Total bridges
144
Public highway bridges in Muskegon County
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.
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
- 1900s 4
1900–1909
4 bridges
- 1920s 4
1920–1929
4 bridges
- 1930s 12
1930–1939
12 bridges
- 1940s 4
1940–1949
4 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
19 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
44 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
18 bridges
- 1980s 9
1980–1989
9 bridges
- 1990s 11
1990–1999
11 bridges
- 2000s 10
2000–2009
10 bridges
- 2010s 5
2010–2019
5 bridges
- 2020s 4
2020–2029
4 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.
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.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson County | 158 | 34.2% | 55.7% | 10.1% | 1978 |
| Kalamazoo County | 151 | 41.1% | 52.3% | 6.6% | 1984 |
| Marquette County | 147 | 47.6% | 38.8% | 13.6% | 1972 |
| Muskegon County (this page) | 144 | 20.1% | 67.4% | 12.5% | 1968 |
| Midland County | 139 | 26.6% | 56.1% | 17.3% | 1978 |
| St. Joseph County | 132 | 28.8% | 59.1% | 12.1% | 1979 |
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).
- Muscatine County, IA · 144 bridges
- Anderson County, KS · 144 bridges
- Webster County, KY · 144 bridges
- Tishomingo County, MS · 144 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MI (1968 here).
- Montgomery County, PA · avg 1968 · 828 bridges
- San Joaquin County, CA · avg 1968 · 644 bridges
- Providence County, RI · avg 1968 · 476 bridges
- Imperial County, CA · avg 1968 · 444 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Poor-condition bridges (18)
OTTAWA ST
PoorOver: MUSKEGON RIVER S BRANCH
0.25 MI N OF BAYOU ST, Muskegon, MI
Built 1929 Load: 2.7 t ADT: 599
SCHOW ROAD
PoorOver: SKEELS CREEK
0.05 MI S OF MEINERT RD, Muskegon, MI
Built 1939 Load: 3.5 t ADT: 74
PATTERSON PARK RD
PoorOver: RIO GRANDE CREEK
0.1 MI W OF BLACKMERE RD, Muskegon, MI
Built 1932 Load: 4.1 t ADT: 50
PATTERSON PARK RD
PoorOver: RIO GRANDE CREEK
0.2 MI W OF BLACKMERE RD, Muskegon, MI
Built 1932 Load: 4.2 t ADT: 50
SIMONELLI ROAD
PoorOver: SCHOLES CREEK
FRUITLAND TWP SEC 15/16, Muskegon, MI
Built 1955 Load: 7.1 t ADT: 750
AMITY ST
PoorOver: C O RAILROAD
0.02 E OF MYRTLE AVE, Muskegon, MI
Built 1900 Load: 14.3 t ADT: 1,972
LIFE GUARD ROAD
PoorOver: SADONY BAYOU
0.1 MI W OF LAU RD, Muskegon, MI
Built 1900 Load: 16.5 t ADT: 440
BOSSETT ROAD
PoorOver: JTB & S DRAIN
0.8 MI N OF HALL RD, Muskegon, MI
Built 1976 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 322
EVANSTON RD
PoorOver: BLACK CREEK
0.1 MI E OF CHATTERSON RD, Muskegon, MI
Built 1963 Load: 19.1 t ADT: 1,400
US-31BR
PoorOver: WHITE RIVER
4.2 MI S OF OCEANA COL, Muskegon, MI
Built 1986 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 8,531
US-31 BR S
PoorOver: BLACK CREEK
1.3 MI NW OF US-31, Muskegon, MI
Built 1957 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 18,500
BEHLER ROAD
PoorOver: CROCKERY CREEK
0.3 MI S OF WHITE RD, Muskegon, MI
Built 1975 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 142
M-46
PoorOver: CROCKERY CREEK
4.6 MI W OF M-37, Muskegon, MI
Built 1958 Load: 34.7 t ADT: 5,976
RYERSON ROAD
PoorOver: CEDAR CREEK
1.4 MI E OF M-120, Muskegon, MI
Built 1940 Load: 35.3 t ADT: 1,800
LAKEWOOD RD
PoorOver: US-31 SB
3.5 MI SE OF S JCT US-31, Muskegon, MI
Built 1964 Load: 39.2 t ADT: 1,304
WHITE LAKE DRIVE
PoorOver: US-31 NB
7.5 MI NW OF M-120, Muskegon, MI
Built 1964 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 3,898
FARR RD
PoorOver: NORRIS CREEK
SEC 29 FRUITPORT TWP, Muskegon, MI
Built 1972 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 500
WHITE LAKE DRIVE
PoorOver: US-31 SB
7.5 MI NW OF M-120, Muskegon, MI
Built 1964 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 3,898
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.