Graham Bettis, P.E., VP Business Development, BDI; Former State Bridge Engineer, Texas Department of Transportation

David Whitmore, P.Eng., FACI, FCSCE, President and Chief Innovation Officer, Vector Corrosion Technologies, LTD

Charlie Young, P.E., Vice President, BDI

Tristan R. Siegel, MCE, P.E., Staff Bridge, Region 1 Design and Construction Lead, Colorado Department of Transportation

James Nelson,P.E., Senior Bridge Technical Manager, Michael Baker International; Former State Bridge Engineer, Iowa Department of Transportation

Mohamed ElBatanouni, Ph.D., S.E., P.E., Associate Principal and Unit Manager, WJE

Earn 4-hour Certificate of Attendance (https://abc-utc.fiu.edu/webinars/certificates-of-attendance/)

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Featured Presentations:  The training session will start at 11:00 am eastern.  The session will end at 3:15pm eastern and include a 15-minute intermission.  There will be 6 modules of 30 to 45 minutes each, inclusive of 5 minutes for question and answer.  All topics will be related to Accelerated and Innovative Bridge Deck Repair (4 hours 15 minutes)

Description:
The IBT/ABC-UTC 2026 In-Depth Web Training features the topic of Accelerated and Innovative Bridge Deck Repair. This training is four hours in length and consists of six modules, each a 25 to 40 minutes presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A session, with a 15-minute break between Module 3 and Module 4.  The web training starts at 11:00 a.m. Eastern and ends at 3:15 p.m. Eastern.

(click image to enlarge)

Presenters:

Graham Bettis, P.E.
VP Business Development
BDI
Former State Bridge, Texas Department of Transportation
Email:  grahamb@bditest.com

Graham Bettis has over 27 years of experience in the structural engineering field, primarily focused on forensics, in-depth evaluations, and development of approaches for safe and economic preservation. He spent 18 years with the Texas Department of Transportation, the last six as State Bridge Engineer. In that role he was responsible for overseeing the design, inspection, and preservation of an inventory of over 57,000 bridges. He joined BDI in September 2025, where he continues to work with bridge owners to develop informed preservation decisions based on in-depth bridge investigations, particularly those related to nondestructive evaluation.

Tristan R. Siegel, MCE, P.E.
Staff Bridge
Region 1 Design and Construction Lead
Colorado Department of Transportation
Email: tristan.siegel@state.co.us

Tristan Siegel is the Design and Construction Unit Leader for Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Staff Bridge, Region 1, since 2020.  He is responsible for overseeing the management of approximately 900 bridges, 1,500 walls, and other State-owned structural assets in the Denver-Metro area.  Before moving to Colorado, Tristan worked for 7 years at the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) Bridge Design group as a project engineer.  He is a member of AASHTO COBS Soil Structures Technical Committee. 

Module 1:  To Repair or Not to Repair – Bridge Deck Rehabilitation from a (former) Owner’s Perspective

by  Graham Bettis, P.E., VP Business Development, BDI; Former State Bridge, Texas Department of Transportation

Description:  As many interstate era bridge decks reach the end of their service lives, bridge owners increasingly face difficult decisions on next steps. Visual observations, nondestructive testing, and other modern evaluation techniques provide for a great deal of useful information on bridge deck condition, but other factors like maintenance of traffic and cost constraints frequently govern project-level decision making. In this presentation, Graham Bettis (formerly of TxDOT) will offer a bridge owner’s perspective on balancing decisions in regard to bridge repair, rehabilitation, and replacement.

Figure 1.1 – Image from FHWA Bridge Preservation Guide (2018), Figure 2, page 6.

Module 2:  Why Bridge Decks Fail and How to Prevent It

by David Whitmore, P.Eng., FACI, FCSCE, President and Chief Innovation Officer, Vector Corrosion Technologies, LTD

Description: Bridge decks are exposed to the elements and take a beating.  Learn what causes bridge decks to deteriorate and understand how different approaches can prevent deterioration from occurring and how they can be used to ensure your bridge deck repairs are durable.

Module 3: NDT Tools for Repair-or-Replace Decisions and Repair Scope Definition: Technology Overview and Selected Case Studies

by Charlie Young, P.E., Vice President, BDI

Description: This presentation will provide an overview of the state of the art on bridge deck NDT tools and the value each one provides in understanding the condition of a bridge deck. Some examples of technologies discussed will be automated concrete sounding (ACS), ground penetrating radar (GPR), high resolution imaging (HRI),half-cell potential (HCP), and infrared thermography (IRT). Material sampling will also be discussed, including petrography, chloride sampling, and physical verification of NDT findings. After providing this overview, selected case studies will be presented where bridge deck NDT was used to inform certain decisions about bridge deck rehabilitation, including repair vs. replacement options. Case studies will include large network-level studies, long span signature bridges, and individual one-off bridges in need of rehabilitation.

Module 4:  Enhancing Bridge Safety and Preservation: CDOT Deck Rehabilitation Case Studies

by Tristan R. Siegel, MCE, P.E., Staff Bridge., Region 1 Design and Construction Lead, Colorado Department of Transportation

Description:
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) faces critical challenges maintaining aging bridge decks amid high traffic and constrained funding. This presentation explores some of the common best practices for bridge deck rehabilitation as well as innovative solutions through two recent deck preservation case studies. First, we examine a steel deck plank formwork retrofit deployed on targeted bridges across major corridors in the Denver Metro area, including I-25, I-70, and I-270. This proactive measure protects the public from falling concrete and successfully reduces emergency repair times by fifty percent. Second, we analyze an emergency rehabilitation on I-70 utilizing hydrodemolition and a Polyester Polymer Concrete overlay. We highlight the integration of comprehensive Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE), including SounDAR, GPR, and high-resolution UAV imaging.  Attendees will gain actionable insights into design, cost data, NDE reliability, and construction outcomes, offering valuable owner perspectives.

Module 5:  Resources for Bridge Deck Repair Guidance

by James Nelson,P.E., Senior Bridge Technical Manager, Michael Baker International, Former State Bridge Engineer, Iowa Department of Transportation

Description:
This module will include a comprehensive review and navigation of essential industry standards, agency manuals, and web-based toolkits designed to support decision-making for bridge deck rehabilitation and preservation.

Module 6:  The Bridge Deck Preservation Tool (BDPT)

by Mohamed ElBatanouni, Ph.D., S.E., P.E., Associate Principal and Unit Manager, WJE

Description:
Best practices for utilizing the online Bridge Deck Preservation Tool (BDPT) to evaluate condition data, evaluate treatment options, and guide repair vs. replacement decision-making.  https://infobridge.fhwa.dot.gov/bdpt/

Question & Answer Period: Submit your questions when you register for the In-Depth Web Training and also in the question box during the web training.

Certificate of Attendance: Each site registered for this webinar will receive an email for your response. Just click the first link in the email to obtain a certificate. For multiple participants at a site, the point-of-contact registrant for that site also clicks the second link in the email, logs in, and clicks “Attendees” to provide first name, last name, and email address for each participant at that site; each participant will then receive an automatic email with link to print an individual certificate. Accessing the second link in the email will also allow participants to print certificates for past webinars that were attended by simply clicking the webinar title. Please let Arslan Khan at FIU know if you have questions or need assistance with receiving your certificate. Arslan’s email address is arskhan@fiu.edu.

For More Information: Please visit our website (abc-utc.fiu.edu) for more information. You can also contact us by sending an email to abc@fiu.edu.