County profile · official public datasets

Clay County, MN

225 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 53.8% rated Good, 40.4% Fair, 5.8% Poor.

225
Public bridges: 53.8%
Good condition: 5.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

61st
of 87 on Poor share: 5.8%
Poor-condition share: 225
public highway bridges: 1984
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.

Clay County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clay County ranks #61 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.8%). Clay County, Minnesota contains 225 public highway bridges. Roughly 53.8% are rated “Good,” 40.4% “Fair,” and 5.8% “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

225

Public highway bridges in Clay County

Good condition

53.8%

121 of 225 rated 7-9

Fair condition

40.4%

91 of 225 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.8%

13 of 225 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#61 of 87

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

Condition distribution

Share of 225 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

53.8% (121)

Fair

40.4% (91)

Poor

5.8% (13)

Clay County's Poor-condition bridges carry 28,410 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,185 crossings a day against 1,340 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 225 of 225 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

35.1% of Clay County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

79 of the 225 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 53.8% 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 28.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I 94 over OTVRR, built 1968, carries 8,148 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 28,410 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

3
1930s

3
1940s

7
1950s

24
1960s

25
1970s

37
1980s

17
1990s

38
2000s

38
2010s

24
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1984) matches the Minnesota average (1986).

How Clay County compares with Minnesota's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Clay County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.8% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1984 against a peer-group mean of 1984 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 86 Minnesota counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Clay County and the 5 Minnesota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Lyon County	234	75.2%	21.8%	3%	1983
Stearns County	229	54.6%	42.8%	2.6%	1981
Faribault County	226	50.9%	44.7%	4.4%	1986
Clay County (this page)	225	53.8%	40.4%	5.8%	1984
Yellow Medicine County	218	67.4%	29.8%	2.8%	1984
Marshall County	215	72.1%	26.5%	1.4%	1988

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MN (225 bridges here).

Dallas County, AL · 225 bridges
Madison County, IA · 225 bridges
Mahaska County, IA · 225 bridges
Lincoln County, KS · 225 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1984 here).

Duval County, FL · avg 1984 · 831 bridges
El Paso County, CO · avg 1984 · 686 bridges
Bell County, TX · avg 1984 · 660 bridges
Steuben County, NY · avg 1984 · 627 bridges

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

All 225 Good 121 Fair 91 Poor 13

All bridges (225)

Sort:

Clay County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Clay County's Poor-condition bridges carry 28,410 vehicle crossings a day

35.1% of Clay County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 28.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Clay County compares with Minnesota'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 (225)

T 25

T 384

CR 115

CSAH 19

T 29

CSAH 52

MSAS 130

MN 32

MSAS 135

T 185

MN 32

MN 34

T 243

CSAH 8

T 330

T 150

CSAH 14

T 317

CR 57

MSAS 126

CR 69

CR 62

T 239

US 10

MN 9

US 75

US 10

US 75

US 75

US 75

US 75

MN 9

MN 9

MN 9

MN 9

MN 9

MN 9

I 94

I 94

US 10

US 10

CSAH 15

CR 111

T 158

CSAH 10

CSAH 21

CSAH 17

M 15

US 10

US 10

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