Topic: The Denver Bridge Health Index: Evolution, Development, and Application

Abstract:

Since 1997, the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD) has collaborated with the City and County of Denver (CCD) on the repair, evaluation, maintenance, and rehabilitation (REMR) of its public infrastructure. Hundreds of UCD students, from high schoolers to post-doctoral researchers, have contributed to infrastructure inventory and assessment, particularly bridges, pavements, and sidewalks. In 2007, UCD civil engineering and construction (CEC) department developed the Denver Bridge Health Index (DBHI) to offer a more precise rating method for individual bridge components and overall condition. Although the DBHI research was published in 2010, it was not formally adopted by the CCD bridge group. The CCD manages 642 bridges—about two-thirds minor short span and one-third major. With the 2025 transition from the National Bridge Inspection (NBI) standards to the Specifications for the National Bridge Inventory (SNBI), the new system proved somewhat effective for major structures but less so for minor bridges. Therefore, the CCD decided to use previous work and apply the DBHI across its entire bridge inventory. This paper summarizes the DBHI’s implementation and highlights current and future research directions, including the use of basic and machine learning-based deterioration models.