Short- and Long-Term Effects of Element Costs and Failure Costs in Pontis

Experts familiar with bridge maintenance in Idaho estimated unit costs for Pontis bridge elements. These costs were compared to those provided by the California and Oregon departments of transportation. Some of the differences are due to regional variations in repair and rehabilitation costs, some reflect decisions to avoid certain actions by assigning them prohibitively high costs, and others reflect modeling decisions regarding the cost of leaving an element in its current condition. For a $5\text{-}\text{year}$ scenario, the projected needs using the Oregon element costs were from 1.6 to 6 times higher than those based on Idaho or California element costs. Likewise the projected benefits using Oregon element costs ranged from 2.2 to 40 times higher than the benefits projected using Idaho and California element costs. A $25\text{-}\text{year}$ scenario indicates that Pontis’ cost-optimal priorities allowed the Network Health Index to decrease, even when a more-than-ample budget was provided.