County profile · official public datasets

Elkhart County, IN

278 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.1% rated Good, 55.8% Fair, 6.1% Poor.

278
Public bridges: 38.1%
Good condition: 6.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Elkhart County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

62nd
of 92 on Poor share: 6.1%
Poor-condition share: 278
public highway bridges: 1975
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.

Elkhart County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Elkhart County ranks #62 of 92 Indiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.1%). Elkhart County, Indiana contains 278 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.1% are rated “Good,” 55.8% “Fair,” and 6.1% “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

278

Public highway bridges in Elkhart County

Good condition

38.1%

106 of 278 rated 7-9

Fair condition

55.8%

155 of 278 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.1%

17 of 278 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#62 of 92

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

Condition distribution

Share of 278 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

38.1% (106)

Fair

55.8% (155)

Poor

6.1% (17)

Elkhart County's Poor-condition bridges carry 55,389 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,258 crossings a day against 8,684 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 278 of 278 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

48.6% of Elkhart County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

135 of the 278 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 38.1% 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 33.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CR 6 over CHRISTIANA CREEK, built 1965, carries 18,719 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 55,389 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1920s

7
1930s

5
1940s

2
1950s

55
1960s

45
1970s

50
1980s

30
1990s

45
2000s

18
2010s

15
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 55 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Indiana average (1978).

How Elkhart County compares with Indiana's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Indiana counties nearest Elkhart County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.1% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 91 Indiana counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Elkhart County and the 5 Indiana counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Grant County	280	38.6%	59.6%	1.8%	1975
Vanderburgh County	279	47.7%	48%	4.3%	1980
Elkhart County (this page)	278	38.1%	55.8%	6.1%	1975
Delaware County	277	31.8%	62.8%	5.4%	1976
Porter County	277	42.6%	52%	5.4%	1970
Bartholomew County	269	53.5%	43.1%	3.3%	1982

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IN (278 bridges here).

Edgar County, IL · 278 bridges
Whiteside County, IL · 278 bridges
Navajo County, AZ · 277 bridges
Shelby County, OH · 277 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IN (1975 here).

San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges

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

All 278 Good 106 Fair 155 Poor 17

All bridges (278)

Sort:

Elkhart County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Elkhart County's Poor-condition bridges carry 55,389 vehicle crossings a day

48.6% of Elkhart County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 33.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Elkhart County compares with Indiana'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 (278)

CR 38

CR 36

CR 130

CR 101

HIVELY AVE

EAST LINCOLN AVE

CR 22

CR 13

CR 32

CR 1

I-90 EB

SR 15

SR 19

OLD US 20

US 6

CR 10

CR 21

CR 15

QUAIL ISLAND DR

CR 33

CR 25

CR 19

CR 52

CR 1

WATERFORD ST

CR 33

MIDDLEBURY ST

ELKHART AVE

BEARDSLEY AVE

BRIDGE ST

LINCOLN AVE

CR 3

LEXINGTON AVENUE

N MAIN STREET

CR 17

US 20 EB RAMP

CR 36

WILDEN AVEN

CR 14

US 20 EB

US 20 WB

PRAIRIE ST

I-90 WB

CR 33

US 20 EB RAMP

CR 1

CR 21

SHORELANE W ST

CR 20

CR 50

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