County profile · official public datasets

Franklin County, ME

128 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.2% rated Good, 53.9% Fair, 21.9% Poor.

128
Public bridges: 24.2%
Good condition: 21.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

14th
of 16 on Poor share: 21.9%
Poor-condition share: 128
public highway bridges: 1968
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.

Franklin County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Franklin County ranks #14 of 16 Maine counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 21.9%). Franklin County, Maine contains 128 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.2% are rated “Good,” 53.9% “Fair,” and 21.9% “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

128

Public highway bridges in Franklin County

Good condition

24.2%

31 of 128 rated 7-9

Fair condition

53.9%

69 of 128 rated 5-6

Poor condition

21.9%

28 of 128 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#14 of 16

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

Condition distribution

Share of 128 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

24.2% (31)

Fair

53.9% (69)

Poor

21.9% (28)

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 29,055 vehicle crossings a day

That is 13.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 22% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,038 crossings a day against 2,317 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 127 of 128 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

57.8% of Franklin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

74 of the 128 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 24.2% 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 20.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

LUCY KNOWLES RD over WILSON STREAM, built 1937, carries 6,000 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 28-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 29,055 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

2
1920s

13
1930s

15
1940s

8
1950s

21
1960s

12
1970s

5
1980s

12
1990s

13
2000s

10
2010s

6
2020s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 21 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1968) matches the Maine average (1970).

How Franklin County compares with Maine's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Maine counties nearest Franklin County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 21.9% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1968 against a peer-group mean of 1969 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 15 Maine counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Franklin County and the 5 Maine counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Somerset County	173	19.7%	56.6%	23.7%	1967
Androscoggin County	135	41.5%	48.1%	10.4%	1974
Franklin County (this page)	128	24.2%	53.9%	21.9%	1968
Washington County	110	38.2%	42.7%	19.1%	1972
Waldo County	92	16.3%	66.3%	17.4%	1964
Piscataquis County	80	18.8%	60%	21.3%	1966

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ME (128 bridges here).

Custer County, ID · 128 bridges
Harper County, OK · 128 bridges
Dillon County, SC · 128 bridges
Cheatham County, TN · 128 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ME (1968 here).

Montgomery County, PA · avg 1968 · 828 bridges
San Joaquin County, CA · avg 1968 · 644 bridges
Providence County, RI · avg 1968 · 476 bridges
Imperial County, CA · avg 1968 · 444 bridges

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

All 128 Good 31 Fair 69 Poor 28

Good-condition bridges (31)

Sort:

Franklin County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 29,055 vehicle crossings a day

57.8% of Franklin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 20.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Franklin County compares with Maine's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Good-condition bridges (31)

CROSWELL RD

SWAN RD

WILTON RD

ROUTE 4

CANAL ST

SALEM RD

KENNEBAGO RD

MAIN ST

RANGELEY RD

US RT 2 W

LIVERMORE FALLS RD

SHAW HILL RD

FARMINGTON FALLS R

RANGELEY RD

US RT 2 W

MAIN ST

CARTHAGE RD

MORSE HILL RD

INTERVALE RD

N CHESTERVILLE RD

THE ARNOLD TRL

DUTCH GAP RD

CARRABASSETT DR

RANGELEY RD

CARRABASSETT DR

RANGELEY RD

MINGO LOOP RD

S SHORE DR

ARNOLD TRL

ARNOLD TRL

POPE RD

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