As part of a study to develop a comprehensive bridge management system for the indiana department of highways, statistical analyses were performed on bridge replacement costs. It was found that unit superstructure cost can be estimated reasonably well in terms of dollars per square foot of deck area. However, the current practice of expressing unit substructure cost in terms of dollars per square footof deck area only by superstructure type may not adequately accountfor the difference in substructure costs caused by different substructure types such as solid-stem piers and pile-bent piers. Average unit substructure costs should be computed separately by substructuretype as well as by superstructure type. Estimation of approach construction costs has been considered difficult and impractical becauseof various factors affecting such costs. However, an analysis of variance (anova) can be used. Although approach costs vary significantly from site to site, it was possible to develop cost prediction models that would provide reasonably reliable preliminary cost estimates for bridge engineers and inspectors. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1180, bridge design and testing.
Abstract