County profile · official public datasets

Sacramento County, CA

740 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 50.9% rated Good, 45.7% Fair, 3.4% Poor.

740
Public bridges: 50.9%
Good condition: 3.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Sacramento County posts a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across large county bridge inventory.

Top 10%
lowest Poor share in state: 3.4%
Poor-condition share: 740
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.

Sacramento County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Sacramento County ranks #6 of 58 California counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.4%). Sacramento County, California contains 740 public highway bridges. Roughly 50.9% are rated “Good,” 45.7% “Fair,” and 3.4% “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

740

Public highway bridges in Sacramento County

Good condition

50.9%

377 of 740 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.7%

338 of 740 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.4%

25 of 740 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#6 of 58

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

Condition distribution

Share of 740 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

50.9% (377)

Fair

45.7% (338)

Poor

3.4% (25)

Sacramento County's Poor-condition bridges carry 335,201 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 13,408 crossings a day against 25,100 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 740 of 740 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

61.9% of Sacramento County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

458 of the 740 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 50.9% 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 17.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STATE ROUTE 99 over LOG CABIN CREEK, built 1958, carries 58,000 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 25-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 335,201 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

9
1920s

23
1930s

21
1940s

30
1950s

67
1960s

171
1970s

179
1980s

86
1990s

57
2000s

53
2010s

35
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 179 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.2% 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 Sacramento County compares with California's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 California counties nearest Sacramento County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.4% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Sacramento County and the 5 California counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Sacramento County (this page)	740	50.9%	45.7%	3.4%	1973
Kern County	668	50.1%	43.3%	6.6%	1972
Alameda County	658	35.3%	55.2%	9.6%	1973
San Joaquin County	644	33.7%	57.1%	9.2%	1968
Contra Costa County	618	42.6%	46.9%	10.5%	1977
Sonoma County	609	24.1%	69%	6.9%	1967

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside CA (740 bridges here).

Guilford County, NC · 736 bridges
Mecklenburg County, NC · 746 bridges
Fairfax County, VA · 751 bridges
Champaign County, IL · 727 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 740 Good 377 Fair 338 Poor 25

Good-condition bridges (377)

Sort:

Sacramento County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Sacramento County's Poor-condition bridges carry 335,201 vehicle crossings a day

61.9% of Sacramento County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 17.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Sacramento 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 (377)

STATE ROUTE 99

STATE ROUTE 99

STATE ROUTE 99

WATT AVENUE

WATT EB 50 ON-RAMP

STATE ROUTE 104

STATE ROUTE 104

US HIGHWAY 50

US HIGHWAY 50 WB

US HIGHWAY 50 EB

STATE ROUTE 51 NB

FLORIN ROAD EB

STATE ROUTE 99

US HIGHWAY 50

STOCKTON-S99 ONRMP

SR 99 & BRUCEVILLE

SR 99 & LA MANCHA

INTERSTATE 80 WB

US HIGHWAY 50

INTERSTATE 5

INTERSTATE 5

INTERSTATE 5

INTERSTATE 5

P ST-S5 ON RAMP

ELK GROVE BLVD

TWIN CITIES ROAD

E50-E16 (HOWE) OFF

I 80 WB

U.S. HIGHWAY 50

E50-59TH ST OFF-RP

U.S. HIGHWAY 50

INTERSTATE 5

INTERSTATE 5

INTERSTATE 80

ST RTE 104 & UP RR

INTERSTATE 5

INTERSTATE 5

S5-N99 CONNECTOR

S5-N99 CONNECTOR

ARENA BLVD

LAGUNA BLVD

ELK GROVE BLVD

PRAIRIE CITY ROAD

GRANT LINE ROAD

COSUMNES RIV BLVD

STATE ROUTE 99

STATE ROUTE 99

STATE ROUTE 99

TWIN CITIES ROAD

ELK GRVE-FLORIN RD

Related