Bridge Inspector’s Reference Manual (BIRM) (2022 NBIS)

Ryan, Thomas W.; Lloyd, Cassandra E.; Pichura, Michael S.; Tarasovich, Darrin M.; Fitzgerald, Sandy · 2023 · ROSA P / National Highway Institute (U.S.)

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged

Get this paper ↗ (full text — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

The Bridge Inspector’s Reference Manual (BIRM), revised in March 2023, serves as a comprehensive technical guide for the inspection and evaluation of in-service highway bridges, culverts, and waterways. This publication updates the previous BITM 90 manual to align with the May 6, 2022, update to the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) and the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Specifications for the National Bridge Inventory (SNBI). The SNBI supersedes the older Recording and Coding Guide, mandating that National Bridge Inventory data be reported to the FHWA using the new specifications. The BIRM is designed to assist highway personnel in training for bridge safety inspection, a discipline necessitated by statutory requirements under 23 U.S.C. 144(h) and regulatory definitions in 23 CFR Part 650 Subpart C. The manual is structured into four primary parts covering the bridge safety inspection program, bridge and waterway characteristics, inspection and evaluation techniques, and documentation procedures. It provides detailed guidance on inspection fundamentals, including planning, safety protocols, temporary traffic control, and access methods. The content expands significantly on specific structural types and components, offering new or enhanced coverage for culverts, nonredundant steel tension members, fatigue-prone details, cable-stayed bridges, prestressed segmental bridges, and movable bridges. Additionally, the BIRM incorporates state-of-the-art inspection equipment and advanced nondestructive evaluation techniques, such as ground-penetrating radar, ultrasonic testing, and underwater inspection methods. The manual also addresses critical findings, inspection intervals, and the mechanics of bridges and culverts, ensuring inspectors are equipped to identify material deficiencies in concrete, steel, timber, stone masonry, and fiber-reinforced polymers. The significance of the BIRM lies in its role as the foundational text for the National Highway Institute’s (NHI) approved training courses, specifically the two-week "Safety Inspection of In-Service Bridges" course and the one-week course for professional engineers. These courses meet the definition of approved comprehensive training required by the NBIS. By integrating the latest SNBI specifications and updated inspection techniques, the BIRM ensures that bridge inspectors are proficient in current federal standards for data reporting and structural assessment. The document serves as a non-binding guidance tool that clarifies existing legal and agency policy requirements, promoting consistency and quality in the national bridge inspection program. It is disseminated by the U.S. Department of Transportation to support information exchange and public understanding of bridge safety standards, without creating new legal requirements beyond those established in statute and regulation.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.8-27b-gittensor on 2026-08-22; verification: pending re-verification.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• older driver retraining