County profile · official public datasets

Muskegon County, MI

144 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 20.1% rated Good, 67.4% Fair, 12.5% Poor.

144
Public bridges
20.1%
Good condition
12.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Muskegon County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

47th
of 83 on Poor share
12.5%
Poor-condition share
144
public highway bridges
1968
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.

Muskegon County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Muskegon County ranks #47 of 83 Michigan counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.5%). Muskegon County, Michigan contains 144 public highway bridges. Roughly 20.1% are rated “Good,” 67.4% “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

144

Public highway bridges in Muskegon County

Good condition

20.1%

29 of 144 rated 7-9

Fair condition

67.4%

97 of 144 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.5%

18 of 144 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#47 of 83

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

Condition distribution

Share of 144 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
20.1% (29)
Fair
67.4% (97)
Poor
12.5% (18)

Muskegon County's Poor-condition bridges carry 50,206 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,789 crossings a day against 3,247 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 144 of 144 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

68.8% of Muskegon County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

99 of the 144 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 20.1% 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 36.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US-31 BR S over BLACK CREEK, built 1957, carries 18,500 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 18-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 50,206 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Muskegon County's bridges were built

144 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 44 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1968, 8 years older than the Michigan average of 1976.

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

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

The 5 Michigan counties nearest Muskegon County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.5% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1968 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is 10 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Muskegon County and the 5 Michigan counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Jackson County 158 10.1%
Kalamazoo County 151 6.6%
Marquette County 147 13.6%
Muskegon County (this page) 144 12.5%
Midland County 139 17.3%
St. Joseph County 132 12.1%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MI (144 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MI (1968 here).

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

All 144 Good 29 Fair 97 Poor 18

Good-condition bridges (29)

MCMILLAN ROAD

Good

Over: BEAR CREEK

0.3 MI W OF M-120, Muskegon, MI

Built 1972 Load: 21.1 t ADT: 79

RUDDIMAN AVENUE

Good

Over: BEAR LAKE CHANNEL

IN NORTH MUSKEGON, Muskegon, MI

Built 1971 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 3,233

SHAW ROAD

Good

Over: CROCKERY CREEK

0.2 MI S OF MOORE RD, Muskegon, MI

Built 1978 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 256

US-31 BR N

Good

Over: BLACK CREEK

1.3 MI NW OF US-31, Muskegon, MI

Built 1957 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 18,200

ENGMAN ROAD

Good

Over: BEAR CREEK

MUSKEGON TWP SEC 5, Muskegon, MI

Built 2014 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 100

RAVENNA ROAD

Good

Over: BIG & OUTLET DRAIN

1.3 MI N OF APPLE AVE M46, Muskegon, MI

Built 1975 Load: 30.0 t ADT: 1,580

LAKESHORE DRIVE

Good

Over: RUDDIMAN CREEK

0.1 MI N OF ADDISON AVE, Muskegon, MI

Built 1900 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 12,520

BLACK LAKE RD

Good

Over: LITTLE BLACK CREEK

0.5 MI S OF PONTALUNA RD, Muskegon, MI

Built 1997 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 722

ELLIS ROAD

Good

Over: CROCKERY CREEK

11.2 MI E OF I-96, Muskegon, MI

Built 1953 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 1,987

FRUITVALE ROAD

Good

Over: WHITE RIVER

6.8 MI E OF US-31, Muskegon, MI

Built 2005 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 1,073

M-120

Good

Over: MARKLE DRAIN

2.8 MI S OF M-82, Muskegon, MI

Built 2005 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 6,670

MAPLE ISLAND ROAD

Good

Over: BROOKS CREEK

6.9 MI N OF M-46, Muskegon, MI

Built 1985 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 6,100

FENNER RD

Good

Over: GREEN CREEK

0.31 MI W OF N BUYS RD, Muskegon, MI

Built 2022 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 500

WOLF LAKE ROAD

Good

Over: BLACK CREEK

EGELSTON TWP SEC 32/33, Muskegon, MI

Built 2006 Load: 42.2 t ADT: 2,564

US-31 BR SB

Good

Over: S BR MUSKEGON RIVER

IN MUSKEGON, Muskegon, MI

Built 1964 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 9,943

OLD CHANNEL TRAIL

Good

Over: SADONY BAYOU

5.5 MI W OF US-31 BR, Muskegon, MI

Built 2001 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 316

OLD 99

Good

Over: PIERSON DRAIN

2.2 MI W OF MONTAGUE, Muskegon, MI

Built 1974 Load: 44.6 t ADT: 203

MILLIRON ROAD

Good

Over: BLACK CREEK

2.0 MI S OF M-46, Muskegon, MI

Built 2002 Load: 46.8 t ADT: 7,790

ORSHAL ROAD

Good

Over: DUCK CREEK

0.75 MI S OF MICHILLINDA, Muskegon, MI

Built 2009 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 1,022

SOUTH MAIN STREET

Good

Over: CROCKERY CREEK

IN RAVENNA, Muskegon, MI

Built 2009 Load: 49.4 t ADT: 5,749

SULLIVAN ROAD

Good

Over: BLACK CREEK

0.4 MI S OF M-46, Muskegon, MI

Built 2001 Load: 49.6 t ADT: 471

MAPLE ISLAND ROAD

Good

Over: BLACK CREEK

0.5 MI S OF M-46, Muskegon, MI

Built 1952 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 4,500

SCENIC DRIVE

Good

Over: DUCK LAKE CHANNEL

OUTLET OF DUCK LAKE, Muskegon, MI

Built 2004 Load: 50.8 t ADT: 1,850

HANCOCK RD

Good

Over: PIERSON DRAIN

1.36 MI W OF LAMOS RD, Muskegon, MI

Built 2018 Load: 52.5 t ADT: 650

TRENT ROAD

Good

Over: CROCKERY CREEK

2 MI N OF M-46, Muskegon, MI

Built 2023 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 1,340

PONTALUNA RD

Good

Over: NORRIS CREEK

SEC 29/32 FRUITPORT TWP, Muskegon, MI

Built 2012 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 546

RIVER ROAD

Good

Over: CEDAR CREEK

4.8 MI E OF M-120, Muskegon, MI

Built 2016 Load: 62.2 t ADT: 1,158

HOLTON-DUCK LK RD

Good

Over: CEDAR CREEK

250 FT N OF M-120, Muskegon, MI

Built 2022 Load: 65.1 t ADT: 2,200

BLACKMER ROAD

Good

Over: RIO GRANDE CREEK

0.1 MI S OF MT GARFIELD, Muskegon, MI

Built 2023 Load: 66.1 t ADT: 850

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.