Fact-Checking Policy
Last updated: June 2026
Every number on bridgesafety.org is meant to be traceable to a primary public record. This policy describes where our facts come from and how we check them before they are published.
Primary sources only
BridgeSafety builds its pages from the FHWA National Bridge Inventory (NBI). We do not republish second-hand summaries, scraped aggregations, or unattributed figures. Each page cites the dataset it draws from and links back to the source so any reader can verify a figure independently.
No invented numbers, no synthetic data
If a value is not present in the underlying public data, it does not appear on bridgesafety.org. We never fabricate statistics to fill a gap, and we never use model-generated estimates in place of reported figures. Where the data is genuinely missing, we say so rather than guess.
How figures are verified
- Faithful processing. Data is fetched directly from the source, then transformed with documented, repeatable code — not hand-transcribed, where transcription errors would creep in.
- Source-of-truth checks. Derived values (rankings, grades, composite scores) are computed from the source fields using stated formulas, so the inputs to any number remain auditable. We parse the FHWA annual National Bridge Inventory release, normalize each bridge’s deck, superstructure, and substructure condition ratings, and compute a single readable condition grade. The sufficiency rating and any structural-deficiency flag are carried through verbatim.
- Sanity bounds. Cross-cutting totals and outliers are checked against known ranges to catch unit errors, duplicates, and mis-scaled values before they reach a page.
- Dating. Every dataset page carries a “Last updated” date so readers know how current a figure is.
The limits of what we check
BridgeSafety verifies that our pages faithfully represent the FHWA National Bridge Inventory (NBI). We do not independently audit the issuing agency’s collection methods, and we cannot guarantee the source itself is free of error. Source records may be incomplete, reported late, or restated after publication. We treat the primary record as authoritative and follow its corrections — always verify a consequential figure against the original source before acting on it.
Found an error?
Tell us and we will fix it. See our Corrections Policy for how to report an issue and what happens next, and our Editorial Policy for how our content is produced.