County profile · official public datasets

Madera County, CA

247 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.8% rated Good, 53.4% Fair, 11.7% Poor.

247
Public bridges: 34.8%
Good condition: 11.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

51st
of 58 on Poor share: 11.7%
Poor-condition share: 247
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Madera County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Madera County ranks #51 of 58 California counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.7%). Madera County, California contains 247 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.8% are rated “Good,” 53.4% “Fair,” and 11.7% “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.

Total bridges

247

Public highway bridges in Madera County

Good condition

34.8%

86 of 247 rated 7-9

Fair condition

53.4%

132 of 247 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.7%

29 of 247 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#51 of 58

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

Condition distribution

Share of 247 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

34.8% (86)

Fair

53.4% (132)

Poor

11.7% (29)

Madera County's Poor-condition bridges carry 67,153 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,316 crossings a day against 6,479 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 247 of 247 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

65.2% of Madera County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

161 of the 247 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 34.8% 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 48.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STATE ROUTE 99 SB over COTTONWOOD CREEK, built 1967, carries 32,500 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 29-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 67,153 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

2
1930s

7
1940s

18
1950s

44
1960s

47
1970s

52
1980s

23
1990s

17
2000s

12
2010s

15
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 52 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the California average (1970).

How Madera County compares with California's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 California counties nearest Madera County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1965 is 8 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 57 California counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Madera County and the 5 California counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Yolo County	271	45.8%	49.4%	4.8%	1966
Madera County (this page)	247	34.8%	53.4%	11.7%	1973
Glenn County	242	36.8%	52.9%	10.3%	1954
Colusa County	211	40.8%	52.1%	7.1%	1968
Marin County	207	43.5%	46.9%	9.7%	1958
Trinity County	194	56.2%	39.7%	4.1%	1977

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 Madera 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 Madera County, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside CA (247 bridges here).

Houston County, AL · 247 bridges
Shelby County, IN · 247 bridges
Chickasaw County, MS · 247 bridges
New York County, NY · 247 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside CA (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges

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

All 247 Good 86 Fair 132 Poor 29

All bridges (247)

Sort:

Madera County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Madera County's Poor-condition bridges carry 67,153 vehicle crossings a day

65.2% of Madera County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 48.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Madera County compares with California's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (247)

ARTERIAL ROAD

WINDING ROAD

WINDING ROAD

WINDING ROAD

WINDING ROAD

WINDING ROAD

WINDING ROAD

WINDING ROAD

WINDING ROAD

WINDING ROAD

NO DATA ENTERED

AVENUE 16.5

C. R. 800

C.R. 210

WINDING ROAD

C.R. 800

EASTSIDE DR

STATE ROUTE 99

AVE 15 1/2

ROAD 225

ROAD 35

ROAD 21

AVENUE 21 1/2

AVENUE 17.5

ROAD 24 1/2

SR 145

ROAD 19

ROAD 26

ROAD 145

STATE ROUTE 145

N GATEWAY DR

ARTERIAL ROAD

RAYMOND RD 415

CO RD 16

RD 12

STATE ROUTE 41

BAILEY FLATS ROAD

AVENUE 10

ROAD 9

AVENUE 25

REDINGER LAKE ROAD

ROAD 613

AVENUE 27 1/2

AVENUE 26

ROAD 9

ISLAND DR (D300)

RD 19

ROAD 25

ROAD 23

STATE ROUTE 99 SB

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