http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/documents/NJTA-Bridge-Inspection-Program_rev-OCT2011.pdf
http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/documents/NJTA_Load_Rating_Manual_Ver9.1_Oct_2015.pdf
Date No
4/15/2016 2016 - 1
2016 - 1.1
2016 - 1.2
Topic
BI Report Checklist
Load Ratings
Documents and
Manuals
2016 – 1.3 Clarification regarding
Photographs
NJTA – InspectTech Notifications for the 2016 Inspection Season
Wording
Consultants shall complete a checklist for each bridge inspection report. The Checklist input form and output report section are available in
InspectTech. See Attachment2016_01.pdf
for instructions on where to find the form and report section.
Section Loss sheets presented during the 2016 InspectTech Training session are available. PDF format is available through InspectTech (see
Notification No. 2016 - 1.2). Excel format is available through this download HNTB Section Loss Table.xls
Documents and Manuals pertaining to InspectTech and the NJTA Bridge Inspection Program are available through the InspectTech website.
See Attachment2016_01_2.pdf
for instructions on where to find and access these documents.
Photographs shall follow the order that is indicated on the BI Report Checklist.
Date No Topic
2/18/2016 2015 - 20.1 Elements Output
Report Section PDF annotations
2015 - 20.2 Load Rating Summary
Sheets and SI&A
Sheets PDF annotations
Active NJTA – InspectTech Notifications from Previous Inspection Seasons
Wording
The Elements Output Report is incorrect. For final report deliverables including hard copies and electronic copies to be uploaded into
InspectTech and to be submitted on DVD or flash drive at the end of your assignments, an annotation will be required on each report output section page. See Attachment20.pdf
for instructions, and download NBEandLRSSnotes.docx for a template of annotations.
The Authority recently corrected and updated SI&A fields 63 to 66 for several hundred bridges in the inventory. As a result, the data in
InspectTech may not match the Load Rating Summary Sheet (LRSS). Also, as indicated in Notification No. 17.3, load ratings continue to be updated by others which may also result in discrepancies between the LRSS, the SI&A data and the actual load rating of a bridge. In order to address these discrepancies, annotations will be required on every LRSS and SI&A report. Like Notification No. 20.1, these annotations are needed on the final report deliverables including hard copies and electronic copies to be uploaded into InspectTech and to be submitted on
DVD or flash drive at the end of your assignments. See Attachment20.pdf
for instructions, and download NBEandLRSSnotes.docx for a template of annotations.

Date No Topic
1/11/2016 2015 - 17.3 Load Ratings
12/18/2015 2015 - 16.0 Submittal of Reports and In Progress Status
Starting the week of 12/21/2015, all reports will be changed to the In Progress status by NJTA Administrators and will remain in that status indefinitely. This is required for the Authority to be able to edit SI&A data more easily during the end of year submission to the NJDOT and the
FHWA. This will not affect inspector users.
Inspectors will still be able to edit data and create reports. Category D’s can still be created by following the same procedure or steps to submit reports. The screens/forms and status, however, will appear differently. See
Attachment16.pdf
for a description of the differences.
12/9/2015 2015 - 15.0 Clarification of Rich
Text Format and
Special Characters
(14.2)
11/16/2015 2015 - 14.2 Rich Text Format and
Special Characters
Restrictions described in 14.2 do not apply to VII – Specific Conditions, Deficiencies, or Remarks - Description/Location field; or to all fields in
VIII - Pier Top Detailed Inspection (Part 2).
2015 - 14.3 Guidelines for Rigid
Frames with Fill and w/out Fill (Culverts)
Please do not paste from Rich Text Format into existing fields. Also, do not use the following characters within any fields: Single quote ( ‘ ), quote ( “ ), less than ( < ), or greater than ( > ). Likewise, do not attempt to clear any existing fields that have those characters. While the system may allow you to copy rich text or enter special characters, they cause problems with data for Authority Administrator users behind the scenes. If you see any fields with those characters, please report the matter to njtabridgeshelp@turnpike.state.nj.us
.
For NBI Coding, please refer to the March 12, 2012 clarification memorandum from the NJDOT titled “Clarification on Culvert Definition and
Proper SI&A and Pontis Reporting”. Guidance is provided for proper coding of Items 43b, 51, 52, 58, 59, 60, 62, 107, 108a, 108b and State
Code AM (other State Codes listed in the memorandum are not coded by the Authority).
Likewise, NBE Coding and quantities shall be consistent with NBI Coding for example:

Measurements for Arches / Frames (LF) - Span Length shall be from Springline to Springline. Exception is Arch Culverts / Rigid Frames
(under fill) when structure type, etc. on SI&A are coded for a Culvert; in that case, measure along length of barrel (times # of barrels)
 Measurement for Culvert (LF) - Measured Along the Length of the Barrel, Multiplied by the Number of Barrels.
2015 - 14.4 Vierendeel Overhead
VMS/Hybrid Signs
Active NJTA – InspectTech Notifications from Previous Inspection Seasons
Wording
As indicated in Notification No. 14.1, the Authority’s oversight consultant is responsible to update SI&A fields 63 to 66. The bridge inspection consultant will be notified by the oversight consultant when the fields are updated so the bridge inspection report can be generated. In some cases, especially in cases where State Legal Load Ratings are below 1.0, additional review and/or analysis is required by the oversight consultant prior to updating the load rating fields. In order not to delay submittal of the report, the bridge inspection consultant may be directed to use previous load ratings.
8/4/2015 2015 - 10 Integral Abutments and MSE Walls
The new Vierendeel Overhead VMS/Hybrid Signs forms and reports will not be implemented in InspectTech this year . Users are to use the old
Vierendeel Overhead Sign forms and reports with a supplemental form that is to be collected in a Microsoft excel sheet which can be downloaded at Supplemental_Form.xlsx
. This supplemental sheet shall be printed in PDF format and included in the bundled sign report.
Attachment14_4.pdf
. Please remember to enter an inspection date in order to generate the old forms in Inspecttech. Also, please upload each completed supplemental spreadsheet into Inspecttech.
Directive providing supplemental guidance on how to code the bullet forms, NBE and NBI data related to Integral Abutments and MSE Walls.
See Attachment10.pdf
.
For clarifications regarding element coding, see Attachment9_3.pdf
. 7/9/2015 2015 - 9.3 NJTA Bridge Element
Q&A
6/7/2015 2015 - 8.1 Photo Linking Photo linking issue has been resolved. Please remember to provide a photograph for every REPAIRABLE defect. See Attachment8_1.pdf.

Date No Topic
5/12/2015 2015 - 7.3 Category A
4/30/2015 2015 - 5.2 Pasting Text into
InspectTech
4/24/2015 2015 - 4.1 Category A
2015 - 4.2 URL Redirect
Active NJTA – InspectTech Notifications from Previous Inspection Seasons
Wording
Firm Initials in Category A (see Notice No. 4.1) – We are revising the location of the firm initials (or short name) from the location outlined in notice 4.1 - preceding (BEFORE) the Element Deficiency to preceding (BEFORE) the Description field. Note – There are currently no entries in compliance with the original Notice 4.1.
Also, the Element Deficiency field shall contain the deficiency, the element description and the location. (See Attachment7_3.pdf
)
Regarding pasting text into InspectTech:
• When copying and pasting text from Word or other formatted text programs into IT fields, please paste plain text only.
•
•
When using Chrome, use “Ctrl + Shift + V” (instead of “Ctrl + V”) OR, use right click > “Paste as plain text”.
When using Explorer, paste into Notepad first, then copy and paste from Notepad.
Also, all announcements regarding the operation of InspectTech such as this one, will be summarized on IT as a PDF; from the Help tab, click on “Version Update Summary”.
This email serves to reiterate how Category A's should be notified to the Authority. Category A's or Priority 1's shall not be entered into
InspectTech until the urgency of the deficiency and method of repair is discussed. This involves:
* Sending a notification email to the Authority's Liaison (CKW, OO, JL)
* Discussing the nature and urgency of the deficiency over the phone or in person, not by email
* Deciding whether or not to enter in InspectTech
The discussion shall include a determination as to whether NJTA Maintenance can effectively and handle the repair in a timely manner.
Consultants should continue to make a note if a repair is beyond the capabilities of Maintenance or if it can be addressed by in-house forces.
This note is requested for the present assignments and is not to be considered a permanent procedure.
The creator of each Category A or Priority 1 is to also put the firm initials in parenthesis preceding the Element Deficiency write up section for future reports. This is to facilitate correspondence and record keeping between the different departments within the Authority as well as with consulting firms performing the work until a separate box for the firm name can be added to the report.
A separate reminder: Starting in May, the njta.bridgeinspect.com URL will be no longer redirect to the new InspectTech URL that has been adopted. If you have not begun to do so already, please use https://njta-it.bentley.com
to use InspectTech.
Date No Topic
1/28/2016 2015 - 19.1 Elements Input Form
Error Update
2015 - 19.2 NBE Data Entry
Deadline
NOT ACTIVE NJTA – InspectTech Notifications List
Wording
Bentley has corrected the Elements Input Form Error described under Notification No. 18.1. The overwritten total quantity and condition state 1 values have been reversed for the affected bridges and spans. Consultants will receive an audit log of the bridge/span elements and defects that were affected by this bug, the previous incorrect values, and the current values that were input prior to the overwrite. Please review the audit log and the affected bridges/spans as they appear in the Element Input Form and confirm that the values match your intended input. Note that if you made a revision to your first input data, the roll back may have restored the data to your original input which may need to be revised. The audit log verification should be completed as soon as possible. Should there be any issues with the audit log, the bridges/spans affected, or form stability, please notify njtabridgeshelp@turnpike.state.nj.us
All National Bridge Element Data for the 2015 assignments shall be entered into InspectTech by than February 11, 2015. No exceptions.

Date No Topic
2015 - 19.3 NBE InspectTech
Uploads
1/26/2016 2015 - 18.1 Elements
Input Form Error
2015 - 18.2 FCM Reports Location
Diagram
1/11/2016 2015 - 17.1 InspectTech
Maintenance
2015 - 17.2 Elements Report
Section
11/16/2015 2015 - 14.1 SI&A 63 to 66
9/15/15 2015 - 13.1 Vierendeel Overhead
VMS/Hybrid Signs
2015 - 13.2 NBE Element 330
NOT ACTIVE NJTA – InspectTech Notifications List
Wording
This is a reminder that quantity take-offs for first cycle element level inspections shall be uploaded into InspectTech. Consultants who also have their defect tallies in a legible format such as a spreadsheet or neatly hand written field notes are asked to include that information in their uploads for backup purposes.
The Elements Input Form is overwriting data in the total quantity and condition state 1 fields for some elements when the form is reloading. If a user populates a bridge (or bridge segment/span) once and never opens up the Elements form again, the fields will not be overwritten. If a user populates a bridge (or bridge segment/span) once and reopens that form, some total quantity and condition state 1 values may be overwritten. The error appears to be taking the total of the defect amounts and placing that value in the total quantity box for the element.
The error also appears to be placing zero in the total quantity box for elements that have no defects (all in condition state 1). For multi-span bridges, the error occurs only for the specific spans opened and not when the roll-up is opened.
We have reported this to Bentley as a high priority case. In the meantime, we recommend that users avoid reopening the Elements form once data is entered. If a user has to reopen the form, it has to be checked for potential errors and corrected before exiting. The error occurs regardless of who opens up that form so we recommend that consultants designate one user to enter element data per bridge and keep track of when element data entry is complete.
This is a reminder that all FCM Reports require a location plan regardless of whether or not one exists in the previous cycle report. Location plans, if not included in the previous cycle report, are available for every non first cycle FCM bridge. Please notify njtabridgeshelp@turnpike.state.nj.us if you do not have location plans.
There will be two scheduled maintenance sessions; the first on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 4:30 PM EST to Thursday, January 14, 2016 at
7:00 AM EST, and the second from Friday, January 15, 2016 at 7:00 PM EST to Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 8:00 AM EST. The website may be available during these times; however, we recommend that users do not perform any critical work such as data entry that could be interrupted.
The elements report section is currently generating incorrectly due to a system bug. See Attachment17_2.pdf for a description of errors.
Please maintain your report submittal schedule and complete all information in InspectTech as necessary. Do not, however, submit any hard copy reports using the incorrect format. For those reports that are complete but cannot be submitted due to the elements report section bug, please notify the Authority via email to njtabridgeshelp@turnpike.state.nj.us that the report is complete in InspectTech so that we can continue to monitor schedule.
The Authority will accept reports using elements report sections generated before the report bug. This may be the case if there are reports that were generated prior to the report section bug, say in draft form awaiting submittal, or if there are element reports that do not have the child elements indicated in the attachment and are generating correctly.
Do not update SI&A fields 63 to 66. Those updates shall be made by the Authority’s oversight consultant. All changes and corrections to those fields shall be reported to NJTABridgeshelp@turnpike.state.nj.us.
A formatted report output for this new type of sign is not yet available. The input forms, however, are available and functioning. Users may use a blank input form (provided) to assist in collecting field notes for the time being. The unformatted output report may be used by users for checking purposes, however, please be aware that the report will be undergoing changes directly on the production site over the next few weeks. Attachment13.pdf
Concrete related defects have been added for Element 330 – Metal Bridge Rail to account for both metal and concrete deficiencies per NJDOT coding requirements. See Attachment 9.3 which has been revised to reflect this change. Attachment9_3.pdf.

Date
9/9/2015
No
2015 - 12
Topic
2015 - 13.3 Inspecttech Form
Changes
NBE Elements 109,
520 and 521
NOT ACTIVE NJTA – InspectTech Notifications List
Wording
The NJDOT Bridge Form will be modified over the next few weeks to add load rating fields to align with the NJDOT’s July 6, 2015 LRFR
Memorandum. Please DO NOT populate the new fields.
Protective Systems, 520 – Concrete Reinforcing Steel Protective System and 521 – Concrete Protective Coating are now available in IT for
Element 109 – Prestressed Concrete Open Girder/Beam. Please add them as necessary prior to submitting your final reports.
Directive providing supplemental guidance on how to report on Category D – Maintenance Items Attachment11.pdf 9/2/2015 2015 - 11 Category D
7/9/2015
5/12/2015
2015 - 9.1
2015 - 9.2
2015 - 7.1
2015 - 7.2
Element Inspection
Report
NBI State Coding
Inspecttech Form
Changes
Inspecttech Access and Form Use
The Element Inspection Report Output Inspector name shall match the Team Leader name. See Attachment9_1.pdf for instructions on how to edit that field.
NJTA will begin to disable most NBI State Fields that do not need to be coded. Users who were instructed to blank out those fields no longer have to do so. NJTA will blank out those fields by bulk edit.
The Basic Information form has been revised. Please populate the new field titled “Firm”. Remaining new fields will be populated by IT
Administrators. There is no need to fill in Structure Name for existing and new bridges at this time. The field is intended for larger viaducts and structures (see Attachment7_1.pdf)
While entering SIA data for monthly updates is priority, it is okay for users to access all areas, including element inspection data. Element data is a new form, any issues and bugs shall be reported to NJTABridgesHelp.
5/1/2015
4/30/2015 2015 - 5.1 Resolution for Blank
NBI 90 Fields
4/17/2015
2015 - 6
2015 - 3
Bentley Open Up SIA The NJDOT has requested us to transmit SI & A inspection dates. Bentley has just opened up the SI & A data access and input. It is requested that you all start to input the data (dates as a minimum) ASAP in IT for all bridges inspected before 5/1/2015. Please complete all input by
5/13/2015. Inform us once you are done.
Inspection Dates
The blank NBI 90 inspection date issue has been resolved. The “Inspection Date” under Open Reports on the Asset Detail Quick View tab has always been the date the report was created. When a report is initially created, both the “Inspection Date” and NBI 90 will be populated with the date report created.
The Consultant shall continue to edit NBI 90 through the Basic Info Page (or the SIA form when it becomes accessible) to meet NBIS requirements. Subsequent changes to NBI 90 will not change the “Inspection Date” under Open Reports (fields are not linked). “Inspection
Date” will continue to only show the date in which the report was created.
In the past IT Version 7.1, a new report in InspectTech was generated with the old NBI 90 date. That field would never be blank and users would adjust that date before critical submissions. At this time, that feature is not working properly and NBI 90 is being wiped out (blank) when a new report is created.
We will need this date populated – not blank for the current data transfer tool in COMBIS to work properly. In anticipation of NJDOT corrections for the federal submission, we ask that you go into the system for all reports created on or after March 25th and enter the inspection date from the Bridge Info page which is also linked to NBI 90.

Date No Topic
4/13/2015 2015 - 2.1 Element Level
Inspection & Category
A’s
3/25/2015
2015 - 2.2
2015 - 1
InspectTech System
Data Maintenance
IMPORTANT –
InspectTech System
Data Maintenance
NOT ACTIVE NJTA – InspectTech Notifications List
Wording
As you may recall from the Training on March 12 th
, the Authority was to provide time savings measures to consultants regarding the collection of element level data. We initially pursued the use of an excel spreadsheet to import data on a per span or a per bridge basis. Unfortunately,
Bentley will not be able to provide this tool in time for this year.
We therefore offer the following
 When coding element level data, there is no need to measure each defect. Instead, enter the total amount and select the most prominent defect. We ask that whatever back up is used to determine the prominent defect (i.e. field notes or markup) be scanned and uploaded as a “file”.
 We understand that many of you intend to develop a system such as input sheets or spreadsheets for the collection and calculation of element level data. Since we are all going through a learning curve, we ask that any time savings ideas be shared with the rest of the inspection consultants by emailing NJTABridgesHelp. Attached for your use is a spreadsheet that was developed by HAKS used to calculate quantities and collect data for element inspections – one such shared time savings idea.
 We anticipate the SI&A data entry blackout period to last into May. We will make those forms available to all once we get the green light from the FHWA.

Please refrain from creating new reports in InspectTech. Only do so for Category A’s and Priority 1’s.
New Jersey Turnpike Authority will be conducting data clean-up over the next week in order to meet our annual FHWA NBIS submittal through
NJDOT. Administrators will be in the InspectTech (IT) system correcting entries and modifying data format to meet new NJDOT COMBIS requirements and FHWA submittal audits. We will not be shutting down IT access but ask that all consultants refrain from creating and submitting inspection reports, updating dates and editing any NBI data. You may continue to edit the 8 page form, enter element data, enter and update attachments and photographs, and create Category A/Priority 1 notifications.
We will notify you when you can access all areas in IT again. Moving forward, the Authority will also provide specific instruction regarding field entries (i.e. maximum number of characters and decimals) that will be required so that we may remain compatible with COMBIS.
Should you have any questions, please send them to NJTABridgesHelp@turnpike.state.nj.us.