Happy 250th Birthday to the United States! These last two months have been busy for me. I’ve been in the process of transitioning from the Corps of Engineers to the Federal Highway Administration, as well as transitioning from Washington State to Hawaii. And in this edition of TheBridgeGuy, I’m taking the opportunity to introduce the agency I now work for.
Every bridge program consists of three main parts – inspection, asset management, and design. Of the three, Design is by far the oldest. For centuries, humans have been designing, building, and using bridges of all different types and materials. But it is also the only part that isn’t regulated by law in the United States.
In 1968, Congress passed the Federal Aid Highway Act. All at once, States and Federal Agencies were responsible for inventorying and inspecting the public bridges they owned. And to make sure those agencies complied with Federal law, they charged the newly created Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) with oversight of the National Bridge Inventory.
While it may have got a fancy new name in 1966, FHWA was far from a new concept. The roots of FHWA go back to 1893, when the Office of Road Inquiry was established to take the burden of maintenance of roadways off of local landowners. In 1905, it was renamed the Office of Public Roads (OPR) and placed under the Department of Agriculture.
Over the next 10 years, responsibility for the maintenance of roads in the US shifted from the Federal government to the States. This was made possible by revenue collected from automobile registrations. In 1915, OPR was renamed the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), charged with disbursement of federal aid for the improvement of roads to the States. This involved cooperation between BPR and the state highway departments in disbursing $75 million over five years.
Another name change came in 1939 when it was called the Public Road Administration and place dunder the short lived Federal Works Agency, created to implement President Roosevelt’s New Deal in the wake of the Great Depression. When the Federal Works Agency was abolished in 1949, the agency was again named BPR and placed under the Department of Commerce.
The Federal Highway Administration was created on October 15, 1966 and absorbed the duties of BPR the next year. Highways, along with Aviation and Railroads, were now organized under a new cabinet level Department of Transportation.
FHWA’s primary function is to oversee the use of federal funds in the maintenance and construction of the National Highway System. Funding for the agency is collected primarily through the Federal gas tax, and is typically spent through the State Highway Departments. Use of federal funds comes with certain eligibility, administration, and construction standard requirements, which FHWA enforces.
They also enforce the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS). Since bridge inspections are federally mandated, they are also federally funded. Each year, FHWA obligates federal gas tax revenue specifically for each state’s inspection program. But this isn’t a blank check. With this funding comes certain expectations about what the money is used for. Federal law outlines the standards that each state is expected to meet with regard to their bridge program, and also gives FHWA reviewer authority for those programs and the ability to set other standards.
Among other things, each state bridge inspection program is required to meet the following standards:
- Designate a Program Manager with certain qualifications
- Collect and maintain records for all bridges over 20 feet in length that carry public roads
- Load rate all public road bridges
- Inspect all public road bridges every 24 months
- Perform underwater inspections of bridges every 60 months
- Perform scour appraisals on all bridges subject to scour
FHWA performs a review of each state’s program through 23 separate metrics. Qualifications of personnel doing inspections are reviewed, the procedures for inspections are reviewed, and the timely updating of bridge files is also assessed. Field reviews of certain bridges are conducted to ensure inspection standards are being met. Each metric is initially determined to be Compliant, Non-Compliant, or something in between the two. This initial determination is communicated to the State by December 31 each year. The State then has three months to rectify any determination that is not compliant. FHWA then issues a final determination by March 31, marking the end of the Performance Year.
When a determination of something other than Compliant is found for a metric, the State will generally be placed on an Improvement Plan (IP) or a Plan of Corrective Action (PCA), at the discretion of FHWA, depending on how serious the finding is. A PCA is not intended to be punitive. Rather, it is intended to get the program into compliance as quickly as possible.
FHWA, as an oversight agency, cannot direct a state to do anything. Thus, the agency must use persuasion and occasionally tug on purse strings to force compliance with federal law. The obvious tool for coercing compliance is withholding federal funding. Some states rely heavily on federal funding for highway construction and maintenance. Other states need those funds far less. So the threat of withholding funding is received differently in each state.
Enforcing the NBIS isn’t just about funding or data collection – it is primarily about safety. Each inspector is required to have a certain amount of training, licensure and other requirements in order to inspect bridges. When safety issues are found, States are required to notify FHWA within 24 hours of such a finding. When issues are found in one state that could have ramifications to other states, FHWA takes the lead on dissemination.
But the NBIS isn’t the only mandate for FHWA with regard to bridges. They also act as a resource for the states in the maintenance and preservation of their bridge programs. New initiatives such as Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC), new technologies such as Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) – these have both been championed by FHWA. Their website provides manuals for the design of bridges and countless other documents related to bridge engineering.
Another way to look at FHWA is like a giant referee making sure the States do what they are required to do under law. They ensure compliance across the nation, and continuity of bridge safety standards, regardless of location, across the country. They also act as the principal resource for bridge condition in the United States, relaying key metrics to Congress for funding the nation’s highway system. So the next time you cross a bridge, remember those of us at Federal Highways who are keeping you safe.
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