County profile · official public datasets

Van Buren County, MI

129 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.6% rated Good, 60.5% Fair, 7% Poor.

129
Public bridges: 32.6%
Good condition: 7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 31%
lowest Poor share in state: 7%
Poor-condition share: 129
public highway bridges: 1976
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.

Van Buren County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Van Buren County ranks #26 of 83 Michigan counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7%). Van Buren County, Michigan contains 129 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.6% are rated “Good,” 60.5% “Fair,” and 7% “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

129

Public highway bridges in Van Buren County

Good condition

32.6%

42 of 129 rated 7-9

Fair condition

60.5%

78 of 129 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9 of 129 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#26 of 83

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

Condition distribution

Share of 129 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

32.6% (42)

Fair

60.5% (78)

Poor

7% (9)

Van Buren County's Poor-condition bridges carry 17,189 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,910 crossings a day against 3,465 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 129 of 129 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

55% of Van Buren County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

71 of the 129 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 32.6% 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 50% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

M-40 over I-94, built 1960, carries 8,601 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 17,189 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1930s

5
1940s

7
1950s

11
1960s

36
1970s

18
1980s

12
1990s

15
2000s

9
2010s

14
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 36 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Michigan average (1976).

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

The 5 Michigan counties nearest Van Buren County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Van Buren County and the 5 Michigan counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Midland County	139	26.6%	56.1%	17.3%	1978
St. Joseph County	132	28.8%	59.1%	12.1%	1979
Van Buren County (this page)	129	32.6%	60.5%	7%	1976
Montcalm County	121	37.2%	57.9%	5%	1977
Ionia County	119	32.8%	58.8%	8.4%	1974
Branch County	118	24.6%	54.2%	21.2%	1973

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MI (129 bridges here).

Clay County, AL · 129 bridges
Cross County, AR · 129 bridges
Lake County, CA · 129 bridges
Lincoln County, CO · 129 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MI (1976 here).

Marion County, IN · avg 1976 · 958 bridges
Mohave County, AZ · avg 1976 · 641 bridges
Comanche County, OK · avg 1976 · 593 bridges
Prince George's County, MD · avg 1976 · 576 bridges

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

All 129 Good 42 Fair 78 Poor 9

All bridges (129)

Sort:

Van Buren County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Van Buren County's Poor-condition bridges carry 17,189 vehicle crossings a day

55% of Van Buren County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 50% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

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

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (129)

45TH STREET

I-196 NB

I-196 SB

64 TH ST (CR687)

3550TH STREET

M-140

52 ND ST (CR365)

M-40

I-196BLWB(PHOENIX)

BLUE STAR MEM HWY

CR 687

M-43

46 TH STREET

CR 687

72ND AVE

I-94 EB

I-94 WB

I-94 WB

I-94 EB

48TH AVE

63RD AVENUE

M-43

I-196

M-140

M-43

M-43

BLUE STAR MEM HWY

BLUE STAR MEM HWY

18TH AVENUE

70TH STREET

CR 687

CR 653

28TH AVENUE

63RD AVE

32ND ST (CR653)

CR 653

PINE STREET

54TH ST

CR 653

24TH AVENUE

30TH AVE

47 1/2 ST

PHOENIX RD CR 388

BUTCHER ROAD

I-196 NB

I-196 SB

66TH AVENUE

46TH STREET

LAGRAVE STREET

I-94

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