documents, improper documents; or (3) Scour coding that needs to be changed/corrected.
  • List of bridges needing plan sheets
    . This list includes bridges that have no plans in their folders or are missing important sheets such as a title sheet, layout, detail sheet, or other sheets that document year built, design load, widenings, or other essential items. The Engineer shall provide the year of construction, Control-Section-Job Number, and a brief description of sheets or plan sets that are needed. The goal is to document geometry, design load, and elemental quantities. For culverts that do not have layout sheets available, the Engineer shall substitute the Plan and Profile Sheet.
  • A list of all recommended changes in vertical clearance signs
    . (off-system only) For each proposed sign change, the inspector provides the existing signed clearance, the minimum measured clearance, and the clearance for the proposed sign.
  • A list of bridges with missing or inaccurate coordinates
    . Coordinates must be reported to TxDOT in decimal-degree format, carried out to eight places. Proposed coordinates shall be reported to the State’s District Bridge Inspection Coordinator.
  • List of bridges with delayed inspections
    . This list includes bridges whose inspection occurred after the inspection due date, due to unforeseen circumstances such as weather, scheduling, construction, etc. This list must identify the previous inspection date, current inspection date and the reason for the delayed inspection.

On-System Data

Submit the data and files for each on-system bridge, via AssetWise. Make sure files are scanned into AssetWise. On-system bridge lists must be grouped by County and Maintenance Section Number. Within each grouping, the Engineer shall list bridges in numerical order, from least to greatest, by NBI number.

Off-System Data

Submit one summary package for each off-system bridge for each local jurisdiction as detailed below.
Summary Packages for each off-System bridge consist of the electronic file DD-CCCCCCC-SS-SSS_RTInsp_YYYY-MM.pdf. These files are submitted to the State’s District Bridge Inspection Office on thumb drives. These summary packages should be unique to each submittal and not cumulative. At the end of the work authorization, one final thumb drive is to be turned in that contains all Routine Inspection (RTInsp) files. Thumb drives must be secured by a password, or the files converted to a zip file and that single zip file must be password-protected. Separate thumb drives are submitted for each bridge-owning local jurisdiction. The respective Summary of Needed Load Posting Materials for that jurisdiction is also included on the thumb drives. Any other method for submitting the files to the State’s District Bridge Inspection Office must be agreed to by that office and must be digitally secure. All passwords are transmitted separately from the thumb drives or other submittal means.

Scour Records and Reports

Many bridges are susceptible to scour of the foundations and abutments from flowing water. These bridges are screened and classified for their potential for scour. Various scour reports, calculations, and photos are necessary to document the scour potential. Scour information should be included within the bridge record on the Bridge Inspection Management System. All bridges over waterways must have a scour evaluation and Scour Summary Sheet available within the Bridge Inspection Management System.
  • Per the TxDOT Bridge Project Development Manual, a scour analysis is required for all new bridges over waterways.
  • District Bridge Inspection Staff will work with Bridge Division and inspectors to ensure new structures have accurate scour coding within three (3) months of the date of the initial inspection. Scour documentation will be uploaded to the Bridge Inspection Management System.
  • All existing structures over waterways require scour evaluations and a Scour Summary Sheet, and these items will be uploaded to the Bridge Inspection Management System.
  • All structures coded as Scour Critical (Item 113 less than or equal to 3) [SNBI Item B.AP.03 is either C or D] or that have unknown foundations require a Scour Plan of Action (POA) and the documentation will be uploaded to the Bridge Inspection Management System by District Bridge Inspection Staff.
Any structure with a change in scour conditions and vulnerability shall have the coding of Item 113 [SNBI Item B.C.11 and SNBI Item B.AP.03] updated within 3 months of the inspection or scour evaluation date.
Refer to the TxDOT Scour Evaluation Guide for additional coding guidance.