Total bridges
437
Public highway bridges in Butte County
County profile · official public datasets
Butte County, CA
437 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.8% rated Good, 62% Fair, 6.2% Poor.
- 437
- Public bridges
- 31.8%
- Good condition
- 6.2%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Butte County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 40%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 6.2%
- Poor-condition share
- 437
- public highway bridges
- 1958
- 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.
Butte County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Butte County ranks #23 of 58 California counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.2%). Butte County, California contains 437 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.8% are rated “Good,” 62% “Fair,” and 6.2% “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.
Good condition
31.8%
139 of 437 rated 7-9
Fair condition
62%
271 of 437 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6.2%
27 of 437 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#23 of 58
Among California counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 437 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 31.8% (139)
Fair 62% (271)
Poor 6.2% (27)
Butte County's Poor-condition bridges carry 90,044 vehicle crossings a day
That is 4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,335 crossings a day against 7,855 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 437 of 437 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
78.7% of Butte County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
344 of the 437 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 31.8% 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.
One structure carries 30% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
COHASSET HWY over STATE ROUTE 99, built 1966, carries 27,008 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 27-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 90,044 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Butte County's bridges were built
437 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 4
1900–1909
4 bridges
- 1910s 20
1910–1919
20 bridges
- 1920s 38
1920–1929
38 bridges
- 1930s
1930–1939
54 bridges
- 1940s 32
1940–1949
32 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
55 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
115 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
47 bridges
- 1980s 25
1980–1989
25 bridges
- 1990s 16
1990–1999
16 bridges
- 2000s 18
2000–2009
18 bridges
- 2010s 8
2010–2019
8 bridges
- 2020s 5
2020–2029
5 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 115 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1958, 12 years older than the California average of 1970.
How Butte County compares with California's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 California counties nearest Butte County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.2% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1958 against a peer-group mean of 1969 is 11 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 57 California counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tehama County | 450 | 36.9% | 56.2% | 6.9% | 1961 |
| Imperial County | 444 | 50.7% | 40.5% | 8.8% | 1968 |
| Butte County (this page) | 437 | 31.8% | 62% | 6.2% | 1958 |
| Siskiyou County | 421 | 39% | 55.6% | 5.5% | 1971 |
| Santa Barbara County | 418 | 51.4% | 42.8% | 5.7% | 1975 |
| San Luis Obispo County | 401 | 47.6% | 46.6% | 5.7% | 1970 |
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 Butte 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 Butte County, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside CA (437 bridges here).
- Mercer County, PA · 438 bridges
- Clay County, MO · 436 bridges
- Licking County, OH · 439 bridges
- Pinellas County, FL · 435 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside CA (1958 here).
- Middlesex County, MA · avg 1958 · 818 bridges
- Bucks County, PA · avg 1958 · 699 bridges
- Cowley County, KS · avg 1958 · 337 bridges
- Maui County, HI · avg 1958 · 185 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (271)
CHESTNUT ST
FairOver: LITTLE CHICO CREEK
AT W 9TH ST, Butte, CA
Built 1980 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 1,700
WALNUT ST
FairOver: LITTLE CHICO CREEK
BTWN DAYTON RD & 9TH ST, Butte, CA
Built 1982 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 6,096
POWELTON ROAD
FairOver: HENDRICKS CANAL
0.3 MI N SKYWAY, Butte, CA
Built 1968 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 100
MIDWAY RD
FairOver: WESTERN CANAL
0.2 MI N NELSON SHIPPEE R, Butte, CA
Built 1983 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 1,371
ORD FERRY RD
FairOver: W BRANCH EDGAR SLOUGH
3.7 MI E/O GLENN CO LINE, Butte, CA
Built 1976 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 3,454
EL MONTE AVE
FairOver: DEAD HORSE SLOUGH
0.1 MI N SR 32, Butte, CA
Built 1979 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 628
W BIGS-GRIDLY RD
FairOver: HAMILTON SLOUGH
0.4 MI S OF B ST, Butte, CA
Built 1950 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 800
FOREST AVE
FairOver: LITTLE CHICO CREEK
JUST S OF HUMBOLDT RD, Butte, CA
Built 1981 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 14,600
UPPER PALERMO ROAD
FairOver: BRANCH WYMAN RAVINE
0.2 MI NE PINECREST RD, Butte, CA
Built 1975 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 3,909
STATE ROUTE 70 WB
FairOver: FEATHER RIVER
03-BUT-070-14.83-OVL, Butte, CA
Built 1963 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 10,050
STATE ROUTE 70 EB
FairOver: FEATHER RIVER
03-BUT-070-14.83-OVL, Butte, CA
Built 1963 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 10,050
CHICO RIV RD
FairOver: M & T CANAL
0.62 MI E OF RIVER ROAD, Butte, CA
Built 1979 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 1,285
HONEY RUN RD
FairOver: BUTTE CREEK
JUST E/O HUMBUG RD, Butte, CA
Built 1965 Load: 50.5 t ADT: 613
MIDWAY RD
FairOver: BIGGS EXTENSION CANAL
1 MI S RICHVALE HWY, Butte, CA
Built 1936 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 749
TAFFEE AVE
FairOver: LITTLE CHICO CREEK
0.1 MI N OF CHICO AVE, Butte, CA
Built 1931 Load: 51.5 t ADT: 93
WHEELOCK RD
FairOver: DRY CREEK
0.9 MI N OF S.R. 70, Butte, CA
Built 1976 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 279
DURHAM-PENTZ RD
FairOver: CLEAR CREEK
4.1 MI E OF S.R. 99, Butte, CA
Built 1970 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 7,146
OPHIR RD
FairOver: UP RR & BNSF RY
1.1 MI E SH 70, Butte, CA
Built 1962 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 6,808
SKYWAY AVENUE
FairOver: LTL CHICO-BUTTE CR DV CH
0.4 MI NW HUMBUG ROAD, Butte, CA
Built 1978 Load: 57.7 t ADT: 11,000
TABLE MOUNTAIN BLV
FairOver: THERMALITO POWER CANAL
0.8 MI NW NELSON AVE, Butte, CA
Built 1965 Load: 58.6 t ADT: 3,312
DURNEL RD
FairOver: HANLON SLOUGH
2.60 MI N OF NELSON RD, Butte, CA
Built 1937 Load: 63.5 t ADT: 44
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.