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State-SpecificOnline self-study

Louisiana Bridge Program: LADOTD Inspection, Posting, Design and Repair

1 PDH · about 60 minutes · Course no. BR-X13 · 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.

Louisiana has one of the most water-dominated bridge inventories in the country, with long coastal and swamp crossings, movable bridges and timber bridges. LADOTD's 2024 inspection manual adds a 6-month interim inspection for every open critical finding, 24-hour turnaround for closure postings, and detailed underwater sounding requirements. This one-hour course covers those rules plus LADOTD's Bridge Design and Evaluation Manual and Louisiana repair practice.

⬇ Download study guide (PDF)

Learning objectives

  • Apply the 2022 NBIS baseline to Louisiana practice
  • Use the state DOT's intervals, critical finding and rating rules
  • Coordinate inspection, load rating and posting
  • Apply the state DOT's bridge design and repair standards

Outline

  1. Why a Louisiana-specific course
  2. The federal baseline you are measured against
  3. Who may inspect and rate in Louisiana
  4. Louisiana at a glance: the program and its documents
  5. Inspection types you will see in the bridge file
  6. Inspection intervals in Louisiana
  7. Critical findings and urgent deficiencies in Louisiana
  8. Load rating in Louisiana
  9. Posting, closure and signs in Louisiana
  10. Scour, underwater and waterway work in Louisiana
  11. Movable and long coastal bridges
  12. Timber bridges on parish roads
  13. Load rating refresher: methods, vehicles and rating factors
  14. Quality control, quality assurance and the bridge file
  15. Locally owned bridges
  16. Writing an inspection report a load rater can use
  17. Southeast hazards: flood, hurricane, salt and trucks
  18. Preservation lessons from the Southeast Bridge Preservation Partnership
  19. SNBI coding: what changes on the inspection form
  20. Permit loads and overweight vehicles
  21. Closing and reopening a bridge
  22. Ten common mistakes, and how to avoid them
  23. A team leader's field checklist
  24. Questions to ask before your first project in Louisiana
  25. Bridge design in Louisiana: LADOTD standards
  26. Bridge repair in Louisiana
  27. Designing a repair in Louisiana: the structural engineer's workflow
  28. Scenario: one bridge, start to finish, in Louisiana
  29. Verify before you rely on it
  30. Open the course (35 screens, 2 knowledge checks)
  31. Final quiz — 10 questions, 70% to pass

References

  1. 23 CFR Part 650, Subpart C — National Bridge Inspection Standards (final rule published May 6, 2022)
  2. FHWA, Specifications for the National Bridge Inventory (SNBI), FHWA-HIF-22-017, March 2022
  3. AASHTO, The Manual for Bridge Evaluation, 3rd Edition, 2018 (with interim revisions)
  4. LADOTD, Bridge Inspection manual, 2024
  5. LADOTD Bridge Design and Evaluation Manual (BDEM), current edition
  6. Egli, B. (TDOT), Preserving Tennessee's Bridge Decks and Joints, Southeast Bridge Preservation Partnership meeting, Atlanta, GA, April 2012
  7. Sloan, J., PE (NCDOT), Pee Dee River arch bridge feasibility study, Southeast Bridge Preservation Partnership meeting, April 2017
  8. Burgess & Niple, New River Gorge Bridge preservation, Southeast Bridge Preservation Partnership meeting, Charleston, WV, April 28-30, 2025
  9. eCFR, 23 CFR 650.311 and 650.313 (current text reviewed October 25, 2026)