Total bridges
13
Public highway bridges in Bethel County
County profile · official public datasets
Bethel County, AK
13 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 53.8% rated Good, 38.5% Fair, 7.7% Poor.
- 13
- Public bridges
- 53.8%
- Good condition
- 7.7%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Bethel County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
- 17th
- of 27 on Poor share
- 7.7%
- Poor-condition share
- 13
- public highway bridges
- 1997
- avg year built
Poor is an FHWA condition category from the lowest applicable component rating (4 or below), not a live crossing-safety or closure decision. Rankings cover counties with at least five public highway bridges.
Bethel County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Bethel County ranks #17 of 27 Alaska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.7%). Bethel County, Alaska contains 13 public highway bridges. Roughly 53.8% are rated “Good,” 38.5% “Fair,” and 7.7% “Poor.” Poor means the lowest applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rating is 4 or below on the 0–9 NBI scale. It is a condition category, not a live safety or closure decision.
Responsible agencies inspect covered bridges on risk-based intervals under current NBIS rules and submit inventory data to FHWA annually. The list below shows every NBI-tracked bridge in the county. Use the “Sort by” controls to change the ordering, and click any row for its reported inspection date, traffic count, and condition fields.
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory. See methodology for full definitions.
Good condition
53.8%
7 of 13 rated 7-9
Fair condition
38.5%
5 of 13 rated 5-6
Poor condition
7.7%
1 of 13 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#17 of 27
Among Alaska counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 13 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 53.8% (7)
Fair 38.5% (5)
Poor 7.7% (1)
7.7% of Bethel County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
1 of the 13 bridges with a recorded construction year were built in 1974 or earlier. Age alone is not a defect: a well-maintained older bridge can rate Good, and 53.8% of this county's inventory does. Even so, this older cohort is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn, which is why the age profile below matters alongside the condition split above.
Cutoff derives from the 2024 release year minus a 50-year design life. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Bethel County's bridges were built
13 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1970s
1970–1979
2 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
2 bridges
- 1990s 1
1990–1999
1 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
5 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
3 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 5 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 38.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1997, 8 years newer than the Alaska average of 1989.
How Bethel County compares with Alaska's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Alaska counties nearest Bethel County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.7% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1997 against a peer-group mean of 1993 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 26 Alaska counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleutians East County | 16 | 31.3% | 62.5% | 6.3% | 2000 |
| North Slope County | 16 | 62.5% | 31.3% | 6.3% | 1996 |
| Yakutat City and County | 15 | 46.7% | 40% | 13.3% | 1978 |
| Bethel County (this page) | 13 | 53.8% | 38.5% | 7.7% | 1997 |
| Lake and Peninsula County | 10 | 50% | 40% | 10% | 1988 |
| Aleutians West County | 8 | 75% | 25% | 0% | 2003 |
Each share is of that county's own total tracked bridges; peers are the counties with 5 or more bridges whose inventory size is closest to Bethel County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Bethel County, both outside Alaska so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside AK (13 bridges here).
- San Juan County, CO · 13 bridges
- Perkins County, NE · 13 bridges
- Wheeler County, NE · 13 bridges
- Harding County, NM · 13 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside AK (1997 here).
- Kenosha County, WI · avg 1997 · 109 bridges
- Isanti County, MN · avg 1997 · 37 bridges
- Currituck County, NC · avg 1997 · 22 bridges
- Aransas County, TX · avg 1997 · 22 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (13)
IRR BIA RTE 1029
FairOver: UNNAMED TIDAL SLOUGH
.75KM SOUTHEAST OF SCHOOL, Bethel, AK
Built 2002 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 300
IRR BIA RTE 1001
FairOver: UNNAMED TIDAL RIVER
NEAR WATER RESEVIOR, Bethel, AK
Built 2003 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 25
IRR:AIRPORT RD
FairOver: CROOKED CREEK
MILE POINT 0.4, Bethel, AK
Built 1981 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 15
IRR:RIDGECREST DR
FairOver: BROWNS SLOUGH
MILE POINT 0.0, Bethel, AK
Built 1971 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,380
IRR:AIRPORT ROAD
FairOver: TUNUNAK RIVER
NELSON ISLAND, Bethel, AK
Built 1978 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 46
IRR BIA RTE 6014
GoodOver: VERY SMALL SLOUGH
0.1KM WEST OF WASHETERIA, Bethel, AK
Built 2014 Load: 1.6 t ADT: 200
IRR BIA RTE 6068
GoodOver: SWAMPY SLOUGH
IN FRONT OF SCHOOL, Bethel, AK
Built 2014 Load: 1.6 t ADT: 400
IRR BIA RTE 6023
GoodOver: UNNAMED TIDAL SLOUGH
0.2KM EAST OF BARGE LNDG, Bethel, AK
Built 2005 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 200
IRR BIA RTE 6040
GoodOver: UNNAMED TIDAL SLOUGH
0.3KM WEST OF SCHOOL, Bethel, AK
Built 2005 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 200
IRR BIA RTE 6076
GoodOver: TIDAL SLOUGH
SOUTH OF TRIBAL COUNCIL, Bethel, AK
Built 2005 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 100
IRR:BETHEL HIGHWAY
GoodOver: BROWNS SLOUGH
MILE POINT 0.0, Bethel, AK
Built 1996 Load: 39.6 t ADT: 2,380
IRR:AIRPORT ROAD
GoodOver: NORTH FORK TUNUNAK RIVER
MILE POINT 0.4, Bethel, AK
Built 2013 Load: 85.7 t ADT: 50
IRR BIA RTE 1045
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
0.2KM NW OF BARGE LANDING, Bethel, AK
Built 1980 Load: 0.0 t
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.