County profile · official public datasets

Itasca County, MN

170 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 50% rated Good, 44.7% Fair, 5.3% Poor.

170
Public bridges: 50%
Good condition: 5.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

59th
of 87 on Poor share: 5.3%
Poor-condition share: 170
public highway bridges: 1985
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.

Itasca County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Itasca County ranks #59 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.3%). Itasca County, Minnesota contains 170 public highway bridges. Roughly 50% are rated “Good,” 44.7% “Fair,” and 5.3% “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

170

Public highway bridges in Itasca County

Good condition

50%

85 of 170 rated 7-9

Fair condition

44.7%

76 of 170 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.3%

9 of 170 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#59 of 87

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

Condition distribution

Share of 170 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

50% (85)

Fair

44.7% (76)

Poor

5.3% (9)

Itasca County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,702 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 411 crossings a day against 847 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 170 of 170 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

30.6% of Itasca County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

52 of the 170 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 50% 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 42.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CSAH 17 over POKEGAMA LAKE, built 1955, carries 1,560 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 3,702 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

4
1920s

1
1930s

9
1940s

1
1950s

12
1960s

12
1970s

28
1980s

18
1990s

23
2000s

28
2010s

28
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 28 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1985) matches the Minnesota average (1986).

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

The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Itasca County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.3% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1986 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Itasca County and the 5 Minnesota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Lac qui Parle County	174	73%	19.5%	7.5%	1986
Houston County	172	64%	33.7%	2.3%	1990
Pine County	171	63.2%	32.2%	4.7%	1987
Itasca County (this page)	170	50%	44.7%	5.3%	1985
Watonwan County	167	69.5%	29.9%	0.6%	1978
Morrison County	164	62.2%	33.5%	4.3%	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 Itasca 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 Itasca County, both outside Minnesota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MN (170 bridges here).

Rush County, KS · 170 bridges
Montgomery County, MS · 170 bridges
Clarendon County, SC · 170 bridges
Brown County, SD · 170 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1985 here).

Hillsborough County, FL · avg 1985 · 840 bridges
Lancaster County, NE · avg 1985 · 661 bridges
Nueces County, TX · avg 1985 · 528 bridges
Grayson County, TX · avg 1985 · 513 bridges

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

All 170 Good 85 Fair 76 Poor 9

All bridges (170)

Sort:

Itasca County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Itasca County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,702 vehicle crossings a day

30.6% of Itasca County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 42.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Itasca 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 (170)

CSAH 26

US 169

MN 46

MN 6

CSAH 8

2198

FR2198 - CSAH 33

UT 434

UT 336

US 169

US 169

CSAH 72

T 4

CSAH 60

T 4380

MN 65

CSAH 54

CR 149

T 4215

T 607

CSAH 14

CR 336

MN 65

CSAH 25

T 1037

UT 2232

MN 38

CR 145

CSAH 19

CR 141

SFR 150

CSAH 92

CR 431

US 169

US 169

CSAH 35

CSAH 4

CR 336

UT 229

CSAH 22

CSAH 12

CSAH 12

CR 237

CSAH 35

UT 238

SFR 135

CR 438

FR2171

UT 1037

CR 444

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