County profile · official public datasets

Lincoln County, ID

53 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 18.9% rated Good, 58.5% Fair, 22.6% Poor.

53
Public bridges: 18.9%
Good condition: 22.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Lincoln County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

44th
of 44 on Poor share: 22.6%
Poor-condition share: 53
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.

Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lincoln County ranks #44 of 44 Idaho counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 22.6%). Lincoln County, Idaho contains 53 public highway bridges. Roughly 18.9% are rated “Good,” 58.5% “Fair,” and 22.6% “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

Public highway bridges in Lincoln County

Good condition

18.9%

10 of 53 rated 7-9

Fair condition

58.5%

31 of 53 rated 5-6

Poor condition

22.6%

12 of 53 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#44 of 44

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

Condition distribution

Share of 53 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

18.9% (10)

Fair

58.5% (31)

Poor

22.6% (12)

Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 860 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 22.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 72 crossings a day against 1,647 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 53 of 53 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.8% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

28 of the 53 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 18.9% 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 23.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

NORTH APPLE STREET over LITTLE WOOD RIVER, built 1920, carries 200 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 12-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 860 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

1
1930s

1
1940s

5
1950s

8
1960s

10
1970s

8
1980s

7
1990s

2
2000s

1
2010s

7
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 10 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1973, 6 years older than the Idaho average of 1979.

How Lincoln County compares with Idaho's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Idaho counties nearest Lincoln County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 22.6% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is 5 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 43 Idaho counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lincoln County and the 5 Idaho counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Camas County	61	27.9%	62.3%	9.8%	1978
Gem County	57	28.1%	70.2%	1.8%	1976
Lincoln County (this page)	53	18.9%	58.5%	22.6%	1973
Owyhee County	48	31.3%	60.4%	8.3%	1975
Benewah County	47	21.3%	74.5%	4.3%	1978
Caribou County	45	26.7%	66.7%	6.7%	1985

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ID (53 bridges here).

Cleburne County, AR · 53 bridges
Citrus County, FL · 53 bridges
Lumpkin County, GA · 53 bridges
Stewart County, GA · 53 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ID (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 53 Good 10 Fair 31 Poor 12

All bridges (53)

Sort:

Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 860 vehicle crossings a day

52.8% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 23.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Lincoln County compares with Idaho'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 (53)

1120 NORTH ROAD

650 WEST ROAD

920 NORTH ROAD

370 SOUTH ROAD

750 EAST ROAD

650 EAST ROAD

1220 NORTH ROAD

BURMAH ROAD

250 WEST ROAD

US 93

STC2781;4 MILE RD

STATE HAUL ROAD

720 NORTH ROAD

3209: NORTH PAGARI

OLD HIGHWAY 93

OLD HIGHWAY 26

1320 NORTH ROAD

470 SOUTH ROAD

SH 24

BURMAH ROAD

620 NORTH ROAD

820 NORTH ROAD

620 NORTH ROAD

3212: SOUTH PAGARI

SH 75

US 93

3215: DYNAMITE CAV

150 WEST ROAD

SH 75

SH 24

US 93

ARKOOSH ROAD

3236: RIVERWOOD RO

720 NORTH ROAD

1420 NORTH ROAD

SH 75

1350 EAST ROAD

SH 75

NORTH GRAPE STREET

SH 75

STC2781;470 N. RD.

850 WEST ROAD

3214: RUIZ LAKE

1220 NORTH ROAD

JIM BROWN BRIDGE R

550 EAST ROAD

NORTH BIRCH STREET

250 WEST ROAD

850 EAST ROAD

30 SOUTH ROAD

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