Pontis is a
software application
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
developed to assist in managing
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s and other structures. Known as AASHTOWare Bridge Management since version 5.2, Pontis stores bridge inspection and inventory data based on the U.S.
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...
(FHWA)
National Bridge Inventory
The National Bridge Inventory (NBI) is a database, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, with information on all bridges and tunnels in the United States that have roads passing above or below them. That is similar to the grade-crossing ...
system coding guidelines. In addition, the system stores condition data for each of a bridge's structural elements.
The system is designed to support the bridge inspection process, recommend a bridge preservation policy, predict future bridge conditions, and recommend projects to perform on one or more bridges to derive the most agency and user benefit from a specified budget. The system uses a Markovian Decision Process to model bridge deterioration and recommend an optimal preservation policy. It uses the Markovian model results, in conjunction with a simulation model, to predict future conditions and recommend work.
History
In 1991, the FHWA sponsored the development of a
bridge management system
A bridge management system (BMS) is a means for managing bridges throughout design, construction, operation and maintenance of the bridges. As funds available become tighter, road authorities around the world are facing challenges related to bridge ...
called "Pontis" which is derived from the Latin ''pons'', meaning bridge.
The system is owned by the
(AASHTO). Many states began using Pontis when the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA, pronounced ''Ice-Tea'') is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in ...
required each state to implement a system. it was licensed by AASHTO to over 45 U.S. state transportation departments and other organizations in the U.S. and other countries.
InspectTech belonging to
Bentley Systems
Bentley Systems, Incorporated is an American-based software development company that develops, manufactures, licenses, sells and supports computer software and services for the design, construction, and operation of infrastructure. The company' ...
is the contractor for ongoing development and support of Pontis. Previous Pontis developers included
Cambridge Systematics
Cambridge Systematics, Inc. is an independent, employee-owned transportation consultancy firm with corporate headquarters located in Medford, Massachusetts. Cambridge Systematics provides strategic planning and management services, objective anal ...
, Inc., Optima, Inc., and the Michael Baker Corporation.
References
*. Archived fro
the originalon October 27, 2007.
*
External links
Pontis webpage for sales and support, at the
InspectTech website.
Bridges
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