County profile · official public datasets

Mecosta County, MI

80 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 36.3% rated Good, 58.8% Fair, 5% Poor.

80
Public bridges
36.3%
Good condition
5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Mecosta County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 14%
lowest Poor share in state
5%
Poor-condition share
80
public highway bridges
1982
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.

Mecosta County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Mecosta County ranks #12 of 83 Michigan counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5%). Mecosta County, Michigan contains 80 public highway bridges. Roughly 36.3% are rated “Good,” 58.8% “Fair,” and 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

80

Public highway bridges in Mecosta County

Good condition

36.3%

29 of 80 rated 7-9

Fair condition

58.8%

47 of 80 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5%

4 of 80 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#12 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
36.3% (29)
Fair
58.8% (47)
Poor
5% (4)

Mecosta County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,558 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 390 crossings a day against 3,482 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.

18.8% of Mecosta County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

15 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 36.3% 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 64.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

22 MILE ROAD over PARIS CREEK, built 1970, carries 1,004 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 4-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,558 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Mecosta County's bridges were built

80 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 24 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1982, 6 years newer than the Michigan average of 1976.

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

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

The 5 Michigan counties nearest Mecosta County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Mecosta County and the 5 Michigan counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Delta County 84 1.2%
Arenac County 80 18.8%
Mecosta County (this page) 80 5%
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 Mecosta 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 Mecosta 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 (1982 here).

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

All 80 Good 29 Fair 47 Poor 4

All bridges (80)

EVERGREEN ROAD

Good

Over: N BR CHIPPEWA RIVER

1.0 MI E OF M-66, Mecosta, MI

Built 2008 Load: 28.8 t ADT: 64

JEFFERSON STREET

Good

Over: BIG CREEK

VILLAGE OF MORLEY, Mecosta, MI

Built 1992 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,081

US-131 SB

Good

Over: 3 MILE ROAD

WEST OF MORLEY, Mecosta, MI

Built 1979 Load: 33.7 t ADT: 20,300

MICHIGAN AVE

Good

Over: MITCHELL CREEK

IN CITY OF BIG RAPIDS, Mecosta, MI

Built 1988 Load: 34.3 t ADT: 5,000

M-20

Good

Over: SCHRADER CREEK

0.25 MI N OF NINE MILE RD, Mecosta, MI

Built 2012 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 5,200

M-20

Good

Over: SCHRADER CREEK

0.33 MI N OF NINE MILE RD, Mecosta, MI

Built 2012 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 5,200

US-131 (OLD)

Good

Over: MUSKEGON RIVER

2.8 MI NW OF STANWOOD, Mecosta, MI

Built 1996 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 7,526

BUCHANAN RD

Good

Over: W BR LITTLE MUSKEGON RIV

2.5 MI SOUTH OF M-20, Mecosta, MI

Built 2016 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 4,152

BALDWIN STREET

Good

Over: MUSKEGON RIVER

CITY OF BIG RAPIDS, Mecosta, MI

Built 2016 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 7,400

M-20

Good

Over: E BR LITTLE MUSKEGON

IN MECOSTA, Mecosta, MI

Built 2000 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 3,535

MADISON RD

Good

Over: MITCHELL CREEK

0.9 MI W OF BIG RAPIDS, Mecosta, MI

Built 1995 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 1,024

MILLBROOK RD

Good

Over: PINE RIVER

500FT W OF COSTA BELLA AV, Mecosta, MI

Built 2013 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 241

17 MILE RD

Good

Over: US-131 NB

1.5 MI W OF BIG RAPIDS, Mecosta, MI

Built 1982 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 700

OLD STATE ROAD

Good

Over: US-131 SB

5.5 MI S OF BIG RAPIDS, Mecosta, MI

Built 1979 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 480

JEFFERSON ROAD

Good

Over: NB US-131

2 MILES WEST OF MORLEY, Mecosta, MI

Built 1979 Load: 49.2 t ADT: 1,050

JEFFERSON ROAD

Good

Over: US-131 SB

2 MILES WEST OF MORLEY, Mecosta, MI

Built 1979 Load: 52.5 t ADT: 1,050

OLD STATE ROAD

Good

Over: US-131 NB

5.5 MI S OF BIG RAPIDS, Mecosta, MI

Built 1979 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 480

M-20

Good

Over: RYAN CREEK

BIG RAPIDS TWP SEC 13, Mecosta, MI

Built 2000 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 2,522

18 MILE ROAD

Good

Over: W BR CHIPPEWA RIVER

1.4 MI W OF M-66, Mecosta, MI

Built 2023 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 351

190TH AVE

Good

Over: LITTLE MUSKEGON RIVER

0.2 MI N OF WASHINGTON RD, Mecosta, MI

Built 2013 Load: 58.3 t ADT: 204

20TH AVE

Good

Over: CHIPPEWA RIVER

0.1 MI N OF 19 MILE ROAD, Mecosta, MI

Built 2018 Load: 61.9 t ADT: 160

20 MILE ROAD

Good

Over: N BR CHIPPEWA RIVER

BARRYTON MICH, Mecosta, MI

Built 1956 Load: 65.4 t ADT: 1,943

NEW MILLPOND ROAD

Good

Over: RYAN CREEK

0.6 MI SOUTH OF M-20, Mecosta, MI

Built 1987 Load: 66.4 t ADT: 4,229

US-131 NB

Good

Over: 13 MILE ROAD

1.5 MI S OF BIG RAPIDS, Mecosta, MI

Built 1981 Load: 75.5 t ADT: 7,789

US-131 NB

Good

Over: BUCKHORN CREEK

1.4 MI N OF 22 MI RD, Mecosta, MI

Built 1984 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 6,322

US-131 SB

Good

Over: BUCKHORN CREEK

1.4 MI N OF 22 MI RD, Mecosta, MI

Built 1984 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 6,322

130TH AVE

Poor

Over: LITTLE MUSKEGON RIVER

2.5 MI N OF S COUNTY LINE, Mecosta, MI

Built 1958 Load: 2.9 t ADT: 354

220TH AVENUE

Poor

Over: PARIS CREEK

600 FT S OF 22 MILE ROAD, Mecosta, MI

Built 2011 Load: 7.8 t ADT: 100

3 MILE ROAD

Poor

Over: QUIGLEY CREEK

0.9 MI E OF 155TH AVENUE, Mecosta, MI

Built 1970 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 100

22 MILE ROAD

Poor

Over: PARIS CREEK

390 FT W OF US-131SB, Mecosta, MI

Built 1970 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 1,004

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.