LoadPath PDH — PE/NICET supplemental PDH (not FHWA/NBIS refresher training).

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Load RatingOnline self-study

Load Posting Decisions

1 PDH · about 60 minutes · Course no. BR-L03 · Instructor: Michael Craig, PE

About the instructor

Michael Craig, PE is Senior Vice President and Southeast Director at Strinteg Corporation, leading bridge inspection and structural engineering across eight states and Puerto Rico. In 27+ years he has inspected over 4,000 structures and completed 3,000+ load ratings and 160+ load tests. He has managed repair and preservation design for complex bridges, including cable-stayed bridges. He holds PE licenses in twelve states, DC and Puerto Rico, SPRAT Level 1, and FAA Part 107 credentials.

A load rating is only half of the job. When a bridge cannot safely carry the vehicles that State law allows on the road, the owner has to restrict it, and the restriction has to be computed, signed, enforced, documented and reported. This course walks through the load posting decision from start to finish: the federal requirements in 23 CFR 650.313, the way the AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation (MBE) converts legal-load rating factors into posting weights (including the reliability-based Equation 6A.8.3-1 used with LRFR), the closure thresholds, how single-unit, combination and emergency-vehicle postings are combined, the weight limit signs of MUTCD Section 2B.64, and how posting status and posting values are coded under the Specifications for the National Bridge Inventory (SNBI). Worked examples are taken from the South Dakota DOT Load Rating Manual and the SNBI coding guide so that every number can be traced to a published source.

⬇ Download study guide (PDF)

Learning objectives

  • Explain when posting is required
  • Convert rating factors to posting values
  • Describe NBIS timing for posting
  • Communicate postings and closures

Outline

  1. What a load posting is, and what the NBIS requires
  2. When posting is required: the legal-load rating factor
  3. The LRFR posting equation, MBE 6A.8.3
  4. Combining vehicles into a sign
  5. Worked example 1: an LRFR posting from the SDDOT manual
  6. Worked example 2: an LFR posting with emergency vehicles
  7. Impact, multiple presence and other legal-load inputs that move the posting
  8. Weight limit signs: MUTCD Section 2B.64
  9. Emergency vehicle and SHV postings on the sign
  10. Reporting posting status under the SNBI
  11. Reporting the evaluation: SNBI Items B.EP.01 to B.EP.04
  12. Alternatives and supplements to a weight limit
  13. From recommendation to enforceable sign: the workflow
  14. Common mistakes and a posting checklist
  15. Open the course (20 screens, 2 knowledge checks)
  16. Final quiz — 10 questions, 70% to pass

References

  1. AASHTO, The Manual for Bridge Evaluation, 3rd Edition, 2018 (with interim revisions)
  2. 23 CFR Part 650, Subpart C — National Bridge Inspection Standards (final rule published May 6, 2022)
  3. FHWA Memorandum, Load Rating for the FAST Act's Emergency Vehicles, November 3, 2016