A field study of bridge inspection engineers for designing tools to support bridge inspection

In this paper, we directly observed ten bridge inspection engineers at three field sites, in the context of bridge inspection. We analyzed the frequency of various actions taken by the engineers, transitions between their actions and the factors that caused delays to their actions during inspection. The results suggest that (1) the inspection engineers conduct multiple tasks of extremely high-load, (2) they carry a large number of tools and fall-prevention ropes associated with the tools; they also operate tools while wearing gloves; these cause delays and difficulties in conducting the intended actions, and (3) there are certain patterns in the actions taken by inspection engineers. Taking these findings into consideration, we present guidelines for designing a new tool to support bridge inspection engineers and propose some specific solutions.