Digitalizing Bridge Management: Current Trends, Challenges, and a Practical Implementation Framework

Transportation infrastructure, including highway bridges, are essential for both economic prosperity and societal well-being. Given the considerable number of bridges that each bridge manger is responsible for monitoring and the constraints on the availability of resources, it becomes impractical to continuously assess the integrity of each bridge using conventional approaches. Leveraging digitalization, driven by technologies such as bridge information modeling (BrIM) and digital twins, promises to significantly improve the productivity of the process, while ensuring bridge safety, durability, sustainability, and reduced life-cycle costs. Many stakeholders are enthusiastic about adopting digital technologies for bridge management but often lack a clear understanding of the benefits and how to realize them. This can lead to a focus on implementation rather than achieving defined objectives, which can hinder tangible improvements in practice. This paper provides clear definitions of relevant technologies and offers practical guidance to transform enthusiasm for digital technologies into actionable strategies for their effective implementation in bridge management practices. It proposes an incremental approach to digitalization in bridge management and conducts a thorough examination of the various levels of adoption. In addition, the paper identifies the opportunities and challenges of reaching full digitalization and highlights the transformative potential of digital solutions in enhancing bridge maintenance practices when implemented effectively.