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

Home › 1-PDH Bridge Catalog › BR-X08

State-SpecificOnline self-study

North Carolina Bridge Program: NCDOT Inspection, Design and Repair

1 PDH · about 60 minutes · Course no. BR-X08 · 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.

North Carolina maintains one of the largest state-owned bridge inventories in the country, because NCDOT owns most bridges on secondary roads that counties own elsewhere. NCDOT's Structures Management Unit inspection manual sets a 48-month underwater cycle, specific triggers for shorter fracture critical (NSTM) intervals, and inspection rules for temporary modular bridges. This one-hour course covers those rules, a North Carolina SEBPP case study, and NCDOT design and repair practice.

⬇ Download study guide (PDF)

Learning objectives

  • Apply the 2022 NBIS baseline to North Carolina 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 North Carolina-specific course
  2. The federal baseline you are measured against
  3. Who may inspect and rate in North Carolina
  4. North Carolina at a glance: the program and its documents
  5. Inspection types you will see in the bridge file
  6. Inspection intervals in North Carolina
  7. Critical findings and urgent deficiencies in North Carolina
  8. Load rating in North Carolina
  9. Posting, closure and signs in North Carolina
  10. Scour, underwater and waterway work in North Carolina
  11. Temporary modular bridges
  12. Load rating refresher: methods, vehicles and rating factors
  13. Quality control, quality assurance and the bridge file
  14. Locally owned bridges
  15. Writing an inspection report a load rater can use
  16. Southeast hazards: flood, hurricane, salt and trucks
  17. Preservation lessons from the Southeast Bridge Preservation Partnership
  18. SNBI coding: what changes on the inspection form
  19. Permit loads and overweight vehicles
  20. Closing and reopening a bridge
  21. Ten common mistakes, and how to avoid them
  22. A team leader's field checklist
  23. Questions to ask before your first project in North Carolina
  24. Bridge design in North Carolina: NCDOT standards
  25. Bridge repair in North Carolina
  26. Designing a repair in North Carolina: the structural engineer's workflow
  27. Scenario: one bridge, start to finish, in North Carolina
  28. Verify before you rely on it
  29. Open the course (34 screens, 2 knowledge checks)
  30. 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. NCDOT Structures Management Unit, Inspection Manual (as publicly posted)
  5. NCDOT Structures Management Unit, LRFD Structures Design Manual and standard drawings (connect.ncdot.gov)
  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)