County profile · official public datasets

Hawaii County, HI

237 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.7% rated Good, 51.1% Fair, 4.2% Poor.

237
Public bridges: 44.7%
Good condition: 4.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Hawaii County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

Top 25%
lowest Poor share in state: 4.2%
Poor-condition share: 237
public highway bridges: 1956
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.

Hawaii County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Hawaii County ranks #1 of 4 Hawaii counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.2%). Hawaii County, Hawaii contains 237 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.7% are rated “Good,” 51.1% “Fair,” and 4.2% “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.

Total bridges

237

Public highway bridges in Hawaii County

Good condition

44.7%

106 of 237 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.1%

121 of 237 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.2%

10 of 237 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#1 of 4

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

Condition distribution

Share of 237 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

44.7% (106)

Fair

51.1% (121)

Poor

4.2% (10)

Hawaii County's Poor-condition bridges carry 24,405 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,441 crossings a day against 6,753 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 235 of 237 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

77.2% of Hawaii County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

183 of the 237 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 44.7% 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 39.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

PAUAHI ST over PAUAHI ST-WAIOLAMA CANAL, built 1949, carries 9,600 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 10-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 24,405 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

4
1910s

11
1920s

25
1930s

40
1940s

13
1950s

34
1960s

33
1970s

31
1980s

19
1990s

8
2000s

13
2010s

3
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1956, 5 years older than the Hawaii average of 1961.

How Hawaii County compares with Hawaii's closest counties by inventory size

The 3 Hawaii counties nearest Hawaii County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.2% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 4. Its average build year of 1956 against a peer-group mean of 1960 is in line with the group.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Hawaii County and the 3 Hawaii counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Honolulu County	682	35.8%	57.3%	6.9%	1963
Hawaii County (this page)	237	44.7%	51.1%	4.2%	1956
Maui County	185	33.5%	60.5%	5.9%	1958
Kauai County	90	36.7%	52.2%	11.1%	1959

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside HI (237 bridges here).

Winona County, MN · 237 bridges
DeKalb County, MO · 237 bridges
Boone County, NE · 237 bridges
Gallia County, OH · 237 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside HI (1956 here).

Philadelphia County, PA · avg 1956 · 585 bridges
Cochise County, AZ · avg 1956 · 501 bridges
Hampden County, MA · avg 1956 · 428 bridges
Stanislaus County, CA · avg 1956 · 386 bridges

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

All 237 Good 106 Fair 121 Poor 10

All bridges (237)

Sort:

POHAKEA RD

Fair

Over: OPIHIALA GULCH

TMK 4-3-003:018, Hawaii, HI

Built 1975 Load: 48.3 t ADT: 40

HOAKA RD

Fair

Over: WAIAKEA STRM

TMK 2-4-054:026, Hawaii, HI

Built 1970 Load: 51.5 t ADT: 410

KUKUIHAELE RD

Fair

Over: WAIULILI STRM

0.3 MI W/MUD LN, Hawaii, HI

Built 1920 Load: 51.5 t ADT: 100

HAWAII BELT RD

Fair

Over: OPEA STRM

1.23MI W/KAUNIHO RD, Hawaii, HI

Built 1952 Load: 52.2 t ADT: 6,700

WAINAKU ST

Fair

Over: WAINAKU ST-WAILUKU RVR

TMK 2-3-14:4, Hawaii, HI

Built 1919 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 4,000

HAWAII BELT RD

Fair

Over: WAILOA STRM

0.17MI E/INT KAM AVE/M H, Hawaii, HI

Built 1938 Load: 55.1 t ADT: 23,200

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

Fair

Over: KAPUE STREAM

TMK: 2-7-028:052, Hawaii, HI

Built 1935 Load: 58.6 t ADT: 450

HAWAII BELT ROAD

Fair

Over: KAINEHE GULCH

1-34MI SE/PAAUILO TOWN, Hawaii, HI

Built 1985 Load: 59.3 t ADT: 7,200

WAIANUENUE AVE

Fair

Over: AINAKO STRM

TMK: 2-3-026:005, Hawaii, HI

Built 1924 Load: 62.5 t ADT: 6,630

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

Fair

Over: WAIAAMA STRM

0.2MI S/KULAIMANO RD, Hawaii, HI

Built 1930 Load: 64.2 t ADT: 390

HAWAII BELT RD

Fair

Over: PAHEEHEE STRM

0.09MI W/AKAKA FALLS RD, Hawaii, HI

Built 1950 Load: 65.8 t ADT: 10,000

HAWAII BELT RD

Fair

Over: KAPUE STRM

0.70MI W/KAIEIE RD, Hawaii, HI

Built 1950 Load: 66.1 t ADT: 13,600

Kaumana Drive

Fair

Over: WAIPAHOEHOE STRM

Chong St. Intersection, Hawaii, HI

Built 1924 Load: 74.8 t ADT: 7,600

HAWAII BELT RD

Fair

Over: AAMANU STRM(PAAUILO SCH)

1.27MI E/PLT RD, Hawaii, HI

Built 1982 Load: 76.5 t ADT: 7,200

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

Fair

Over: PUUOKALEPA STREAM

TMK: 2-7-023:003, Hawaii, HI

Built 1904 Load: 88.8 t ADT: 1,090

PLANTATION RD

Fair

Over: Hawaii Belt Rd

1.84MI E/AKAKA FALLS RD, Hawaii, HI

Built 1950 Load: 97.2 t

KOMOHANA ST

Fair

Over: ALENAIO STREAM

TMK: 2-3-037:020, Hawaii, HI

Built 2001 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 13,241

SADDLE ROAD

Fair

Over: INTERMITTEN STREAM

TMK: 2-5-002:029, Hawaii, HI

Built 1976 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 2,200

KUKUIHAELE RD

Fair

Over: WAIKOEKOE GULCH

0.4 MI E/MUD LN, Hawaii, HI

Built 1981 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 100

KUAKINI HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: TWN MTL PL CULVT

2.80MI S/PALANI RD, Hawaii, HI

Built 1984 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 25,300

AINALAKO RD

Fair

Over: 4 MILE CREEK

TMK 2-4-005:056, Hawaii, HI

Hawaii County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Hawaii County's Poor-condition bridges carry 24,405 vehicle crossings a day

77.2% of Hawaii County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 39.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Hawaii County compares with Hawaii'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 (237)

POHAKEA RD

HOAKA RD

KUKUIHAELE RD

HAWAII BELT RD

WAINAKU ST

HAWAII BELT RD

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

HAWAII BELT ROAD

WAIANUENUE AVE

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

HAWAII BELT RD

HAWAII BELT RD

Kaumana Drive

HAWAII BELT RD

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

PLANTATION RD

KOMOHANA ST

SADDLE ROAD

KUKUIHAELE RD

KUAKINI HIGHWAY

AINALAKO RD

KAHANA DR

NORTH PECK RD

MANOWAIOPAE HMSTD

HAWAII BELT RD

KAWAIHAE-MAHUKONA

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

HAWAII BELT RD

KAWAILANI ST

HAWAII BELT RD

KINOOLE STREET

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

HONOKAA-WAIPIO RD

HAWAII BELT RD

WAIAKALOA

HAWAII BELT RD

KAIULANI ST

HAWAII BELT RD

KAAPAHU RD

SOUTH KULANI RD

HAWAII BELT RD

HONOKAA-WAIPIO RD

OLD MAMALAHOA HWY

HAWAII BELT RD

HAWAII BELT RD

KOHALA MTN RD

HAWAII BELT RD

HONOKAA-WAIPIO RD

KAWAIHAE-MAHUKONA

KAWAIHAE-MAHUKONA

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