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Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) Timber Bridge Inspection

Montana Statewide

Fickett was retained by MDT to perform timber bridge inspections utilizing a resistograph to determine internal decay of piles, pile caps, and suspect beams.  The substructures are pattern drilled to determine the extents of decay and prioritize repairs, retrofits, and replacement of timber bridges throughout Montana.  The 2019 Term Assignment included 46 bridges and the 2020 Term Assignment currently under contract includes 103 bridges.

During the course of the inspections, any findings were immediately communicated to MDT.  At the completion of the 2019 Term Assignment, Fickett created a summary of the 46 timber bridges and prioritized repairs and retrofits for MDT which was not in the original scope of the project.  MDT is now requiring this summary from all consultants moving forward on all Timber Term Assignments.

Throughout these Term Assignments, Fickett was heavily involved with defining contract scopes and creating documents and forms to streamline inspections. We created inspection schedules to ensure that all bridges were inspected within 24 months of their previous inspection if applicable and to group bridges in geographical areas to limit travel time and save MDT money during this and all future inspection cycles.  Reports were completed within 90 days of the inspection and submitted on time and within budget.