Deterioration models are vital to life-cycle cost assessments of bridges. Maintenance and user costs depend on bridge conditions, which vary across the period of analysis. The quality of LCC-based decisions depends on the accuracy and efficiency of the deterioration models used to predict the remaining service life of highway bridges. In Nebraska, the national average deterioration rates are used to predict the condition of bridge components. These rates do not represent the actual performance of bridges in Nebraska, however. The Nebraska Department of Roads therefore sponsored a research project to develop deterioration models specific to Nebraska's bridges, which used condition data collected from 1998 to 2010. In this paper, deterministic and stochastic deterioration models for bridge decks in Nebraska are presented. These models reflect the impact of parameters that govern deterioration, which include average daily traffic, average daily truck traffic, wearing surface type, highway district, and deck protection. The deterioration models developed indicated that the deck deterioration rate in Nebraska was lower than the national average and that it depended on traffic volume and highway district. Also, the service life of decks with epoxy-coated reinforcement was longer than that of decks with black reinforcement.

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Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a necessary component in bridge management systems for assessing investment decisions and identifying the most cost-effective improvement alternatives. The LCCA helps to identify the lowest cost alternative that accomplishes project objectives by providing critical information for the overall decision-making process. The main objective of this paper is to present LCCA performed for different deck overlay alternatives using the recently developed deterioration models and latest cost data for Nebraska bridges. Deterministic and probabilistic LCCA using RealCost software for deck overlay decisions are presented. Silica fume overlay, epoxy polymer overlay, and polyester overlay are compared against bare deck with respect to the net present value.