Bridge Management System Essentials
Bridges are an important part of your infrastructure requiring effective asset management to prolong bridge life and minimize service interruptions. Bridge Management Systems are effective solutions that will help your organization to optimize maintenance, preservation, rehabilitation, and replacement of bridge asset elements to help reduce cost and maximize service.
What does your Bridge Management System (BMS) look like? Does your BMS meet your needs? Here are 5 essential components that your bridge management system should have:
Inventory Management
- A Common Asset Registry is a must. This can be easily configured and will store your bridge data clearly and effortlessly.
- Data Integration is integral to any system as it allows for integration with other enterprise systems to keep data up to date. GIS integrations will keep your bridges located properly as the roadway network changes.
- Temporal database functionality enables you to track changes to bridge inventory and inspection data over time.
- Database Queries and Pivot Tables allow you to report on any aspect of your bridges.
- Maps allow you to easily view the current condition of your bridge network or any other bridge attributes.
Inspection App
- Your system should have a Bridge Inspection App. Failing that, your system should integrate with an external app or legacy system. It should not matter where the bridge data originates.
- Your system should accommodate regional Bridge Inspection Standards.
Life Cycle Cost Analysis
- Your Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) should be completely flexible. All aspects of the LCCA should be tailored to meet your business needs.
- LCCA can be configured at the bridge level, at the component level, or at the element group level.
- The system should allow for unlimited “what-if” scenarios. You should be able to include one total budget or run with specific categories.
- User-friendly slider tools should exist to enable you to visualize a strategic analysis.
- Cross-Asset Analysis functionality is a bonus as it enables you to view the results of trade-offs with other asset classes.
Operations Management
- A system that manages bridge work (activities) resulting from your works program.
- A system that manages the activities and critical findings resulting from the annual bridge inspection.
- Management of ‘find and fix’ type work activities through normal maintenance patrols or customer/citizen complaints.
Business Intelligence
- Your system should provide Business Intelligence Dashboarding to easily communicate the state of your bridge network and the results of your works program.
- A community of peers to interact with and share knowledge and experience so everyone can benefit.