County profile · official public datasets

Arenac County, MI

80 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 25% rated Good, 56.3% Fair, 18.8% Poor.

80
Public bridges
25%
Good condition
18.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Arenac County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

75th
of 83 on Poor share
18.8%
Poor-condition share
80
public highway bridges
1970
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.

Arenac County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Arenac County ranks #75 of 83 Michigan counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 18.8%). Arenac County, Michigan contains 80 public highway bridges. Roughly 25% are rated “Good,” 56.3% “Fair,” and 18.8% “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

80

Public highway bridges in Arenac County

Good condition

25%

20 of 80 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56.3%

45 of 80 rated 5-6

Poor condition

18.8%

15 of 80 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#75 of 83

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

Condition distribution

Share of 80 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
25% (20)
Fair
56.3% (45)
Poor
18.8% (15)

Arenac County's Poor-condition bridges carry 41,657 vehicle crossings a day

That is 14.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 18.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,777 crossings a day against 3,534 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 80 of 80 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

60% of Arenac County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

48 of the 80 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 25% 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 34.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STERLING ROAD over I-75, built 1968, carries 14,350 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 41,657 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Arenac County's bridges were built

80 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 23 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 28.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1970, 6 years older than the Michigan average of 1976.

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

How Arenac County compares with Michigan's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Michigan counties nearest Arenac County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 18.8% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1979 is 9 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 82 Michigan counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Arenac County and the 5 Michigan counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Delta County 84 1.2%
Mecosta County 80 5%
Arenac County (this page) 80 18.8%
Cheboygan County 73 19.2%
Barry County 69 24.6%
Baraga County 68 7.4%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MI (80 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MI (1970 here).

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

All 80 Good 20 Fair 45 Poor 15

All bridges (80)

ARENAC STATE ROAD

Good

Over: SAGANING CREEK

0.5 MI WEST OF SAGANING, Arenac, MI

Built 1961 Load: 38.6 t ADT: 1,637

STOVER ROAD

Good

Over: RIFLE RIVER

0.8 MI W OF HALE ROAD, Arenac, MI

Built 1988 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 731

US-23

Good

Over: WHITNEY DRAIN

1.0 MI S OF IOSCO CO LINE, Arenac, MI

Built 1972 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 7,600

M-65

Good

Over: BIG CREEK

2.0 MI S OF TWINING, Arenac, MI

Built 2021 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 4,353

US-23

Good

Over: DIME DRAIN

2.4 MI S OF IOSCO CO LINE, Arenac, MI

Built 1999 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 7,600

MELITA ROAD

Good

Over: S BR PINE RIVER

0.2 MI S OF BORDEAU ROAD, Arenac, MI

Built 2017 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 275

GROVE STREET

Good

Over: RIFLE RIVER

6.5 MILES N OF STANDISH, Arenac, MI

Built 1977 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 1,566

ARENAC STATE ROAD

Good

Over: PINE RIVER

3 MILES EAST OF STANDISH, Arenac, MI

Built 1940 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 1,200

GROVE ST

Good

Over: PINE RIVER

0.23 MI S OF WYATT RD, Arenac, MI

Built 1969 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 3,306

TOWNSEND ROAD

Good

Over: BIG CREEK A DRAIN

0.7 MI W OF LEHMAN, Arenac, MI

Built 1996 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 102

US-23

Good

Over: SAVERINE CREEK

3.0 MI SW OF OMER, Arenac, MI

Built 2000 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 9,170

9 MILE RD

Good

Over: PINE RIVER

400 FT S OF BRENNON RD, Arenac, MI

Built 2019 Load: 53.8 t ADT: 430

US-23

Good

Over: N BR PINE RIVER

1.8 MI NE OF STANDISH, Arenac, MI

Built 2001 Load: 59.6 t ADT: 9,170

I-75 SB & RAMP

Good

Over: MID BRANCH PINE RIVER

0.2 MI N OF M-61, Arenac, MI

Built 1968 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 7,138

I-75 NB & RAMP

Good

Over: MID BRANCH PINE RIVER

0.2 MI N OF M-61, Arenac, MI

Built 1968 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 7,138

NOGGLE ROAD

Poor

Over: BIG CREEK A DRAIN

0.3 MI E OF LENTNER RD, Arenac, MI

Built 1920 Load: 5.8 t ADT: 198

OSTRANDER RD

Poor

Over: BIG CREEK A DRAIN

0.3 MI W OF M-65, Arenac, MI

Built 1917 Load: 6.6 t ADT: 90

BLACK ROAD

Poor

Over: BIG CREEK A DRAIN

0.6 MI S OF TWINING RD, Arenac, MI

Built 1917 Load: 9.1 t ADT: 30

LENTNER ROAD

Poor

Over: BIG CREEK A DRAIN

500 FT N OF NOGGLE ROAD, Arenac, MI

Built 1917 Load: 18.5 t ADT: 5

MACKINAW ROAD

Poor

Over: AUGRES RIVER

0.8 MI N OF BESSINGER RD, Arenac, MI

Built 1985 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 200

M-61

Poor

Over: M BR PINE RIVER

1.7 MI W OF STANDISH, Arenac, MI

Built 1952 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 4,242

OLD M-76

Poor

Over: NORTH BR PINE RIVER

2.6 MILES NW OF STANDISH, Arenac, MI

Built 1932 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 2,554

STERLING ROAD

Poor

Over: I-75

2.0 MI W OF STERLING, Arenac, MI

Built 1968 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 14,350

M-61

Poor

Over: M BR PINE RIVER

2.0 MI W OF STANDISH, Arenac, MI

Built 1952 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 4,242

M-33

Poor

Over: I-75

1.0 MI N OF ALGER, Arenac, MI

Built 1968 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 4,124

DEEP RIVER

Poor

Over: S BRANCH PINE RIVER

400 FT N OF BORDEAU, Arenac, MI

Built 1979 Load: 34.3 t ADT: 25

FOCO ROAD

Poor

Over: N BR PINE RIVER

0.3 MI S OF US-23, Arenac, MI

Built 1974 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 235

M-33 CONN

Poor

Over: LAKE STATE RR & OLD M-76

1.0 MI N OF ALGER, Arenac, MI

Built 1968 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 4,124

KRAUSHAAR ROAD

Poor

Over: PINE RIVER

N OF PINE RIVER, Arenac, MI

Built 1993 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 100

I-75 SB

Poor

Over: N BRANCH PINE RIVER

0.1 MI S OF MI PT 193, Arenac, MI

Built 1968 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 7,138

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.