County profile · official public datasets

Bristol County, MA

384 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 30.2% rated Good, 63.3% Fair, 6.5% Poor.

384
Public bridges
30.2%
Good condition
6.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 38%
lowest Poor share in state
6.5%
Poor-condition share
384
public highway bridges
1962
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.

Bristol County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Bristol County ranks #5 of 13 Massachusetts counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.5%). Bristol County, Massachusetts contains 384 public highway bridges. Roughly 30.2% are rated “Good,” 63.3% “Fair,” and 6.5% “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

384

Public highway bridges in Bristol County

Good condition

30.2%

116 of 384 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.3%

243 of 384 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.5%

25 of 384 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#5 of 13

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

Condition distribution

Share of 384 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
30.2% (116)
Fair
63.3% (243)
Poor
6.5% (25)

Bristol County's Poor-condition bridges carry 545,055 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 21,802 crossings a day against 16,119 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 384 of 384 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

70.3% of Bristol County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

270 of the 384 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 30.2% 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 12.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I 195 over ST 18 ASHLEY BLVD, built 1965, carries 66,254 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 25-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 545,055 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Bristol County's bridges were built

384 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 117 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1962) matches the Massachusetts average (1961).

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

How Bristol County compares with Massachusetts's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Massachusetts counties nearest Bristol County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.5% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1962 against a peer-group mean of 1960 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 12 Massachusetts counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Bristol County and the 5 Massachusetts counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Berkshire County 450 7.8%
Hampden County 428 7.5%
Essex County 395 17.2%
Bristol County (this page) 384 6.5%
Norfolk County 343 5%
Franklin County 314 11.1%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MA (384 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MA (1962 here).

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

All 384 Good 116 Fair 243 Poor 25

Poor-condition bridges (25)

I 295 RAMP

Poor

Over: WATER TEN MILE RIVER

BASE OF RAMP TO 95 S, Bristol, MA

Built 1969 Load: 11.3 t ADT: 32,858

HWY N MAIN ST

Poor

Over: ST 24

1.0 S OF BERKLEY T.L., Bristol, MA

Built 1951 Load: 18.2 t ADT: 2,436

HWY MENDON RD

Poor

Over: WATER ABBOTT RUN RIVER

AT JUNCT. DEPOT STREET, Bristol, MA

Built 1850 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 7,000

US 44 WINTHROP ST

Poor

Over: WATER PALMER RIVER

1.7 MI NE SEEKONK T.L., Bristol, MA

Built 1850 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 13,010

I 195

Poor

Over: COMB MACRR/PURCHASE ST

.1 MI W OF ST 18, Bristol, MA

Built 1965 Load: 20.4 t ADT: 63,995

ST 24

Poor

Over: ST140 COUNTY ST

AT ST 140, Bristol, MA

Built 1951 Load: 22.1 t ADT: 58,000

HWY BACON ST

Poor

Over: I 95

.1 MI SW OF US 1, Bristol, MA

Built 1959 Load: 22.9 t ADT: 10,800

HWY CHACE RD

Poor

Over: ST140

1.2 MI S OF LAKEVIL T.L., Bristol, MA

Built 1957 Load: 24.8 t ADT: 10,500

HWY WEST ST

Poor

Over: WATER WADING RIVER

2 MI W OF ST140, Bristol, MA

Built 1910 Load: 26.2 t ADT: 4,714

ST 24

Poor

Over: WATER ASSONET RIVER

.7 MI N OF ST 79, Bristol, MA

Built 1951 Load: 27.0 t ADT: 42,505

ST123 E MAIN ST

Poor

Over: WATER CANOE RIVER

.1MI S OF I-495, Bristol, MA

Built 1978 Load: 28.8 t ADT: 19,525

HWY TONER BLVD

Poor

Over: I 95

.1 MI N OF ATTLEBORO T.L., Bristol, MA

Built 1960 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 33,600

I 195 EB

Poor

Over: WATER PALMER RIVER

.6 MI FROM SWANSEA T.L., Bristol, MA

Built 1960 Load: 31.7 t ADT: 46,696

HWY SOUTH ST E

Poor

Over: WATER TAUNTON RIVER

RAYNHAM-TAUNTON TOWNLINE, Bristol, MA

Built 1945 Load: 32.3 t ADT: 7,900

ST103 WILBUR AVE

Poor

Over: WATER COLES RIVER

1.7MI E OF R.I.S.L., Bristol, MA

Built 1957 Load: 33.2 t ADT: 11,644

I 195

Poor

Over: ST 18 ASHLEY BLVD

.25 MI E OF PENNIMAN ST, Bristol, MA

Built 1965 Load: 33.7 t ADT: 66,254

HWY SCADDING ST

Poor

Over: WATER SNAKE RIVER

.2 MI S OF FIELD ST, Bristol, MA

Built 1967 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 1,034

I 195

Poor

Over: HWY COUNTY&STATE STS

.1 MI W OF ST 18, Bristol, MA

Built 1965 Load: 34.1 t ADT: 63,995

I 195 WB RAMP C

Poor

Over: OTHER RELIEF

I 195 AT ST 18, Bristol, MA

Built 1965 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 7,379

I 195 EB RAMP F

Poor

Over: COMB WELD ST & RELIEF

I 195 AT ST 18, Bristol, MA

Built 1965 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 9,695

US 6 EB

Poor

Over: COMB ST18 & RELIEF

.75 MI W OF FAIRHAVEN TL, Bristol, MA

Built 1973 Load: 35.7 t ADT: 4,428

HWY JEFFERSON ST

Poor

Over: WATER SUCKER BROOK

0.2 MILES SE OF ST 24, Bristol, MA

Built 1850 Load: 37.4 t ADT: 390

US 6 GAR HWY

Poor

Over: WATER COLE RIVER

.9 MI SE OF I 195, Bristol, MA

Built 1926 Load: 38.3 t ADT: 13,357

ST123 E MAIN ST

Poor

Over: I 495

ST 123 AT I 495, Bristol, MA

Built 1978 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 11,800

HWY BALCOM ST

Poor

Over: WATER WADING RIVER

.4 MI NE OF GILBERT ST, Bristol, MA

Built 1910 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 1,540

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.