Sutton Creek Bridge on Montana 37 South of Rexford

The mission of the Bridge Bureau is to ensure that the state's bridges are safe, resilient, and will provide an economical and reliable transportation system now and for future generations.

Our Guiding Principles are: Teamwork, Excellence, and Innovation

The Bridge Bureau is responsible for the approximately 2500 bridges as well as large culverts and other highway related structures on the State System. The Bureau also provides in-service bridge inspection and load rating services for nearly 2000 bridges that are on county and local municipality routes.

Bridge Design

The Bridge Design Section provides structural engineering services for bridge replacement, rehabilitation, and preservation projects. The Section manages structure design projects, provides construction engineering support, establishes and maintains structural design criteria and standards, participates in research projects, and promotes design initiatives to improve performance and value of the state's bridges.

Bridge Management

The Bridge Management Section is responsible for the inspection, operation and reactive maintenance of the state system bridges and provide guidance for local agencies. This includes:

  • In-Service Bridge Inspection. The Section has responsibility for overseeing a program of regular condition inspections of all in-service publicly owned bridges in accordance with the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) and operation of the Structure Management System database that is used to track and report system-wide conditions and perform analysis that supports bridge funding decisions.
  • Load Rating. Engineers perform analysis and load rating to determine safe operation and for all publicly owned in-services bridges. Load Rating Engineers will recommend load posting, restriction or closures for deficient bridges.
  • Overweight Vehicle Permitting. Permitting Engineers determine safe operating conditions for overweight trucks using the states' transportation system. Overweight truck configurations are analyzed to determine if they can safely cross a bridge without causing damage. Engineers provide recommendations to MDT Motor Carrier Services on overweight truck routes and permits.
  • Bridge Maintenance. Bridge Maintenance Engineers perform or develop contracts for structural repairs to bridges on the state system. They offer guidance to MDT District Maintenance and Local Agencies for routine maintenance and technical assistance.