County profile · official public datasets

Pine County, MN

171 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 63.2% rated Good, 32.2% Fair, 4.7% Poor.

171
Public bridges: 63.2%
Good condition: 4.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

53rd
of 87 on Poor share: 4.7%
Poor-condition share: 171
public highway bridges: 1987
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.

Pine County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Pine County ranks #53 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.7%). Pine County, Minnesota contains 171 public highway bridges. Roughly 63.2% are rated “Good,” 32.2% “Fair,” and 4.7% “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.

Total bridges

171

Public highway bridges in Pine County

Good condition

63.2%

108 of 171 rated 7-9

Fair condition

32.2%

55 of 171 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.7%

8 of 171 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#53 of 87

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

Condition distribution

Share of 171 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

63.2% (108)

Fair

32.2% (55)

Poor

4.7% (8)

Pine County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,435 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,929 crossings a day against 1,252 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 171 of 171 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

24.6% of Pine County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

42 of the 171 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 63.2% 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 52.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I 35 over GRINDSTONE RIVER, built 1960, carries 8,150 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 15,435 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

2
1930s

5
1940s

3
1950s

8
1960s

21
1970s

21
1980s

30
1990s

21
2000s

27
2010s

25
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1987) matches the Minnesota average (1986).

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

The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Pine County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.7% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1987 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 Pine County and the 5 Minnesota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Dodge County	177	46.9%	44.1%	9%	1983
Lac qui Parle County	174	73%	19.5%	7.5%	1986
Houston County	172	64%	33.7%	2.3%	1990
Pine County (this page)	171	63.2%	32.2%	4.7%	1987
Itasca County	170	50%	44.7%	5.3%	1985
Watonwan County	167	69.5%	29.9%	0.6%	1978

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MN (171 bridges here).

Crenshaw County, AL · 171 bridges
Miami County, IN · 171 bridges
Lincoln County, LA · 171 bridges
Sanilac County, MI · 171 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1987 here).

St. Louis County, MO · avg 1987 · 912 bridges
Ellis County, TX · avg 1987 · 691 bridges
Palm Beach County, FL · avg 1987 · 610 bridges
Dane County, WI · avg 1987 · 590 bridges

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

All 171 Good 108 Fair 55 Poor 8

All bridges (171)

Sort:

Pine County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Pine County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,435 vehicle crossings a day

24.6% of Pine County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 52.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Pine 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 (171)

CR 129

CR 146

CSAH 32

T 537

T 696

T 698

T 727

T 795

T 106

M 22

CSAH 52

MN 23

CSAH 40

CSAH 11

MN 23

CR 140

T 1400

CSAH 30

T 582

T 114

T 178

T 585

I 35

I 35

CSAH 11

CR 126

T 174

CSAH 36

T 596

T 1126

CSAH 25

T 178

CSAH 22

CSAH 30

CR 138

CR 172

CR 130

CSAH 19

CSAH 52

T 91

CSAH 24

MN 48

MN 70

CR 140

CSAH 54

MN 23

I 35

I 35

T 48

CR 141

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