County profile · official public datasets

Chippewa County, MI

112 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 22.3% rated Good, 65.2% Fair, 12.5% Poor.

112
Public bridges: 22.3%
Good condition: 12.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

48th
of 83 on Poor share: 12.5%
Poor-condition share: 112
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Chippewa County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chippewa County ranks #48 of 83 Michigan counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.5%). Chippewa County, Michigan contains 112 public highway bridges. Roughly 22.3% are rated “Good,” 65.2% “Fair,” and 12.5% “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

112

Public highway bridges in Chippewa County

Good condition

22.3%

25 of 112 rated 7-9

Fair condition

65.2%

73 of 112 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.5%

14 of 112 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#48 of 83

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

Condition distribution

Share of 112 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

22.3% (25)

Fair

65.2% (73)

Poor

12.5% (14)

Chippewa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,966 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 569 crossings a day against 1,514 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 111 of 112 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

45.5% of Chippewa County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

51 of the 112 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 22.3% 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 42% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

M-129 over FLETCHER CREEK, built 1929, carries 3,344 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 7,966 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

4
1930s

9
1940s

8
1950s

5
1960s

20
1970s

15
1980s

14
1990s

12
2000s

15
2010s

8
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 20 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Michigan average (1976).

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

The 5 Michigan counties nearest Chippewa County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.5% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chippewa County and the 5 Michigan counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Montcalm County	121	37.2%	57.9%	5%	1977
Ionia County	119	32.8%	58.8%	8.4%	1974
Branch County	118	24.6%	54.2%	21.2%	1973
Chippewa County (this page)	112	22.3%	65.2%	12.5%	1974
Hillsdale County	105	24.8%	58.1%	17.1%	1973
Gogebic County	104	23.1%	59.6%	17.3%	1969

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MI (112 bridges here).

Columbia County, FL · 112 bridges
Sumter County, FL · 112 bridges
Houston County, GA · 112 bridges
Tift County, GA · 112 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MI (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 112 Good 25 Fair 73 Poor 14

All bridges (112)

Sort:

Chippewa County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Chippewa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,966 vehicle crossings a day

45.5% of Chippewa County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 42% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

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

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (112)

USFS RTE 3199

8 MILE ROAD

OBRIEN ROAD

SULLIVAN CRK TRAIL

SULLIVAN CREEK TR.

MACKINAC TRAIL

WAISKA RIVER TRAIL

ALDRICH ROAD

HUMMS ROAD

BETSY TOWER ROAD

S WHITE ROAD

RIVERSIDE DRIVE

GOGOMAIN ROAD

EAST-WEST ROAD

TUORI RD

11 MILE ROAD

I-75 INTL BRIDGE

M-28

EAST-WEST ROAD

SCENIC DRIVE

FORREST RD

EAST-WEST ROAD

I-75 NB

M-129

M-129

M-48

WHITEFISH ROAD

BOUND ROAD

I-75 SB

LOWER HAY LAKE RD

I-75 BS (PORTAGE)

WEST PORTAGE AVE.

M-123

M-28

GOGOMAIN ROAD

M-48

RIVERSIDE DRIVE

S GAINES HWY

RIVERSIDE DRIVE

I-75 BS (ASHMUN)

GOGOMAIN ROAD

M-134

TILSON ROAD

BRIMLEY RD(6 MILE)

I-75 BS (3 MILE RD

M-48

TONE ROAD

PRARIE ROAD

M-134

M-134

Related