Total bridges
149
Public highway bridges in Otter Tail County
County profile · official public datasets
Otter Tail County, MN
149 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 40.9% rated Good, 52.3% Fair, 6.7% Poor.
- 149
- Public bridges
- 40.9%
- Good condition
- 6.7%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Otter Tail County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
- 66th
- of 87 on Poor share
- 6.7%
- Poor-condition share
- 149
- public highway bridges
- 1980
- 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.
Otter Tail County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Otter Tail County ranks #66 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.7%). Otter Tail County, Minnesota contains 149 public highway bridges. Roughly 40.9% are rated “Good,” 52.3% “Fair,” and 6.7% “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.
Good condition
40.9%
61 of 149 rated 7-9
Fair condition
52.3%
78 of 149 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6.7%
10 of 149 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#66 of 87
Among Minnesota counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 149 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 40.9% (61)
Fair 52.3% (78)
Poor 6.7% (10)
Otter Tail County's Poor-condition bridges carry 17,065 vehicle crossings a day
That is 5.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,707 crossings a day against 1,328 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 149 of 149 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
35.6% of Otter Tail County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
53 of the 149 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 40.9% 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 38.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
MN 78 over US 10, built 1974, carries 6,500 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 10-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 17,065 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Otter Tail County's bridges were built
149 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 1
1900–1909
1 bridges
- 1920s 3
1920–1929
3 bridges
- 1930s 4
1930–1939
4 bridges
- 1950s 7
1950–1959
7 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
27 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
35 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
24 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
17 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
16 bridges
- 2010s 10
2010–2019
10 bridges
- 2020s 5
2020–2029
5 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 35 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1980, 6 years older than the Minnesota average of 1986.
How Otter Tail County compares with Minnesota's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Otter Tail County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1980 against a peer-group mean of 1985 is 5 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 86 Minnesota counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anoka County | 151 | 55% | 40.4% | 4.6% | 1990 |
| Cottonwood County | 151 | 74.8% | 23.8% | 1.3% | 1981 |
| Norman County | 149 | 75.2% | 21.5% | 3.4% | 1983 |
| Otter Tail County (this page) | 149 | 40.9% | 52.3% | 6.7% | 1980 |
| Carlton County | 147 | 51.7% | 39.5% | 8.8% | 1986 |
| Wabasha County | 147 | 60.5% | 39.5% | 0% | 1985 |
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 Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County, both outside Minnesota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside MN (149 bridges here).
- Tallapoosa County, AL · 149 bridges
- Drew County, AR · 149 bridges
- Madison County, AR · 149 bridges
- Walker County, GA · 149 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1980 here).
- Tulsa County, OK · avg 1980 · 1,135 bridges
- Miami-Dade County, FL · avg 1980 · 1,057 bridges
- Pulaski County, AR · avg 1980 · 721 bridges
- McLennan County, TX · avg 1980 · 714 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (149)
US 59
FairOver: I 94
AT THE S JCT TH 59, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1960 Load: 34.6 t ADT: 3,100
US 10
FairOver: CSAH 67
AT JCT CSAH 67 IN NYMILL, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1975 Load: 35.5 t ADT: 3,750
US 10
FairOver: CSAH 67
AT JCT CSAH 67 IN NYMILL, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1975 Load: 35.5 t ADT: 3,750
T 630
FairOver: PELICAN RIVER
0.5 MI N OF JCT TH 59, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1978 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 123
CR 116
FairOver: PELICAN RIVER
1.3 MI E OF JCT CSAH 21, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1978 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 185
CSAH 52
FairOver: DEER CREEK
1.6 MI E OF JCT TH 106, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1979 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 690
T 1034
FairOver: CO DITCH # 2
0.3 MI E OF W CO LINE, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1979 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 8
T 722
FairOver: CO DITCH # 2
1.0 MI W OF JCT CSAH 11, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1981 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 20
T 56
FairOver: SOUTH BLUFF CREEK
1.1 MI W OF JCT CSAH 77, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1980 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 22
T 1019
FairOver: PELICAN RIVER
0.4 MI S OF JCT CSAH 88, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1994 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 52
T 366
FairOver: BLUE CREEK
0.7 MI E OF JCT CSAH 19, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1979 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 18
T 749
FairOver: PELICAN RIVER
1.2 MI W OF JCT TH 59, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1984 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 43
T 880
FairOver: PELICAN RIVER
0.2 MI E OF JCT TH 59, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1994 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 100
T 124
FairOver: LEAF RIVER
0.2 MI S OF JCT CSAH 52, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1997 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 13
CSAH 51
FairOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
2.3 MI N OF JCT TH 10, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1959 Load: 37.1 t ADT: 2,300
US 59
FairOver: I 94
3.4 MI N OF JCT TH 210, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1960 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 1,166
CON 5852
FairOver: US 10
3.6 MI NW OF JCT TH 78, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1973 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 1,329
T 682
FairOver: PELICAN RIVER
0.8 MI N OF JCT CSAH 4, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1999 Load: 39.2 t ADT: 42
CSAH 8
FairOver: TOAD RIVER
0.5 MI E OF JCT CSAH 13, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1978 Load: 39.2 t ADT: 1,350
MN 29
FairOver: BLUFF CREEK
4.9 MI W OF WADENA, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1990 Load: 39.2 t ADT: 3,015
CSAH 60
FairOver: STREAM
6.3 MI E OF VERGAS, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1953 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 1,050
MN 210
FairOver: I 94
3.8 MI NW OF JCT TH 59, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1991 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 3,141
CSAH 52
FairOver: LEAF RIVER
0.3 MI E OF JCT CR 135, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2002 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 990
US 10
FairOver: LEAF RIVER
IN BLUFFTON, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1976 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 3,332
US 10
FairOver: LEAF RIVER
IN BLUFFTON, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1976 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 3,550
CSAH 1
FairOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
1.1 MI W OF JCT TH 78, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1987 Load: 42.0 t ADT: 1,750
MN 78
FairOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
4.9 MI N OF S JCT TH 108, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1959 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 4,649
US 59
FairOver: PELICAN RIVER
IN PELICAN RAPIDS, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1922 Load: 76.6 t ADT: 7,856
MSAS 121
GoodOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
0.15 MI S OF MSAS 102, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2009 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 2,300
CSAH 1
GoodOver: HOOT L-WRIGHT L CHANNEL
1.4 MI E OF JCT CSAH 92, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1975 Load: 23.2 t ADT: 5,000
CSAH 1
GoodOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
1.3 MI W OF JCT CSAH 83, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1988 Load: 25.5 t ADT: 1,500
T 1250
GoodOver: SPRUCE CREEK
0.8 MI E OF JCT CSAH 69, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2017 Load: 26.1 t ADT: 100
T 676
GoodOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
1.3 MI W OF JCT CSAH 35, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2010 Load: 26.6 t ADT: 20
MN 210
GoodOver: PELICAN RIVER
3.4 MI W OF FERGUS FALLS, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1968 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 3,750
US 10
GoodOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
1.1 MI NW OF JCT TH 228, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1972 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 8,640
I 94
GoodOver: CSAH 88
3.6 MI NW OF JCT TH 210, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1964 Load: 32.0 t ADT: 9,100
CSAH 28
GoodOver: PELICAN RIVER
1.0 MI W OF JCT US 59, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2015 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 220
T 1018
GoodOver: PELICAN RIVER
0.4 MI N OF JCT TH 210, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2017 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 49
CSAH 3
GoodOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
1.3 MI N OF JCT CSAH 10, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1996 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 710
T 211
GoodOver: PELICAN RIVER
0.1 MI E OF JCT TH 59, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2012 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 90
CSAH 15
GoodOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
0.8 MI N OF JCT CSAH 2, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2020 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 410
CSAH 83
GoodOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
1.0 MI S JCT CSAH 72, Otter Tail, MN
Built 2007 Load: 34.1 t ADT: 275
T 173
GoodOver: OTTER TAIL RIVER
2.2 MI E OF JCT TH 108, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1997 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 29
T 230
GoodOver: TOAD RIVER
1.1 MI N OF JCT CSAH 60, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1978 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 31
CSAH 60
GoodOver: TOAD RIVER
0.2 MI W OF JCT CSAH 13, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1985 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 380
T 895
GoodOver: PELICAN RIVER
0.2 MI E OF JCT TH 59, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1992 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 70
CSAH 19
GoodOver: RED EYE RIVER
0.2 MI S OF JCT CSAH 62, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1983 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 365
T 1172
GoodOver: RED EYE RIVER
0.2 MI W OF JCT CSAH 67, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1980 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 36
T 79
GoodOver: RED EYE RIVER
0.3 MI N OF JCT CSAH 62, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1980 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 22
T 108
GoodOver: RED EYE RIVER
1.4 MI S OF N CO LINE, Otter Tail, MN
Built 1979 Load: 35.9 t ADT: 30
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.