Bridge inspection

10th December 2025 - 11th December 2025

9.30 to 13.00 each day

Virtual by Microsoft Teams

Bridges are expensive assets and bigger bridges are the greatest liability on a rights of way service because of potential for serious incidents from failure. Inspection regimes are crucial to protecting both the public and the council, as well as ensuring that the public right is protected by the bridge being fit for passage.

Different materials have their own characteristics and likely defects, so understanding how a bridge functions under load, from flood water under it to the public crossing it, is important to finding and assessing defects. That understanding and knowledge of the terminology of a bridge is valuable in producing an intelligent report, especially if referred back to after an incident or insurance claim, and for referral to a structures team or contractor.

This course considers all these factors to equip greater understanding of bridge inspection and how to record it.

There is a sequel on asset management of bridges.

Book here

Main topics

The anatomy of a bridge and terminology
Load paths and how loads pass through a bridge
Typical defects for different materials
Bridge inspection from desk to report
Severity and extent of defects and their risks
When to refer to structures
Creating an 'intelligent client' report, what to include and how

Level

Intermediate; aimed at both recent starters and more experienced officers involved with maintenance. Also for those involved with creating asset management tools, policies, and protocols which will be covered in an associated module.

Trainers

Abigail Vine, bridge engineer, Countryside Capital Programme Officer, Surrey
Richard Cuthbert, Definitive Map and Enforcement team leader, Hertfordshire
Abby Sullivan, Countryside Access Development Officer, Hampshire

Cost

Members £253, non-members £325 (exc VAT)

Software

Microsoft Teams is the software used for training which is available to anyone. Using the app is strongly recommended for full functionality as the web browser version may be missing some facilities, although full participation should be possible, use of some apps within Teams may be limited by participating organisation's protocols.