County profile · official public datasets

Branch County, MI

118 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.6% rated Good, 54.2% Fair, 21.2% Poor.

118
Public bridges
24.6%
Good condition
21.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

81st
of 83 on Poor share
21.2%
Poor-condition share
118
public highway bridges
1973
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.

Branch County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Branch County ranks #81 of 83 Michigan counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 21.2%). Branch County, Michigan contains 118 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.6% are rated “Good,” 54.2% “Fair,” and 21.2% “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

118

Public highway bridges in Branch County

Good condition

24.6%

29 of 118 rated 7-9

Fair condition

54.2%

64 of 118 rated 5-6

Poor condition

21.2%

25 of 118 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#81 of 83

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

Condition distribution

Share of 118 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
24.6% (29)
Fair
54.2% (64)
Poor
21.2% (25)

Branch County's Poor-condition bridges carry 19,280 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 21.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 771 crossings a day against 1,912 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 118 of 118 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

56.8% of Branch County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

67 of the 118 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 24.6% 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 29% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

NORTH MARSHALL RD over COLD CREEK, built 1930, carries 5,588 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 19,280 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Branch County's bridges were built

118 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 41 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 34.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Michigan average (1976).

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

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

The 5 Michigan counties nearest Branch County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 21.2% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Branch County and the 5 Michigan counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Van Buren County 129 7%
Montcalm County 121 5%
Ionia County 119 8.4%
Branch County (this page) 118 21.2%
Chippewa County 112 12.5%
Hillsdale County 105 17.1%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MI (118 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MI (1973 here).

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

All 118 Good 29 Fair 64 Poor 25

Good-condition bridges (29)

NORTH MARSHALL RD

Good

Over: SOUTH BR HOG CREEK

GIRARD TWP SEC 15-16, Branch, MI

Built 1968 ADT: 5,018

JEFFERSON STREET

Good

Over: SAUK (COLDWATER) RIVER

IN COLDWATER, Branch, MI

Built 1951 Load: 20.1 t ADT: 1,658

US-12

Good

Over: PRAIRIE RIVER

1.3 MI NE ST JOSEPH COL, Branch, MI

Built 2011 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 4,680

ACCES ROAD

Good

Over: COLDWATER RIVER

OVID TWP SEC 27, Branch, MI

Built 1967 Load: 30.1 t ADT: 265

GIRARD ROAD

Good

Over: BUELL DRAIN #10

SHERWOOD TWP SEC 13-24, Branch, MI

Built 1989 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 461

MICHIGAN ROAD

Good

Over: COUNTY DRAIN #33

COLDWATER TWP SEC 2-3, Branch, MI

Built 1981 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 522

TAGGART ROAD

Good

Over: SWAN CREEK DRAIN #5100

BRONSON TWP SEC 17-18, Branch, MI

Built 2001 Load: 36.8 t ADT: 155

M-86

Good

Over: MATTESON CREEK

0.2 MI W MATTESON LK RD, Branch, MI

Built 2010 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 2,300

BOONE ROAD

Good

Over: SOUTH BR HOG CREEK

QUINCY TWP SEC 12, Branch, MI

Built 1989 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 210

I-69 BL

Good

Over: SAUK RIVER

IN COLDWATER, Branch, MI

Built 1929 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 6,063

BROADWAY STREET

Good

Over: ST JOSEPH RIVER

IN VILLAGE OF UNION CITY, Branch, MI

Built 1978 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 3,315

US-12

Good

Over: SWAN CREEK

2.7 MI NE OF BRONSON, Branch, MI

Built 2016 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 5,850

CADY ROAD

Good

Over: HOG CREEK

GIRARD TWP SEC 19, Branch, MI

Built 2003 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 75

NARROWS ROAD

Good

Over: COLDWATER RIVER

COLDWATER TWP SEC 5, Branch, MI

Built 2009 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 1,848

FREMONT ROAD

Good

Over: LAKE BARTHOLEMEW CHANNEL

ALGANSEE TWP SEC 7, Branch, MI

Built 2007 Load: 43.9 t ADT: 2,028

QUIMBY ROAD

Good

Over: WRIGHT LAKE CHANNEL

OVID TWP SEC 13, Branch, MI

Built 2009 Load: 44.9 t ADT: 618

US-12

Good

Over: COLDWATER RIVER

W LTS OF COLDWATER, Branch, MI

Built 1939 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 10,550

WARREN ROAD

Good

Over: COLDWATER RIVER

OVID TWP SEC 21-28, Branch, MI

Built 1967 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 600

SOUTH ANGOLA ROAD

Good

Over: COLDWATER RIVER

OVID TWP SEC 16, Branch, MI

Built 2021 Load: 48.3 t ADT: 2,300

LYTER ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLE SWAN CREEK DRAIN

MATTESON TWP SEC 29, Branch, MI

Built 1996 Load: 48.4 t ADT: 211

CENTRAL ROAD

Good

Over: LAKE BARTHOLEMEW CHANNEL

OVID TWP SEC 12-13, Branch, MI

Built 2008 Load: 50.1 t ADT: 1,435

OTIS ROAD

Good

Over: COLDWATER RIVER

OVID TWP SEC 16, Branch, MI

Built 1999 Load: 50.5 t ADT: 33

HAYNER ROAD

Good

Over: UNION & TEKONSHA DRAIN

2 MI SE OF UNION CITY, Branch, MI

Built 2002 Load: 50.5 t ADT: 74

MATTESON LAKE ROAD

Good

Over: SWAN CREEK DRAIN #5100

MATTESON TWP SEC 35-36, Branch, MI

Built 2004 Load: 50.8 t ADT: 2,698

LINDLEY ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLE SWAN CREEK DRAIN

MATTESON TWP SEC 29, Branch, MI

Built 2018 Load: 55.4 t ADT: 111

CLAY ROAD

Good

Over: UNION DRAIN #2

UNION TWP SEC 15-16, Branch, MI

Built 2023 Load: 59.0 t ADT: 62

ARBOGAST ROAD

Good

Over: ST JOSEPH RIVER

UNION TWP SEC 5-6, Branch, MI

Built 2016 Load: 60.3 t ADT: 1,180

OLD M-78 HWY

Good

Over: ST JOSEPH RIVER

SHERWOOD TWP SEC 21-22, Branch, MI

Built 2015 Load: 63.8 t ADT: 777

WARREN ROAD

Good

Over: TALLAHASSEE CREEK DRAIN

OVID TWP SEC 24 25, Branch, MI

Built 2009 Load: 71.3 t ADT: 350

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

Related

Browse all → | Rankings →
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.