County profile · official public datasets

Mille Lacs County, MN

107 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 55.1% rated Good, 37.4% Fair, 7.5% Poor.

107
Public bridges: 55.1%
Good condition: 7.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

74th
of 87 on Poor share: 7.5%
Poor-condition share: 107
public highway bridges: 1986
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.

Mille Lacs County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Mille Lacs County ranks #74 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.5%). Mille Lacs County, Minnesota contains 107 public highway bridges. Roughly 55.1% are rated “Good,” 37.4% “Fair,” and 7.5% “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.

Total bridges

107

Public highway bridges in Mille Lacs County

Good condition

55.1%

59 of 107 rated 7-9

Fair condition

37.4%

40 of 107 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.5%

8 of 107 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#74 of 87

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

Condition distribution

Share of 107 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

55.1% (59)

Fair

37.4% (40)

Poor

7.5% (8)

Mille Lacs County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,970 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 621 crossings a day against 2,407 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 107 of 107 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

17.8% of Mille Lacs County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

19 of the 107 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 55.1% 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 34.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CSAH 12 over W BR RUM RIVER, built 1974, carries 1,700 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 4,970 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1950s

2
1960s

6
1970s

36
1980s

22
1990s

24
2000s

9
2010s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 36 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 33.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1986) matches the Minnesota average (1986).

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

The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Mille Lacs County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.5% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1987 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Mille Lacs County and the 5 Minnesota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Washington County	112	42.9%	52.7%	4.5%	1990
Brown County	108	60.2%	38%	1.9%	1982
Mille Lacs County (this page)	107	55.1%	37.4%	7.5%	1986
Lincoln County	106	54.7%	38.7%	6.6%	1981
Sibley County	102	61.8%	37.3%	1%	1994
Beltrami County	101	63.4%	33.7%	3%	1989

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MN (107 bridges here).

Fannin County, GA · 107 bridges
Habersham County, GA · 107 bridges
Ware County, GA · 107 bridges
Magoffin County, KY · 107 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1986 here).

El Paso County, TX · avg 1986 · 783 bridges
Caddo County, LA · avg 1986 · 682 bridges
Weld County, CO · avg 1986 · 614 bridges
Polk County, IA · avg 1986 · 545 bridges

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

All 107 Good 59 Fair 40 Poor 8

Good-condition bridges (59)

Sort:

Mille Lacs County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Mille Lacs County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,970 vehicle crossings a day

17.8% of Mille Lacs County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 34.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Mille Lacs 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

Good-condition bridges (59)

US 169

US 169

US 169

US 169

US 169

CSAH 5

US 169

CSAH 2

CR 118

T 99

T 98

T 99

T 152

T 167

T 191

T 3

T 1175

T 124

CSAH 10

CSAH 1

CSAH 27

CSAH 4

CSAH 2

CSAH 4

CSAH 2

CR 118

CSAH 9

CR 112

T 114

CR 123

MN 23

CSAH 29

T 123

CSAH 26

CSAH 25

CR 115

T 179

CR 140

CSAH 12

T 65

T 219

CSAH 18

CSAH 36

US 169

US 169

T 200

CR 125

MN 23

US 169

US 169

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