AASHTOWare Bridge Design and Rating (BrDR) 7.7 Beta Testing Update

September 12, 2025

Beta Testing is a critical quality control process for the AASHTOWare BrDR software. For one day in Boise, Idaho, 20 Beta Testers gathered to run the software through its paces. Prior to the Rating and Design Bridge Users Group (RADBUG) meeting, testers from 13 state agencies and 3 consultants met to test the Beta 1 release of the BrDR 7.7 software. This meeting allowed for some dedicated testing of the newly implemented Section 508 compliance features for the software. This enhancement will provide clearer static images (Scalable Vector Graphics or SVG) and a dark-mode theme. This proved to be very labor intensive to test. In just one day, Beta Testers reviewed and tested over 40 different structure type permutations and filed over 170 issues, which will be addressed before the release of the software. Some sample windows of the enhancement are shown below.

 

In addition to the Section 508 compliance enhancement, Beta Testing was performed to backcheck maintenance issues in the software. The Beta Tester’s combined efforts in providing this dedicated testing ensures a higher quality final release of the software. Their efforts are greatly appreciated!

The Beta Testers who took part in the Idaho testing are listed below.

Participant Agency
Jeff Ruby, Testing TAG Chair  Kansas DOT
Mike Johnson, Testing TAG Vice Chair  Idaho TD
ABM Abdullah  Virginia DOT
Alex Pence  Wisconsin DOT
Dewei Meng  Rhode Island DOT
Elizabeth Befikadu  AI Engineers
Harisharan Panta  Connecticut DOT
Igor Chernioglo  California DOT
Jennifer Hart  Indiana DOT
Kayla Jacobsen  Forsgren Associates
Kelsey Roman  New York State DOT
Lauren Graham  Idaho TD
Manjil Devkota  Virginia DOT
Melissa Hennessy  Idaho TD
Mike Wall  Alabama DOT
Richard Withers  Neel-Schaffer
Robby Tennant  West Virginia DOH
Ruben Boehler  Illinois DOT
Scott Westerfield  Mississippi DOT
William Johnson  Idaho TD
Michael Hagos  Minitoba
Yihong Gao  Minnesota DOT