County profile · official public datasets

Franklin County, MA

314 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.4% rated Good, 54.5% Fair, 11.1% Poor.

314
Public bridges
34.4%
Good condition
11.1%
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.

12th
of 13 on Poor share
11.1%
Poor-condition share
314
public highway bridges
1964
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 #12 of 13 Massachusetts counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.1%). Franklin County, Massachusetts contains 314 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.4% are rated “Good,” 54.5% “Fair,” and 11.1% “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

314

Public highway bridges in Franklin County

Good condition

34.4%

108 of 314 rated 7-9

Fair condition

54.5%

171 of 314 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.1%

35 of 314 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#12 of 13

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

Condition distribution

Share of 314 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
34.4% (108)
Fair
54.5% (171)
Poor
11.1% (35)

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 181,714 vehicle crossings a day

That is 15% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 5,192 crossings a day against 2,489 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 313 of 314 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

66.6% of Franklin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

209 of the 314 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 34.4% 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 16.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

ST 2 A/MAIN ST over RR GWRR, built 1847, carries 29,483 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 35-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 181,714 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Franklin County's bridges were built

314 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 66 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1964) matches the Massachusetts average (1961).

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

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

The 5 Massachusetts counties nearest Franklin County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.1% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1964 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 Franklin County and the 5 Massachusetts counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Essex County 395 17.2%
Bristol County 384 6.5%
Norfolk County 343 5%
Franklin County (this page) 314 11.1%
Plymouth County 287 5.9%
Hampshire County 259 8.9%

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 Massachusetts so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MA (314 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MA (1964 here).

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

All 314 Good 108 Fair 171 Poor 35

Poor-condition bridges (35)

HWY N POLAND RD

Poor

Over: WATER POLAND BROOK

0.1 MI. S. OF ROUTE 116, Franklin, MA

Built 1940 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 776

HWY SOUTH ST

Poor

Over: WATER SAWMILL RIVER

0.2 MI W OF ST 63, Franklin, MA

Built 1938 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 647

HWY CENTER ST

Poor

Over: WATER SAWMILL RIVER

0.2 MI W OF ST 63, Franklin, MA

Built 1937 Load: 0.7 t ADT: 517

HWY CHURCH ST

Poor

Over: WATER KEYUP BROOK

0.2 MI N OF ST 2, Franklin, MA

Built 1940 Load: 5.5 t ADT: 905

HWY BIRNAM RD

Poor

Over: WATER MILL BROOK

900 N OF JCT WARWICK RD, Franklin, MA

Built 1937 Load: 5.8 t ADT: 258

HWY CYRUS STAGE

Poor

Over: WATER POTTER BROOK

.1 MI EAST OF POND RD, Franklin, MA

Built 1939 Load: 5.8 t ADT: 647

HWY BRDWL FER RD

Poor

Over: WATER DEERFIELD RIVER

@ SHELBURNE BORDER, Franklin, MA

Built 1882 Load: 10.5 t ADT: 650

ST 2 A/BRIDGE ST

Poor

Over: WATER DEERFIELD RIVER

AT BUCKLAND-SHELBRNE T.L., Franklin, MA

Built 1890 Load: 11.0 t ADT: 5,950

ST112 ASHFIELD RD

Poor

Over: WATER CLESSON BROOK

.35 M N JCT PURINTON RD., Franklin, MA

Built 1938 Load: 11.9 t ADT: 2,451

HWY S CHCKLEY RD

Poor

Over: WATER CHICKLEY RIVER

250W OF RT8A S OF TOWER, Franklin, MA

Built 1939 Load: 15.7 t ADT: 129

I 91 NB

Poor

Over: RR GWRR

MM 45.1 ON I-91 NB, Franklin, MA

Built 1962 Load: 18.6 t ADT: 12,266

HWY CHRISTIAN LN

Poor

Over: WATER MILL RIVER

0.2 MI W OF ST 5, Franklin, MA

Built 1950 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 900

HWY W NRTHFLD RD

Poor

Over: RR NECRR

.1 M E MT HERMON STA RD, Franklin, MA

Built 1909 Load: 21.7 t ADT: 646

ST 10 CHURCH ST

Poor

Over: WATER FALL RIVER

AT JCT W I-91 SB RAMP#28, Franklin, MA

Built 1959 Load: 23.5 t ADT: 8,500

HWY FIFTH ST

Poor

Over: WATER UTILITY CANAL

100 E CONN RIVER, Franklin, MA

Built 1954 Load: 26.0 t ADT: 10,000

US 5 /ST10/STATE

Poor

Over: I 91

MM 32.3 ON I-91, Franklin, MA

Built 1962 Load: 26.1 t ADT: 4,800

HWY COLRAIN ST

Poor

Over: I 91

MM 43.6 ON I-91, Franklin, MA

Built 1964 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 13,319

HWY N LEVERET RD

Poor

Over: WATER SAWMILL RIVER

0.2 MI E OF SPLDNG BRK RD, Franklin, MA

Built 1939 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 2,844

HWY APPLE VALLEY

Poor

Over: WATER U BR CLESSON BK

300 SOUTH OF CLARK RD, Franklin, MA

Built 1939 Load: 27.4 t ADT: 129

ST 8 A/W HWLEY RD

Poor

Over: WATER CHICKLEY RIVER

AT SAVOY RD INTERSECTION, Franklin, MA

Built 1938 Load: 27.9 t ADT: 776

HWY E OXBOW RD

Poor

Over: WATER E BR OXBOW BROOK

AT INT W/ WINDY HILL ROAD, Franklin, MA

Built 1940 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 129

HWY W LOG PLAIN

Poor

Over: RR GWRR

JCT SEVERANCE ST, Franklin, MA

Built 1956 Load: 30.3 t ADT: 1,163

ST 2 A/LOWER MAIN

Poor

Over: WATER GREEN RIVER

100 E JCT RIVER ST., Franklin, MA

Built 1957 Load: 31.0 t ADT: 12,396

ST 10 NORTHFLD RD

Poor

Over: I 91

MM 50.3 ON I-91, Franklin, MA

Built 1959 Load: 32.3 t ADT: 8,680

HWY ADAMSVLLE RD

Poor

Over: WATER VINCENT BROOK

1M N OF ED CLARK, Franklin, MA

Built 1939 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 388

ST 63 FEDERAL ST

Poor

Over: RR NECRR

AT SUNDERLAND T.L., Franklin, MA

Built 1938 Load: 34.4 t ADT: 3,200

ST 78 WARWICK RD

Poor

Over: WATER ORCUTT BROOK

.6 M N JCT ST 2A & ST 78, Franklin, MA

Built 1937 Load: 36.4 t ADT: 922

HWY S RIVER RD

Poor

Over: WATER ALBEE BROOK

2.3 MI E OF E HAWLEY RD, Franklin, MA

Built 1938 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 154

I 91 SB

Poor

Over: RR GWRR

MM 45.2 ON I91 SB, Franklin, MA

Built 1962 Load: 37.7 t ADT: 18,071

I 91 NB

Poor

Over: ST 2 WB ROTARY

MM 43.1 ON I-91 NB, Franklin, MA

Built 1966 Load: 38.7 t ADT: 7,667

ST116 ASHFIELD RD

Poor

Over: WATER SOUTH RIVER

AT ELDRIDGE RD., Franklin, MA

Built 1926 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 1,293

HWY TRNRS FLS RD

Poor

Over: WATER CONNECTICUT RIVER

235 NW OF CANAL ST, Franklin, MA

Built 1936 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 7,136

ST 10 NORTHFLD RD

Poor

Over: WATER DRY BROOK

.1 M E JCT PURPLE MDW RD., Franklin, MA

Built 1967 Load: 60.4 t ADT: 9,569

ST 2 A/MAIN ST

Poor

Over: RR GWRR

100 W JCT CHAPMAN ST., Franklin, MA

Built 1847 Load: 82.4 t ADT: 29,483

US 5 /ST10/BNDSTN

Poor

Over: WATER CHERRY RUM BROOK

.05 M S OF ST 2 BYPASS, Franklin, MA

Built 1964 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 14,353

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.