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.

When Chippewa County's bridges were built

112 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

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).

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

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 Poor
Montcalm County 121 5%
Ionia County 119 8.4%
Branch County 118 21.2%
Chippewa County (this page) 112 12.5%
Hillsdale County 105 17.1%
Gogebic County 104 17.3%

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).

Similar average build year

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

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

Good-condition bridges (25)

10 MILE ROAD

Good

Over: S BRANCH CHARLOTTE RIVER

3.5 MI E OF DAFTER, Chippewa, MI

Built 2005 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 10

LAKE SHORE DR FH42

Good

Over: PENDILLS CREEK

5 MI NW OF RACO, Chippewa, MI

Built 1992 Load: 31.4 t ADT: 260

IRR BIA RTE 1

Good

Over: DRAINAGE TO SHUNK CREEK

SAULT STE MARIE RES., Chippewa, MI

Built 2002 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 60

IRR BIA RTE 1

Good

Over: DRAINAGE TO SHUNK CREEK

SAULTE STE MARIE RES., Chippewa, MI

Built 2002 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 60

S SULLIVAN CRK RD

Good

Over: BISCUIT CREEK

RUDYARD TWP SEC 7-8, Chippewa, MI

Built 2010 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 400

BOUND ROAD

Good

Over: WAISKA RIVER

6.5 MI N OF KINROSS, Chippewa, MI

Built 1985 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 500

EASTERDAY AVE.

Good

Over: ASHMUN CREEK

SAULT STE MARIE, Chippewa, MI

Built 1994 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 8,347

IRR BIA RTE 1

Good

Over: 08/23

SAULT STE MARIE POWWOW GR, Chippewa, MI

Built 2002 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 60

IRR BIA RTE 2

Good

Over: DRAINAGE TO SHUNK CREEK

SAULT STE MARIE AT POWWOW, Chippewa, MI

Built 2002 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 60

WHITNEY BAY ROAD

Good

Over: PRIVATE TRUCK HAUL ROAD

2 MI E OF FERRY DOCK, Chippewa, MI

Built 2006 Load: 33.7 t ADT: 100

SHUNK ROAD

Good

Over: CHARLOTTE RIVER

6 MI E OF DAFTER, Chippewa, MI

Built 1985 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 30

M-129

Good

Over: S BR CHARLOTTE RIVER

0.2 MI N OF 12 MILE ROAD, Chippewa, MI

Built 2010 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 3,500

1 1/2 MILE ROAD

Good

Over: ST MARYS RIVER

0.4 MI W OF WHITEHEAD RD, Chippewa, MI

Built 2016 Load: 39.5 t

CURLEY LEWIS HWY

Good

Over: NAOMIKONG CREEK

AT TAHQUAMENON BAY, Chippewa, MI

Built 1969 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 83

12 MILE ROAD

Good

Over: S BRANCH CHARLOTTE

1 MI N OF DONALDSON, Chippewa, MI

Built 2017 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 10

S SALT POINT RD

Good

Over: E BR TAHQUAMENON RIVER

0.44 MI N OF M-28, Chippewa, MI

Built 2010 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 94

FORT STREET

Good

Over: POWER CANAL

IN SAULT STE MARIE, Chippewa, MI

Built 2004 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 5,883

23 MILE ROAD

Good

Over: EAST BR MUNUSCONG RIVER

2 MI NE OF PICKFORD, Chippewa, MI

Built 2002 Load: 50.5 t ADT: 10

6 MILE ROAD

Good

Over: WAISKA RIVER

6 MI SW OF SAULT STE MARI, Chippewa, MI

Built 2008 Load: 50.9 t ADT: 1,000

M-123

Good

Over: KNEEBONE CREEK

SE LIMITS OF TROUT LAKE, Chippewa, MI

Built 2003 Load: 56.0 t ADT: 1,388

RIVERSIDE DRIVE

Good

Over: MISSION CREEK

SAULT STE MARIE, Chippewa, MI

Built 2013 Load: 56.1 t ADT: 5,071

M-123

Good

Over: BLACK CREEK

3.1 MI S OF PARADISE, Chippewa, MI

Built 2018 Load: 70.3 t ADT: 1,200

SULLIVAN ROAD

Good

Over: PINE RIVER

2.5 MI N OF FIBRE, Chippewa, MI

Built 2010 Load: 70.6 t ADT: 179

6 MI ROAD

Good

Over: WALSKA RIVER

5 MI SW OF SAULT ST MARI, Chippewa, MI

Built 2022 Load: 86.8 t ADT: 3,945

I-75

Good

Over: S BR BIG MUNUSCONG RIVER

0.1 MI N OF MILE POST 375, Chippewa, MI

Built 1962 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 4,092

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.