County profile · official public datasets

Fairbanks North Star County, AK

111 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 50.5% rated Good, 42.3% Fair, 7.2% Poor.

111
Public bridges: 50.5%
Good condition: 7.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.

Fairbanks North Star County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

15th
of 27 on Poor share: 7.2%
Poor-condition share: 111
public highway bridges: 1988
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.

Fairbanks North Star County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Fairbanks North Star County ranks #15 of 27 Alaska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.2%). Fairbanks North Star County, Alaska contains 111 public highway bridges. Roughly 50.5% are rated “Good,” 42.3% “Fair,” and 7.2% “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.

Total bridges

111

Public highway bridges in Fairbanks North Star County

Good condition

50.5%

56 of 111 rated 7-9

Fair condition

42.3%

47 of 111 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.2%

8 of 111 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#15 of 27

Among Alaska counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 111 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

50.5% (56)

Fair

42.3% (47)

Poor

7.2% (8)

Fairbanks North Star County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,860 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 858 crossings a day against 3,927 for a Good-condition one. A Poor rating is a condition category, not a closure or a live safety judgement; it means the lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below.

Computed over the 111 of 111 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

30.6% of Fairbanks North Star County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

34 of the 111 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 50.5% 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.

One structure carries 60.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MINNIE STREET over NOYES SLOUGH (MINNIE ST), built 1953, carries 4,130 vehicles a day, the most of any Poor-rated structure here. The county's Poor-condition exposure is concentrated rather than evenly spread, so the 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 6,860 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1950s

2
1960s

27
1970s

14
1980s

13
1990s

20
2000s

20
2010s

9
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 27 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1988) matches the Alaska average (1989).

How Fairbanks North Star County compares with Alaska's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Alaska counties nearest Fairbanks North Star County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.2% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1988 against a peer-group mean of 1989 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 26 Alaska counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Fairbanks North Star County and the 5 Alaska counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Hoonah-Angoon County	125	49.6%	35.2%	15.2%	1994
Matanuska-Susitna County	120	50.8%	43.3%	5.8%	1993
Fairbanks North Star County (this page)	111	50.5%	42.3%	7.2%	1988
Kenai Peninsula County	103	35.9%	50.5%	13.6%	1988
Ketchikan Gateway County	100	43%	45%	12%	1993
Yukon-Koyukuk County	94	41.5%	50%	8.5%	1978

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 Fairbanks North Star 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 Fairbanks North Star County, both outside Alaska so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AK (111 bridges here).

Mitchell County, GA · 111 bridges
Texas County, OK · 111 bridges
Scott County, TN · 111 bridges
Columbia County, FL · 112 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AK (1988 here).

Travis County, TX · avg 1988 · 1,544 bridges
Grant County, OK · avg 1988 · 476 bridges
Loudoun County, VA · avg 1988 · 442 bridges
Licking County, OH · avg 1988 · 439 bridges

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.

All 111 Good 56 Fair 47 Poor 8

Good-condition bridges (56)

Sort:

Fairbanks North Star County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Fairbanks North Star County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,860 vehicle crossings a day

30.6% of Fairbanks North Star County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 60.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Fairbanks North Star County compares with Alaska's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Good-condition bridges (56)

MANCHU TRAIL

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY

CHENA HOT SPR RD

CHENA HOT SPR RD

CHENA HOT SPR RD

CHENA RIDGE/PUMP R

CHENA HOT SPR RD

GOLDSTREAM ROAD

STEESE HIGHWAY

STEESE HIGHWAY

STEESE HIGHWAY

STEESE HIGHWAY

STEESE HIGHWAY

CACHE CREEK ROAD

AIRWAY DRIVE

PARKS HIGHWAY

ARKANSAS RANGE RD

ARKANSAS RANGE RD

CHENA HOT SPR RD

LOGGING ROAD

STEESE HIGHWAY

RIVER ROAD

OLD VALDEZ TRAIL

PARKS HIGHWAY

JOHANSEN EXPRESSWY

COLLEGE-JOHANSN NW

PARKS HIGHWAY

OCONNER ROAD

PARKS HIGHWAY

ILLINOIS STREET

WENDELL AVENUE

AK HWY-PARKS RAMP

BARNETTE STREET

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY

RICHARDSON HWY NB

UNIVERSITY AVE

NOME CREEK ROAD-EA

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY

THOMPSON DRIVE

JOHANSEN EXPRESSWY

STEESE HIGHWAY

ELLIOTT HIGHWAY

JOHANSN-COLLEGE SW

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY

GOLDSTREAM ROAD

RIVER ROAD

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY

STEESE HIGHWAY

CHENA HOT SPR RD

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