Total bridges
1,164
Public highway bridges in Orange County
County profile · official public datasets
Orange County, CA
1,164 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 53.2% rated Good, 43.8% Fair, 3% Poor.
- 1,164
- Public bridges
- 53.2%
- Good condition
- 3%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Orange County pairs a top-5% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 5%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 3%
- Poor-condition share
- 1,164
- public highway bridges
- 1978
- 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.
Orange County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Orange County ranks #3 of 58 California counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3%). Orange County, California contains 1,164 public highway bridges. Roughly 53.2% are rated “Good,” 43.8% “Fair,” and 3% “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
53.2%
619 of 1,164 rated 7-9
Fair condition
43.8%
510 of 1,164 rated 5-6
Poor condition
3%
35 of 1,164 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#3 of 58
Among California counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 1,164 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 53.2% (619)
Fair 43.8% (510)
Poor 3% (35)
Orange County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,431,765 vehicle crossings a day
That is 2.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 40,908 crossings a day against 57,201 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 1,164 of 1,164 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
48.9% of Orange County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
569 of the 1,164 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 53.2% 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 16% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
STATE ROUTE 57 over BNSF RY AMTRAK METROLINK, built 1976, carries 229,000 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 35-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 1,431,765 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Orange County's bridges were built
1,164 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1910s 2
1910–1919
2 bridges
- 1920s 12
1920–1929
12 bridges
- 1930s 21
1930–1939
21 bridges
- 1940s 14
1940–1949
14 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
114 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
284 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
191 bridges
- 1980s 105
1980–1989
105 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
277 bridges
- 2000s 99
2000–2009
99 bridges
- 2010s 39
2010–2019
39 bridges
- 2020s 6
2020–2029
6 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 284 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1978, 8 years newer than the California average of 1970.
How Orange County compares with California's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 California counties nearest Orange County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is 5 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 57 California counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County | 1,422 | 41.9% | 52.1% | 6% | 1975 |
| Orange County (this page) | 1,164 | 53.2% | 43.8% | 3% | 1978 |
| Riverside County | 1,117 | 56.4% | 41.2% | 2.4% | 1977 |
| Santa Clara County | 964 | 38.3% | 56.1% | 5.6% | 1972 |
| Fresno County | 916 | 38.9% | 57.3% | 3.8% | 1969 |
| Sacramento County | 740 | 50.9% | 45.7% | 3.4% | 1973 |
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 Orange 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 Orange County, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside CA (1,164 bridges here).
- Williamson County, TX · 1,170 bridges
- Pima County, AZ · 1,150 bridges
- Clark County, NV · 1,141 bridges
- Tulsa County, OK · 1,135 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside CA (1978 here).
- Sumner County, KS · avg 1978 · 659 bridges
- Allen County, IN · avg 1978 · 613 bridges
- Livingston County, IL · avg 1978 · 579 bridges
- Buncombe County, NC · avg 1978 · 555 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Good-condition bridges (619)
LINCOLN AVE. (WB)
GoodOver: COYOTE CREEK CHANNEL
200 W/O BLOOMFIELD ST., Orange, CA
Built 1955 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 13,000
ROUTE 133 NB
GoodOver: SANTIAGO AQUEDUCT
12-ORA-133-13.37-IRVN, Orange, CA
Built 1998 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 47,200
SR 73 SB
GoodOver: GREENFIELD DRIVE
12-ORA-073-11.76-LGNH, Orange, CA
Built 1996 Load: 48.3 t ADT: 25,000
STATE ROUTE 133 NB
GoodOver: INTERSTATE 405 & RAMPS
12-ORA-133-8.34-IRVN, Orange, CA
Built 1968 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 20,000
LA PALMA AVE
GoodOver: STATE ROUTE 91
12-ORA-091-6.42-ANA, Orange, CA
Built 1967 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 30,000
ROUTE 133 SB
GoodOver: PORTOLA PARKWAY
12-ORA-133-12.55-IRVN, Orange, CA
Built 1998 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 47,200
STATE ROUTE 91
GoodOver: ACACIA STREET
12-ORA-091-4.76-ANA, Orange, CA
Built 1959 Load: 49.6 t ADT: 265,000
ROUTE 133 SB
GoodOver: SANTIAGO AQUEDUCT
12-ORA-133-13.39-IRVN, Orange, CA
Built 1998 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 47,200
RITZ CARLTON DRIVE
GoodOver: SALT CREEK BEACH PARK
0.1 MI W/O ROUTE 1, Orange, CA
Built 1974 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 5,300
TUSTIN AVE
GoodOver: STATE ROUTE 91
12-ORA-091-8.39-ANA, Orange, CA
Built 1967 Load: 50.5 t ADT: 20,000
GENE AUTRY WAY
GoodOver: INTERSTATE 5 SB
12-ORA-005-35.92-ANA, Orange, CA
Built 2000 Load: 50.9 t ADT: 3,000
BARANCA PKWY EB
GoodOver: PETERS CANYON CHANNEL
0.2 MI E JAMBOREE RD, Orange, CA
Built 1978 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 10,500
ROUTE 133 NB
GoodOver: PORTOLA PARKWAY
12-ORA-133-12.55-IRVN, Orange, CA
Built 1998 Load: 52.2 t ADT: 47,200
17TH STREET
GoodOver: SANTA ANA RIVER CHANNEL
0.2 MI E/O FAIRVIEW ST, Orange, CA
Built 1977 Load: 52.2 t ADT: 33,000
CENTRAL AVENUE
GoodOver: BREA CANYON CHANNEL
0.1 MI. W/O BREA BLVD., Orange, CA
Built 1969 Load: 53.8 t ADT: 33,000
LINCOLN AVENUE
GoodOver: SANTA ANA RIVER CHANNEL
0.7 MI E/O ROUTE 57 FWY., Orange, CA
Built 1970 Load: 55.4 t ADT: 28,000
MICHELSON DR
GoodOver: SAN JOAQUIN CHANNEL
50 E HARVARD AVE, Orange, CA
Built 1950 Load: 58.6 t ADT: 15,500
LAKE ROAD
GoodOver: SAN DIEGO CREEK CHANNEL
0.2 MI SE BARRANCA PKWY, Orange, CA
Built 1981 Load: 62.5 t ADT: 5,100
WEST YALE LOOP
GoodOver: SAN DIEGO CREEK CHANNEL
0.2 MI SW BARRANCA PARKY, Orange, CA
Built 1979 Load: 78.4 t ADT: 5,500
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.