Bridges of many kinds are an integral part of every county road system. The safety and adequacy of these bridges is of vital importance to the traveling public. A program of regular periodic inspection and reporting is necessary to fully inform each county legislative authority regarding the condition and adequacy of all bridges. RCW 36.78.070(1) authorizes the county road administration board to establish standards of good practice for the administration of county roads and the efficient movement of people and goods over county roads.

Each county engineer shall have available in his or her office a complete inventory of all National Bridge Inventory (NBI) bridges on the county road system. The inventory shall list the location of each bridge by the state road log number and appropriate milepost, and shall include such other information as the engineer deems necessary. In addition, all data required for the current Washington state bridge inventory database system as maintained by the Washington state department of transportation (WSDOT) shall be submitted to the WSDOT local programs bridge engineer. It is highly recommended that each county engineer maintain a similar inventory of the short span bridges, drainage structures, and large culverts on the county road system.

Each county engineer shall be responsible for all NBI inspections of all NBI bridges on the county road system in accordance with the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) as promulgated and periodically revised by the WSDOT local programs office. The county engineer shall ensure all inspection data is reported to the current Washington state bridge inventory system within 90 days of each inspection. It is highly recommended that each county engineer perform routine inspections of the short span bridges, drainage structures, and large culverts on the county road system.

Prior to April 1st of each calendar year, the WSDOT director of local programs will provide the following to the county road administration board a listing of all counties which are not in compliance with the requirements of the National Bridge Inspection Standards and the status of efforts toward achieving such compliance.

Any county which is not in compliance with the NBIS shall be assumed to be out of compliance with bridge inspection procedures.

Failure of a county to be shown in compliance with required NBIS bridge inspection procedures may be cause for the county road administration board to withhold a certificate of good practice on behalf of that county in accordance with the procedures of chapter 136-04 WAC.

Each county engineer shall furnish the county legislative authority with a written report of the findings of the bridge inspection effort. This report shall be made available to said authority and shall be consulted during the preparation of the proposed six-year transportation program revision. The report shall include the county engineer's recommendations as to replacement, repair or load restriction for each deficient bridge. The resolution of adoption of the six-year transportation program shall include assurances to the effect that the county engineer's report with respect to deficient bridges was available to said authority during the preparation of the program. It is highly recommended that deficient short span bridges, drainage structures, and large culverts be included in said report.