SPR 21-599: Bridge Project Prioritization (Phase I)

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has previously used sufficiency ratings to prioritize bridge projects. These ratings weighted three factors – structural evaluation, design obsolescence, and asset importance – to determine eligibility for federal funding. But this approach was flawed because it omitted factors which can justifiably be used to prioritize projects. Additionally, there was no way to combine risk and condition factors to prioritization, which inhibited the ability of KYTC to rank the relative importance of its many assets to the overall network. Currently, input from district personnel informs bridge project prioritization; however, the Cabinet wants to develop and integrate a Bridge Importance Index into the process, which is an approach several other states have adopted. The outcome of this project will be an index that synthesizes data on bridge condition and other factors to help KYTC make project prioritization decisions as well as incorporating such information into risk-based asset management, incorporating both condition and importance into the decision-making process.