Total bridges
116
Public highway bridges in Chippewa County
County profile · official public datasets
Chippewa County, MN
116 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 49.1% rated Good, 44% Fair, 6.9% Poor.
- 116
- Public bridges
- 49.1%
- Good condition
- 6.9%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Chippewa County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- 69th
- of 87 on Poor share
- 6.9%
- Poor-condition share
- 116
- public highway bridges
- 1989
- 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.
Chippewa County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chippewa County ranks #69 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.9%). Chippewa County, Minnesota contains 116 public highway bridges. Roughly 49.1% are rated “Good,” 44% “Fair,” and 6.9% “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
49.1%
57 of 116 rated 7-9
Fair condition
44%
51 of 116 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6.9%
8 of 116 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#69 of 87
Among Minnesota counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 116 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 49.1% (57)
Fair 44% (51)
Poor 6.9% (8)
Chippewa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,415 vehicle crossings a day
That is 1.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 177 crossings a day against 900 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 116 of 116 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
26.7% of Chippewa County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
31 of the 116 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 49.1% 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% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
CSAH 17 over CO DITCH # 11, built 1978, carries 510 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 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 1,415 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Chippewa County's bridges were built
116 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s 4
1930–1939
4 bridges
- 1940s 3
1940–1949
3 bridges
- 1950s 5
1950–1959
5 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
14 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
20 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
14 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
13 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
14 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
20 bridges
- 2020s
2020–2029
9 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 20 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1989) matches the Minnesota average (1986).
How Chippewa County compares with Minnesota's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Chippewa County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.9% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1989 against a peer-group mean of 1987 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 86 Minnesota counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traverse County | 121 | 65.3% | 33.1% | 1.7% | 1985 |
| Benton County | 117 | 54.7% | 36.8% | 8.5% | 1985 |
| Chippewa County (this page) | 116 | 49.1% | 44% | 6.9% | 1989 |
| Carver County | 115 | 57.4% | 40% | 2.6% | 1995 |
| Washington County | 112 | 42.9% | 52.7% | 4.5% | 1990 |
| Brown County | 108 | 60.2% | 38% | 1.9% | 1982 |
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 Chippewa 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 Chippewa County, both outside Minnesota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside MN (116 bridges here).
- Howard County, AR · 116 bridges
- Cassia County, ID · 116 bridges
- Worth County, IA · 116 bridges
- Sheridan County, KS · 116 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1989 here).
- Harris County, TX · avg 1989 · 4,029 bridges
- Mecklenburg County, NC · avg 1989 · 746 bridges
- Buffalo County, NE · avg 1989 · 459 bridges
- Brazos County, TX · avg 1989 · 370 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (116)
T 61
GoodOver: PALMER CREEK
1.9 MI S OF JCT CSAH 15, Chippewa, MN
Built 2006 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 45
MN 23
GoodOver: Hawk Creek
0.8 MI N OF JCT TH 7, Chippewa, MN
Built 2000 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 5,278
T 220
GoodOver: COTTONWOOD CREEK
0.5 MI E OF JCT CR 34, Chippewa, MN
Built 1986 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 57
T 114
GoodOver: HAWK CREEK
0.4 MI S OF JCT TH 7, Chippewa, MN
Built 1997 Load: 54.2 t ADT: 91
T 39
GoodOver: HAWK CREEK
0.5 MI E OF JCT CSAH 2, Chippewa, MN
Built 2004 Load: 54.2 t ADT: 45
T 113
GoodOver: HAWK CREEK
1.0 MI S OF JCT TH 7, Chippewa, MN
Built 2012 Load: 54.2 t ADT: 49
T 87
GoodOver: DRY WEATHER CREEK
0.8 MI N OF JCT CSAH 13, Chippewa, MN
Built 1999 Load: 54.9 t ADT: 40
T 31
GoodOver: HAWK CRK (CD # 7)
0.1 MI E OF JCT CSAH 1, Chippewa, MN
Built 2006 Load: 56.3 t ADT: 46
CSAH 4
PoorOver: HAWK CREEK FLOODWAY
IN MAYNARD, Chippewa, MN
Built 1936 Load: 15.5 t ADT: 366
T 95
PoorOver: STREAM
0.4 MI S OF JCT CSAH 12, Chippewa, MN
Built 1964 Load: 16.1 t ADT: 47
M 41
PoorOver: HAWK CREEK
IN CLARA CITY, Chippewa, MN
Built 1963 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 65
M 45
PoorOver: HAWK CREEK
IN CLARA CITY, Chippewa, MN
Built 1963 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 65
T 67
PoorOver: HAWK CREEK FLOODWAY
0.4 MI N OF JCT CSAH 13, Chippewa, MN
Built 1964 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 67
T 92
PoorOver: SPRING CREEK
1.8 MI N OF JCT TH 7, Chippewa, MN
Built 1964 Load: 26.9 t ADT: 60
CSAH 17
PoorOver: CO DITCH # 11
0.4 MI SW OF JCT CSAH 4, Chippewa, MN
Built 1978 Load: 30.7 t ADT: 510
CSAH 3
PoorOver: DITCH
0.5 MI N OF JCT TH 40, Chippewa, MN
Built 1958 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 235
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.