Total bridges
227
Public highway bridges in McHenry County
County profile · official public datasets
McHenry County, IL
227 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.4% rated Good, 38.3% Fair, 20.3% Poor.
- 227
- Public bridges
- 41.4%
- Good condition
- 20.3%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
McHenry County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- 99th
- of 102 on Poor share
- 20.3%
- Poor-condition share
- 227
- public highway bridges
- 1983
- 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.
McHenry County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, McHenry County ranks #99 of 102 Illinois counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 20.3%). McHenry County, Illinois contains 227 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.4% are rated “Good,” 38.3% “Fair,” and 20.3% “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
41.4%
94 of 227 rated 7-9
Fair condition
38.3%
87 of 227 rated 5-6
Poor condition
20.3%
46 of 227 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#99 of 102
Among Illinois counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 227 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 41.4% (94)
Fair 38.3% (87)
Poor 20.3% (46)
McHenry County's Poor-condition bridges carry 69,075 vehicle crossings a day
That is 5.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 20.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,502 crossings a day against 7,359 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 227 of 227 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
34.4% of McHenry County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
78 of the 227 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 41.4% 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 16.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
US 12 over NIPPERSINK CR OVERFL, built 1939, carries 11,500 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 46-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 69,075 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When McHenry County's bridges were built
227 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 1
1900–1909
1 bridges
- 1910s 1
1910–1919
1 bridges
- 1920s 7
1920–1929
7 bridges
- 1930s 6
1930–1939
6 bridges
- 1940s 7
1940–1949
7 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
23 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
24 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
25 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
27 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
27 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
30 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
44 bridges
- 2020s 5
2020–2029
5 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 44 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the Illinois average (1979).
How McHenry County compares with Illinois's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Illinois counties nearest McHenry County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 20.3% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1981 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 101 Illinois counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County | 233 | 50.6% | 43.3% | 6% | 1973 |
| Douglas County | 232 | 76.3% | 22.4% | 1.3% | 1982 |
| Clark County | 230 | 62.6% | 32.6% | 4.8% | 1978 |
| Jackson County | 228 | 66.2% | 27.2% | 6.6% | 1987 |
| McHenry County (this page) | 227 | 41.4% | 38.3% | 20.3% | 1983 |
| Woodford County | 223 | 26.9% | 62.8% | 10.3% | 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 McHenry 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 McHenry County, both outside Illinois so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside IL (227 bridges here).
- Yell County, AR · 227 bridges
- LaPorte County, IN · 227 bridges
- Rush County, IN · 227 bridges
- St. Joseph County, IN · 227 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside IL (1983 here).
- Dallas County, TX · avg 1983 · 3,230 bridges
- Bexar County, TX · avg 1983 · 2,342 bridges
- Sedgwick County, KS · avg 1983 · 1,333 bridges
- Bernalillo County, NM · avg 1983 · 496 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (87)
HEBRON RD
FairOver: NIPPERSINK CREEK
0.8 W OF JOHNSON RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1961 Load: 9.4 t ADT: 250
PERKINS RD
FairOver: W BR PISCASAW CREEK
0.3 W LAWRENCE RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1961 Load: 9.4 t ADT: 225
BUTTONS ROAD
FairOver: STREAM
0.8 SE FREEMAN RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1971 Load: 13.9 t ADT: 150
NORTH UNION ROAD
FairOver: KISHWAUKEE RIVER
.3 MI NE HEMMINGSEN, McHenry, IL
Built 1973 Load: 18.5 t ADT: 200
MENSCHING RD
FairOver: KISHWAUKEE RIVER
6.0 S OF WOODSTOCK, McHenry, IL
Built 1985 Load: 18.8 t ADT: 125
ISLAND ROAD
FairOver: MOKELER CREEK
1.1 MI N STREIT RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1926 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 600
THORNE RD
FairOver: KISWAUKEE RIVER
1.0 MI N. OF US-20, McHenry, IL
Built 1959 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 275
OAK GROVE ROAD
FairOver: STREAM
0.5 MI SW LAWRENCE R, McHenry, IL
Built 1953 Load: 20.7 t ADT: 575
CARLS ROAD
FairOver: COON CREEK
0.7 MI N OF IL 23, McHenry, IL
Built 1953 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 50
KISHWAUKEE VALLEY
FairOver: Mud Creek
0.2 MI E OLESON RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1958 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 3,500
NICHOLS RD
FairOver: NIPPERSINK CREEK
.2 MI NW HILLSIDE RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1953 Load: 23.0 t ADT: 600
AMES RD
FairOver: Sleepy Hollow Creek
0.3 MI W BARREVILLE, McHenry, IL
Built 1950 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 1,300
RIVERSIDE DR
FairOver: DUTCH CREEK
0.4 S JOHNSBURG RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1953 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 3,600
MILLSTREAM DRIVE
FairOver: BOONE CREEK
.3 M N 120.3 M W 31, McHenry, IL
Built 1965 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 2,550
US 12
FairOver: N BR NIPPERSINK CR
RICHMOND, McHenry, IL
Built 1951 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 11,600
COON CREEK RD
FairOver: COON CREEK
0.6 M S OF IL 23, McHenry, IL
Built 1979 Load: 25.3 t ADT: 175
STREIT RD
FairOver: NO BR KISHWAUKEE R
3.5 MI E OF US 14, McHenry, IL
Built 2007 Load: 25.3 t ADT: 100
OLBRICH ROAD
FairOver: DRAIN DITCH RUSH CR
.9 MI S DUNHAM RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1921 Load: 26.6 t ADT: 275
THAYER ROAD
FairOver: BR OF NIPPERSINK CR
1.8 MI E OF IL 47, McHenry, IL
Built 1954 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 750
STEIG ROAD
FairOver: APPLE CREEK
0.7 MI N PERKINS RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1919 Load: 28.2 t ADT: 425
MAXON RD
FairOver: PISCASAW CRK
.25 MI W OF HARVARD, McHenry, IL
Built 1992 Load: 28.2 t ADT: 575
MARENGO RD
FairOver: Trib W Br Union Cr E
1.5MI E OF US-20, McHenry, IL
Built 1995 Load: 28.2 t ADT: 3,300
US 12
FairOver: NIPPERSINK CREEK
4.9 M NW OF LAKE CO, McHenry, IL
Built 1932 Load: 28.8 t ADT: 9,650
WOODBINE RD
FairOver: KISHWAUKEE RIVER
0.3 MI NW HALIGUS RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1986 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 50
RIVER ROAD
FairOver: KISHWAUKEE R OVERFLO
0.8 MI W OF IL 23, McHenry, IL
Built 1928 Load: 29.5 t ADT: 2,250
SEEMANN RD
FairOver: S BR KISHWAUKEE RIV.
0.5 MI S HEMMINGSEN, McHenry, IL
Built 1973 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 525
GRANGE RD
FairOver: COON CREEK
0.1 MI W OF BURMA RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1979 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 150
MC GUIRE ROAD
FairOver: RUSH CREEK
0.1 MI S SCHULTZ RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1955 Load: 30.1 t ADT: 2,200
GARDEN VALLEY ROAD
FairOver: N. BR. KISHWAUKEE R.
0.5MI E MILLSTREAMRD, McHenry, IL
Built 1965 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 550
MCGUIRE RD
FairOver: N.BR. KISHAWAUKEE
1.2MI W ALDEN RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1996 Load: 31.1 t ADT: 2,400
CHAPEL HILL RD
FairOver: FOX RIVER
0.3 MI NW OF BAY RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1938 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 10,150
IL 23
FairOver: RILEY CREEK
1.2 M N I-90 TOLL, McHenry, IL
Built 2002 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 5,200
US 14
FairOver: LAWRENCE CREEK
0.47 M S STATE LINE, McHenry, IL
Built 2006 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 6,500
US 14
FairOver: LAWRENCE CR BYPASS
.52M S OF STATE LINE, McHenry, IL
Built 2006 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 6,500
PEARL ST
FairOver: FOX RIVER
0.05 MI W RIVER RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1977 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 4,500
THOMPSON ROAD
FairOver: NIPPERSINK CREEK
0.03 N WNDRMERE RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2011 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,600
WINN ROAD
FairOver: NIPPERSINK CREEK
0.4 MI N US 12, McHenry, IL
Built 2012 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 3,800
JEFFERSON STREET
FairOver: MOKELER CREEK
0.06 MI N. OF BRINK, McHenry, IL
Built 1920 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 250
US 14
FairOver: RR - UP & MCCOOB ST
0.2 M N OF ILL 173, McHenry, IL
Built 1940 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 12,400
BAY VIEW LANE
FairOver: PISTAKEE LAKE
0.7 MI NW BAY RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2004 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 300
COLLINS RD.
FairOver: N.BR.KISHWAUKEE RIV.
4.6M.W.OF WOODSTOCK, McHenry, IL
Built 1991 Load: 33.4 t ADT: 725
IL 47
FairOver: SMALL STREAM
7.8 M S STATE LINE, McHenry, IL
Built 1985 Load: 33.7 t ADT: 4,500
IL 31
FairOver: RR - UP
ILL 31 & US 14 INTER, McHenry, IL
Built 1971 Load: 34.3 t ADT: 34,400
IL 173
FairOver: MOKELER CREEK
1.5 M E OF US 14, McHenry, IL
Built 1930 Load: 34.3 t ADT: 5,350
RIVER ROAD
FairOver: RUSH CREEK
0.05 M E MILLER RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1982 Load: 35.3 t ADT: 1,400
US 14
FairOver: FOX RIVER
1 M W OF IL 22, McHenry, IL
Built 1990 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 25,500
STATE LINE ROAD
FairOver: PISCASAW CREEK
3.2 MI W OF US 14, McHenry, IL
Built 1967 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 850
KISHWAUKEE VALLEY
FairOver: RUSH CREEK
3.0M.W.OF IL-23, McHenry, IL
Built 1990 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 3,500
HIGHBRIDGE RD
FairOver: S BR KISHWAUKEE RIV
0.7 MI N OF UNION, McHenry, IL
Built 1992 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 650
ANTHONY RD
FairOver: COON CREEK
0.3 MI W OF RILEY RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1979 Load: 36.9 t ADT: 50
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.