SNBIOnline self-study
SNBI Condition, Inspection and Element Data
1 PDH · about 60 minutes · Course no. BR-S02 · 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.
Section 6 (Inspections) and Section 7 (Bridge Condition) of the FHWA Specifications for the National Bridge Inventory (SNBI) are where field inspection results become national data. This course walks through the SNBI component condition rating items, the new rating vocabulary of defect severity and extent, the inspection-event records that replace the old single inspection date, and the element data reported for NHS bridges, with worked examples drawn from the SNBI itself and the coding errors most likely to appear during the transition.
⬇ Download study guide (PDF)
Learning objectives
- Describe how SNBI records component conditions
- Explain the role of element data in the SNBI
- Identify new inspection-event data
- Avoid common coding errors during transition
Outline
- Where condition and inspection data live in the SNBI
- The component condition rating scale (Table 20)
- Severity and extent: the defect vocabulary
- Inspection events in brief
- Part A — Rating the deck (B.C.01)
- Part A — Rating the superstructure (B.C.02)
- Part A — Substructure (B.C.03) and culverts (B.C.04)
- Part B — New component items: railings, transitions, bearings and joints
- Part B — Waterway items: channel, channel protection and scour
- Part C — Calculated items and the special-inspection conditions (B.C.12 to B.C.15)
- Part C — Inspection events item by item (B.IE.01 to B.IE.06)
- Part C — Inspection events item by item (B.IE.07 to B.IE.12)
- Part D — Element identification (B.E.01 to B.E.03)
- Part D — Element condition states (B.CS.01 to B.CS.04)
- Part D — Common coding errors during the transition
- Part D — A field-to-database QC checklist
- Open the course (22 screens, 2 knowledge checks)
- Final quiz — 10 questions, 70% to pass
References
- FHWA, Specifications for the National Bridge Inventory (SNBI), FHWA-HIF-22-017, March 2022
- 23 CFR Part 650, Subpart C — National Bridge Inspection Standards (final rule published May 6, 2022)
- AASHTO, Manual for Bridge Element Inspection, 2nd Edition, 2019