Long-Term Bridge Performance Program

Program Overview | Contractors

About Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Program

In the United States, the stewardship and management of more than 590,000 bridges are ongoing planning, operational, maintenance, and economic challenges faced by Federal, State, and local transportation agencies.

To help overcome these challenges and foster the next generation of bridge and bridge management systems, in April 2008, the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Office of Infrastructure Research and Development launched the Long Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Program, a major new strategic initiative designated as a flagship research project. The LTBP program is intended to be a 20-year undertaking, with the global objective of collecting scientific quality data from the Nation's highway bridges, as critical node-points of the highway transportation network. The data and information collected in this program will provide a more detailed and timely picture of bridge health, improve knowledge of bridge performance, and ultimately promote the safety, mobility, longevity, and reliability or the Nation's highway transportation assets.

Funding for the program was included in legislation for surface transportation enacted by the U.S. Congress in 2005: the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).