What is AASHTOWare Bridge Management?

Overview

AASHTOWare Bridge Management System (BrM - previously called Pontis) is a comprehensive bridge management system originally developed in 1989 for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The software is currently licensed through the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to over 50 State Departments of Transportation and other agencies.

BrM is merely one product in the AASHTO BRIDGEWare product suite. BrM specializes in:

  • Allocating scarce resources to protect infrastructure investments, ensuring safety and maintaining mobility.
  • Storing inventory and inspection information about an agency's bridges and other structures.
  • Supplying a rich set of modeling and analysis tools to support project development, budgeting, and program development.
  • Formulating network-wide preservation and improvement policies for evaluation of each structure in a network, making recommendations for the projects an agency should include in their capital plan.
  • Providing the capability to analyze the impact of different project alternatives on the performance of individual structures or of an entire network of structures.
  • Defining and scheduling projects for individual structures or for groups of structures.

Software Characteristics

BrM is a web software that can be installed on a web server using Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). BrM can be configured in the following ways:

  • Workstation - runs as a captive web application inside a Microsoft IIS web browser to emulate a standard desktop application. This mode is best for laptop computers that are disconnected from the main database, i.e., laptop computers used in the field. Data is exported to the laptop, edited in the field and then imported to the main database. An agency can also use the Workstation setup to create a client/server environment which runs on regular desktop computers with a full time connection to a database. This installation mode is best for agencies without a centralized web server.
  • Client-Server - This configuration is a multi-user configuration with the database installed on a server and the software installed on client computers. Separate installations of BrM Workstation on different computers speak to the same database on a separate server. This configuration uses the same installation as the Workstation configuration.
  • Server (Enterprise) - This configuration, sometimes known as a "thin-client," consists of BrM installed on a web server with users connecting to BrM via Internet Explorer. The database is usually on a separate database server that communicates with the web server. This configuration uses a different installation than the Workstation configuration.

BrM Modules

BrM is organized into eight modules:

  • Inspection Module - Used to maintain inventory and inspection information about structures.
  • Reports Module - Allows the user to select, view, and print various reports for structures in the database.
  • Admin Module - Contains the administrative functions of BrM that create flexibility within the software by allowing the administrator to configure various settings to meet agency needs.
  • Gateway Module - Provides the tools to import and export data between BrM and other systems.
  • Analysis Module - Provides a detailed analysis of a selected bridge and its work candidates.
  • Projects Module - Create and manage projects for work on specific bridges.
  • Programs Module - Create and manage programs containing projects.
  • Tunnels Module - Used for tunnel inventory and inspection.
  • Signs Module - Used for sign inventory and inspection.