County profile · official public datasets

Gratiot County, MI

167 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 40.7% rated Good, 47.3% Fair, 12% Poor.

167
Public bridges
40.7%
Good condition
12%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

45th
of 83 on Poor share
12%
Poor-condition share
167
public highway bridges
1975
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.

Gratiot County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Gratiot County ranks #45 of 83 Michigan counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12%). Gratiot County, Michigan contains 167 public highway bridges. Roughly 40.7% are rated “Good,” 47.3% “Fair,” and 12% “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

167

Public highway bridges in Gratiot County

Good condition

40.7%

68 of 167 rated 7-9

Fair condition

47.3%

79 of 167 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12%

20 of 167 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#45 of 83

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

Condition distribution

Share of 167 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
40.7% (68)
Fair
47.3% (79)
Poor
12% (20)

Gratiot County's Poor-condition bridges carry 67,679 vehicle crossings a day

That is 18.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,384 crossings a day against 1,128 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 167 of 167 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

41.3% of Gratiot County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

69 of the 167 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 40.7% 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 16.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

M-46 & US-127BR over US-127, built 1961, carries 11,219 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 20-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 67,679 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Gratiot County's bridges were built

167 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 34 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Michigan average (1976).

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

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

The 5 Michigan counties nearest Gratiot County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Gratiot County and the 5 Michigan counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Sanilac County 171 9.9%
Gratiot County (this page) 167 12%
Bay County 166 16.9%
Livingston County 165 14.5%
Lapeer County 163 9.2%
Shiawassee County 163 9.2%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MI (167 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MI (1975 here).

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

Fair-condition bridges (79)

POLK ROAD

Fair

Over: PINE RIVER

SEC 24-25 SUMNER TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1983 Load: 39.1 t ADT: 114

BARRY ROAD

Fair

Over: SHAD CREEK DRAIN EXTN

SEC 33-34 LAFAYETTE TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1957 Load: 39.5 t ADT: 1,210

MADISON ROAD

Fair

Over: PINE RIVER

SEC 18-19 SEVILLE TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1989 Load: 39.7 t ADT: 125

US-127 SB

Fair

Over: US-127 BR

1.0 MI E OF ITHACA, Gratiot, MI

Built 1959 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 8,987

BLAIR ROAD

Fair

Over: MAPLE RIVER

SEC. 25-26 WASHINGTON TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1967 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 330

M-57

Fair

Over: PINE CRK

5.8 MI W OF US 27, Gratiot, MI

Built 2000 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 4,385

US-127 NB

Fair

Over: US-127 BR

1.0 MI E OF ITHACA, Gratiot, MI

Built 1959 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 8,987

VAN BUREN RD

Fair

Over: US-127 NB / MID MI PATH

5.0 MI N OF ITHACA, Gratiot, MI

Built 1965 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 475

US-127 NB

Fair

Over: N BR BAD RIVER

5.3 MI SE OF ITHACA, Gratiot, MI

Built 1987 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 9,134

STATE ROAD

Fair

Over: BEAR CREEK DRAIN

SEC 31 NORTH STAR TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1984 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 1,020

JOHNSON ROAD

Fair

Over: DRAIN #1

SEC 21-28 NEWARK TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1982 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 113

ST CHARLES ROAD

Fair

Over: PINE RIVER

SEC 29-32 SUMNER TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1967 Load: 42.7 t ADT: 665

US-127 NB

Fair

Over: MAPLE RIVER

1.5 MI N OF CLINTON COL, Gratiot, MI

Built 1988 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 10,831

MADISON ROAD

Fair

Over: BUSH CREEK DRAIN

SEC 14-23 BETHANY TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1957 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 71

BUCHANAN ROAD

Fair

Over: DRAIN #294

SEC 16-21 NORTH STAR TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1952 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 910

M-57

Fair

Over: US-127

WASHINGTON TWP SEC 8 & 17, Gratiot, MI

Built 2000 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 3,900

BLAIR ROAD

Fair

Over: BAD RIVER DRAIN

SEC 13-14 NORTH STAR TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1978 Load: 46.9 t ADT: 114

WEST CENTER STREET

Fair

Over: TUSCOLA & SAGINAW BAY RR

CITY OF ITHACA, Gratiot, MI

Built 1990 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 4,222

US-127 SB

Fair

Over: US-127 BR

1.5 MI S OF ST LOUIS, Gratiot, MI

Built 1961 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 15,400

US-127 SB

Fair

Over: MID MICHIGAN RR

0.5 MI S OF ST LOUIS, Gratiot, MI

Built 1960 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 8,293

US-127 NB

Fair

Over: US-127 BR

1.5 MI S OF ST LOUIS, Gratiot, MI

Built 1961 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 15,400

M-46

Fair

Over: BUSH CREEK

3.5 MI E OF ST LOUIS, Gratiot, MI

Built 1960 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 5,784

M-46

Fair

Over: PINE RIVER

0.6 MI E OF COUNTY LINE, Gratiot, MI

Built 1936 Load: 52.2 t ADT: 5,634

BLAIR ROAD

Fair

Over: BUSH CREEK DRAIN

SEC 13-14 BETHANY TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1996 Load: 52.4 t ADT: 375

BLAIR ROAD

Fair

Over: BUSH CREEK DRAIN

SEC 13-14 BETHANY TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1996 Load: 55.0 t ADT: 375

WILSON ROAD

Fair

Over: GRILL & CONE DRAIN

SEC 29-32 NORTH SHADE TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1978 Load: 63.5 t ADT: 170

M-57

Fair

Over: COUNTY DRAIN

1.0 MI SE OF ASHLEY, Gratiot, MI

Built 1939 Load: 64.8 t ADT: 3,942

LINCOLN ROAD

Fair

Over: BEAVER CREEK

SEC 35 WHEELER TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1962 Load: 70.0 t ADT: 1,300

JOHNSON ROAD

Fair

Over: RIVER STYX DRAIN

SEC 20-29 NEWARK TWP, Gratiot, MI

Built 1900 Load: 78.9 t ADT: 111
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.