The City of Ballarat has updated its process for inspecting bridges and streamlined processes for recording information obtained during inspections.

The municipality’s 205 bridges undergo routine inspections every 12 months and condition inspections every three years.

City of Ballarat has begun using mobile devices for bridge inspections and entering the data into its Integrated Asset Management System

Council has an obligation under its Road Management Plan (RMP) to undertake regular inspections of its bridge infrastructure.

Council’s Director of Growth and Development, Eric Braslis said that the new system was more efficient.

“Until last year the data from the inspections was recorded on paper forms and information in various systems was manually updated.  When defects were identified they were transferred manually to maintenance crews for action”, Mr Braslis said.

“There was a danger that this process could result in inefficiencies and potential errors or omissions, thereby increasing Council’s risk profile.

“As a result of these improvements bridge inspection can now be undertaken with mobile devices, allowing data, including photos of defects, to be directly recorded in Council’s system.  The system automatically raises works orders for the bridge maintenance crew, allowing all bridge inspection and maintenance activities to be more easily tracked and reported.

Mr Braslis said Council’s asset management group had also completed considerable work to ensure Council’s register of bridges is accurate, developed a bridge inspection manual to ensure consistent high standards for bridge inspections, and provided training for inspection staff.