Summary
In 2012 we reported the results of our audit of the Department of Transportation’s systems to manage the structural safety of bridges. We made nine recommendations to the department to improve processes related to inspection contracting, quality and frequency; contractor certification; bridge information system access; maintenance activity reporting; and capital planning submissions.
In 2015 we reported the results of our follow-up audit and concluded that the department had implemented seven of the recommendations, but we repeated two recommendations for the department to:
- improve processes to contract inspections to independent third parties
- improve processes to determine if contracting inspections is cost effective
In 2016 we did a follow-up on the two outstanding recommendations. As the follow-up focused on contracting, we neither examined nor found evidence of unsafe bridges when completing our audit procedures.
Conclusion
The department implemented effective contracting processes to manage the structural safety of bridges. The department improved processes for contracting out bridge inspections and determining if contracting out inspections is cost effective.