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.
Good-condition bridges (94)
MAIN STREET
GoodOver: S RBR. KISHWAUKEE
0.1MI W COYNE STA RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1961 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 9,500
BAY ROAD
GoodOver: LILY LAKE DRAIN
1.0 MI SE OF CHAPELH, McHenry, IL
Built 1968 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 6,200
ALGONQUIN ROAD
GoodOver: GRAVEL PIT CREEK
.2M SE OF PYOTT, McHenry, IL
Built 2004 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 31,600
IL 23
GoodOver: I- 90 Jane Adams
I-90 @ IL23, McHenry, IL
Built 2017 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 3,250
FRANKLINEVILLE ROA
GoodOver: KISHWAUKEE RIVER
0.3 MI N IL-176, McHenry, IL
Built 2014 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 1,500
KISHWAUKEE VALLEY
GoodOver: N BR KISHWAUKEE RIV
0.3 MI E SULLIVAN RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2010 Load: 42.4 t ADT: 4,150
AYER STREET
GoodOver: MOKELER CREEK
0.36 MI W. US 14, McHenry, IL
Built 2011 Load: 42.4 t ADT: 1,550
HILLTOP DRIVE
GoodOver: WOODS CREEK
.2M.N.HUNT.ALGQN.RD., McHenry, IL
Built 1985 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 1,600
HEMMINGSON RD.
GoodOver: S.BR.KISHWAUKEE RIV.
2.0M.E.OF UNION, McHenry, IL
Built 1991 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 500
North Union Road
GoodOver: Kishwaukee River
.8 MI N IL 176, McHenry, IL
Built 2019 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 500
IL 47
GoodOver: DITCH TRIB OF NIPSK
@ OBRIEN/VANDERK, McHenry, IL
Built 2018 Load: 44.1 t ADT: 4,400
US 14
GoodOver: MOKELER CREEK
US 14 N OF IL 173, McHenry, IL
Built 2006 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 12,400
IL 31
GoodOver: ALGONQUIN RD
2.1 M E Randall Rd, McHenry, IL
Built 2013 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 25,600
EDGEWOOD ROAD
GoodOver: RAT CREEK
0.2 W IL 31, McHenry, IL
Built 1954 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 4,750
IL 23
GoodOver: KISHWAUKEE RV RELIEF
1.4 MI. N. US 20, McHenry, IL
Built 2009 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 6,450
HILL ROAD
GoodOver: N BR NIPPERSINK CRK
0.35 MI E / US 12, McHenry, IL
Built 2014 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 750
US 14
GoodOver: LAWRENCE CREEK
1.84 S STATE LINE, McHenry, IL
Built 2015 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 6,500
IL 176
GoodOver: OVERLAND FLOW AREA
0.31 M W N UNION RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2008 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 5,700
IL 31 NB EXIT RAM
GoodOver: CRYSTAL CREEK
0.1 M S Algonquin Rd, McHenry, IL
Built 2013 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 1,200
IL 173
GoodOver: PISCASAW CR OVERFLOW
1.88 M E OF CO. LINE, McHenry, IL
Built 2007 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 4,550
RANDALL RD
GoodOver: CREEK
RANDALL RD AT, McHenry, IL
Built 1970 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 28,800
IL 176
GoodOver: DRAINAGE DITCH
.2M E OF IL23, McHenry, IL
Built 2012 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 5,700
BARNARDS MILL ROAD
GoodOver: NIPPERSINK CR
AT HOWE RD INTERSECT, McHenry, IL
Built 1950 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 4,200
IL 47
GoodOver: KISHWAUKEE RIVER
4.7M S of US14, McHenry, IL
Built 2021 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 18,600
HEMMINGSON ROAD
GoodOver: TRIB S BR KSHWKE RVR
.55 MI E OLSEN RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1940 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 500
IL 31 SB ENT RAMP
GoodOver: CRYSTAL CREEK
0.1 M S Algonquin Rd, McHenry, IL
Built 2013 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 1,500
Main Street
GoodOver: Crystal Lake Overflo
200 ft S of IL 62, McHenry, IL
Built 2020 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 5,750
LAWRENCE ROAD/CH-T
GoodOver: LAWRENCE CREEK
.3MI NW OAK GROVE RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2011 Load: 50.9 t ADT: 400
IL 173
GoodOver: PISCASAW CREEK
2 M E OF CNTY LINE, McHenry, IL
Built 2007 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 4,550
I-90 WB
GoodOver: COON CREEK
0.5 MI E ANTHONY RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2013 Load: 51.5 t ADT: 28,500
I-90 EB
GoodOver: COON CREEK
0.5 MI E/ ANTHONY RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2013 Load: 51.5 t ADT: 28,500
CHARLES RD
GoodOver: SILVER CR
0.6 M NW OF ILL 47, McHenry, IL
Built 1978 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 6,500
DUNHAM ROAD/CHA-29
GoodOver: N BR KISHWAUKEE RIV
1.2 MI W OF US 14, McHenry, IL
Built 2011 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 250
OAK GROVE ROAD
GoodOver: DRAINAGE DITCH
.7 MI SW US 14, McHenry, IL
Built 2018 Load: 53.8 t ADT: 775
JOHNSBURG ROAD
GoodOver: DUTCH CREEK
.6 M E IL RT31, McHenry, IL
Built 1994 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 13,500
IL 31
GoodOver: CRYSTAL CREEK
0.1 M S Algonquin Rd, McHenry, IL
Built 2013 Load: 56.1 t ADT: 17,900
RANDALL ROAD
GoodOver: WOODS CREEK
0.3 M S OF MILLER RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1969 Load: 56.1 t ADT: 28,800
MASON HILL RD
GoodOver: STREAM
0.6 MI W CRYST LK RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1967 Load: 56.7 t ADT: 2,600
IL 176
GoodOver: KISHWAUKEE RIVER
0.9 M W OF GEE RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2008 Load: 57.3 t ADT: 8,600
IL 47
GoodOver: S BR KISHWAUKEE RV
2.3 M N of I-90, McHenry, IL
Built 2011 Load: 58.6 t ADT: 25,200
SOUTH STREET
GoodOver: US 14
2.8 M W OF IL 47, McHenry, IL
Built 1958 Load: 59.3 t ADT: 3,600
TR-155 (Justen Rd)
GoodOver: Trib. Fox River
0.5 MI N WRIGHT RD, McHenry, IL
Built 2018 Load: 60.6 t ADT: 675
IL 23
GoodOver: KISHWAUKEE RIVER
0.7 M N OF IL 176, McHenry, IL
Built 2009 Load: 62.5 t ADT: 6,450
COLLINS ROAD
GoodOver: TRIB N BR KISWKE RVR
.25 MI E SULLIVAN RD, McHenry, IL
Built 1968 Load: 66.4 t ADT: 725
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.