County profile · official public datasets

Monterey County, CA

377 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 56.8% rated Good, 35.5% Fair, 7.7% Poor.

377
Public bridges: 56.8%
Good condition: 7.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

35th
of 58 on Poor share: 7.7%
Poor-condition share: 377
public highway bridges: 1970
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.

Monterey County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Monterey County ranks #35 of 58 California counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.7%). Monterey County, California contains 377 public highway bridges. Roughly 56.8% are rated “Good,” 35.5% “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.

Total bridges

377

Public highway bridges in Monterey County

Good condition

56.8%

214 of 377 rated 7-9

Fair condition

35.5%

134 of 377 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.7%

29 of 377 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#35 of 58

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

Condition distribution

Share of 377 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

56.8% (214)

Fair

35.5% (134)

Poor

7.7% (29)

Monterey County's Poor-condition bridges carry 93,587 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,227 crossings a day against 11,871 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 377 of 377 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

68.4% of Monterey County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

258 of the 377 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 56.8% 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 30.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SANBORN RD over UP RR & AMTRAK, built 1948, carries 28,392 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 93,587 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

4
1920s

1
1930s

18
1940s

29
1950s

48
1960s

127
1970s

56
1980s

27
1990s

22
2000s

21
2010s

23
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 127 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 33.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1970) matches the California average (1970).

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

The 5 California counties nearest Monterey County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.7% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1967 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Monterey County and the 5 California counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Humboldt County	396	38.9%	54.3%	6.8%	1968
Stanislaus County	386	30.8%	55.7%	13.5%	1956
Monterey County (this page)	377	56.8%	35.5%	7.7%	1970
Solano County	373	44.8%	47.5%	7.8%	1975
San Mateo County	361	26%	64%	10%	1967
Mendocino County	357	34.7%	57.7%	7.6%	1969

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside CA (377 bridges here).

Ogle County, IL · 377 bridges
Cass County, MO · 377 bridges
Butler County, OH · 377 bridges
Butler County, PA · 378 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside CA (1970 here).

Hamilton County, OH · avg 1970 · 783 bridges
Yavapai County, AZ · avg 1970 · 543 bridges
Garfield County, OK · avg 1970 · 504 bridges
Somerset County, NJ · avg 1970 · 397 bridges

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

All 377 Good 214 Fair 134 Poor 29

Good-condition bridges (214)

Sort:

Monterey County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Monterey County's Poor-condition bridges carry 93,587 vehicle crossings a day

68.4% of Monterey County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 30.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Monterey 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

Good-condition bridges (214)

SAN MIGUELITO LP R

GRIFFIN ROAD

STATE ROUTE 1

PALO COLORADO ROAD

PALO COLORADO ROAD

MAHER RD

INDIAN VALLEY ROAD

ELM AVE

STATE ROUTE 1

CARMEL VALLEY RD

JOLON RD

ROBINSON CANYON RD

RELIZ CYN RD

STATE ROUTE 156 WB

STATE ROUTE 1

DOLAN ROAD

STATE ROUTE 1

STATE ROUTE 1

STATE ROUTE 1

ELKHORN RD

US HIGHWAY 101 NB

ALTA ST

STATE ROUTE 1

CARMEL VALLEY RD

ARROYO SECO ROAD

S ALTA ST

FIFTH STREET

JOLON RD-S101 ONRP

JOLON RD

NACIMIENTO LAKE DR

VAN BUREN AVE

RUSSELL ROAD

STATE ROUTE 1

STATE ROUTE 1

STATE ROUTE 1

ROBINSON CANYON RD

STATE ROUTE 1

N1-W68 & E68-N1 CN

US HIGHWAY 101 SB

STATE ROUTE 1 SB

STATE ROUTE 1 SB

STATE ROUTE 1 NB

12TH ST/IMJIN PKWY

PEARL ST

STATE ROUTE 1 SB

STATE ROUTE 1 NB

STATE ROUTE 1

N1-FREMONT ST OFF

STATE ROUTE 1 NB

STATE ROUTE 1 SB

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