Culvert asset management practices and deterioration modeling

Drainage infrastructure systems and culverts constitute an important portion of highway assets that require routine inspections, maintenance, and timely repair and renewal. Variations in structural characteristics (i.e., material type, shape, and dimension), environmental exposure, and wide geospatial distribution of these infrastructure assets accompanied with strict budget restrictions pose significant challenges for transportation agency officials. Deterioration models constitute one of the most essential components of any infrastructure asset management strategy; these models provide insight on the significant factors that affect infrastructure condition states and expected behavior of infrastructure assets under different conditions. The objectives of this study are to provide a review of previous studies on factors that affect culvert performance and durability and those on culvert asset management, to present current practices of transportation agencies with regard to management of culverts, and, last, to present development of a preliminary deterioration model that will allow decision makers to identify significant factors that affect deterioration of metal culverts and prioritize inspection procedures. The preliminary deterioration model presented in this study is developed by employing binary logistic regression with a forward stepwise variable selection method on data obtained from the Ohio Department of Transportation.