Total bridges
121
Public highway bridges in Traverse County
County profile · official public datasets
121 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 65.3% rated Good, 33.1% Fair, 1.7% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Traverse County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Traverse County ranks #15 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.7%). Traverse County, Minnesota contains 121 public highway bridges. Roughly 65.3% are rated “Good,” 33.1% “Fair,” and 1.7% “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
121
Public highway bridges in Traverse County
Good condition
65.3%
79 of 121 rated 7-9
Fair condition
33.1%
40 of 121 rated 5-6
Poor condition
1.7%
2 of 121 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#15 of 87
Among Minnesota counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 121 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 0.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 11 crossings a day against 100 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 121 of 121 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
30 of the 121 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 65.3% 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.
T 104 over JUD DITCH # 14, built 1955, carries 12 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 22 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
121 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1930–1939
4 bridges
1940–1949
5 bridges
1950–1959
9 bridges
1960–1969
5 bridges
1970–1979
29 bridges
1980–1989
17 bridges
1990–1999
15 bridges
2000–2009
23 bridges
2010–2019
11 bridges
2020–2029
3 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 29 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24% 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).
The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Traverse County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.7% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1990 is 5 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 86 Minnesota counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott County | 129 | 65.9% | 33.3% | 0.8% | 1993 |
| Traverse County (this page) | 121 | 65.3% | 33.1% | 1.7% | 1985 |
| Benton County | 117 | 54.7% | 36.8% | 8.5% | 1985 |
| Chippewa County | 116 | 49.1% | 44% | 6.9% | 1989 |
| Carver County | 115 | 57.4% | 40% | 2.6% | 1995 |
| Washington County | 112 | 42.9% | 52.7% | 4.5% | 1990 |
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 Traverse County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Traverse County, both outside Minnesota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside MN (121 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1985 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: CO DITCH # 11
0.1 MI N OF JCT CR 99, Traverse, MN
Over: FIVE MILE CREEK
0.4 MI N OF JCT CSAH 14, Traverse, MN
Over: MUSTINKA RIVER
1.2 MI W OF JCT CSAH14, Traverse, MN
Over: JUD DITCH # 14
1.0 MI S OF JCT CSAH16, Traverse, MN
Over: MUSTINKA RIVER
0.1 MI W OF JCT TH27, Traverse, MN
Over: JUD DITCH # 14
0.9 MI N OF JCT CR90, Traverse, MN
Over: MUSTINKA RIVER
1.2 MI N OF JCT CSAH14, Traverse, MN
Over: LAKE TRAVRSE OVERFLW DIV
1 mile NW jct HWs 27&28, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
0.2 MI E OF JCT CSAH 7, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
0.4 MI E OF JCT CSAH7, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
0.9 MI E OF JCT CSAH 7, Traverse, MN
Over: EIGHTEEN MILE CREEK
2.9 MI SW OF WHEATON, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
9.4 MI N OF BROWNS VALLE, Traverse, MN
Over: MUSTINKA RIVER
3.7 MI S OF DUMONT, Traverse, MN
Over: EIGHTEEN MILE CREEK
0.7 MI S OF WHEATON, Traverse, MN
Over: FIVE MILE CREEK
11.9 MI E OF WHEATON, Traverse, MN
Over: TWELVE MILE CREEK
0.8 MI W OF JCT CSAH 13, Traverse, MN
Over: JUD DITCH # 14
1.0 MI S OF JCT CSAH 16, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH # 11
0.4 MI E OF JCT CR 87, Traverse, MN
Over: TWELVE MILE CREEK
0.4 MI W OF JCT CSAH 13, Traverse, MN
Over: TWELVE MILE CREEK
6.9 MI E OF WHEATON, Traverse, MN
Over: JUD DITCH # 7
0.1 MI E OF JCT TH9, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH # 32
0.1 MI E OF JCT TH9, Traverse, MN
Over: CD #1
0.1 MI S OF JCT TH 27, Traverse, MN
Over: BOIS DE SIOUX RIVER
0.5 MI W OF JCT CSAH 9, Traverse, MN
Over: EIGHTEEN MILE CREEK
0.8 MI S OF JCT TH27, Traverse, MN
Over: EIGHTEEN MILE CREEK
0.4 MI NW OF JCT TH75, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH # 27
0.9 MI E OF JCT TH 75, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
0.2 MI N OF JCT CSAH 18, Traverse, MN
Over: JUD DITCH # 3
1.0 MI E OF JCT CR 89, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
0.8 MI S OF JCT CSAH 6, Traverse, MN
Over: FIVE MILE CREEK
0.6 MI W OF JCT CR 67, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
0.1 MI N OF JCT CSAH 6, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH # 43
0.9 MI W OF JCT CSAH 13, Traverse, MN
Over: JUD DITCH # 2
0.1 MI E OF JCT CSAH 19, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
0.8 MI N OF JCT CR 62, Traverse, MN
Over: DITCH
0.1 MI E OF JCT TH9, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH # 53
1.5 MI W OF JCT CSAH 13, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
0.1 MI SW OF JCT TH 75, Traverse, MN
Over: STREAM
1.2 MI N OF JCT CSAH 6, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH # 42
0.1 MI S OF JCT CR 82, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH #27
0.02 MI E OF JCT TH 75, Traverse, MN
Over: JD # 14
1.5 MI N JCT CSAH 14, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH # 42
0.1 MI S OF JCT CR 82, Traverse, MN
Over: STEER CREEK
2.4 MI N OF BROWNS VALLE, Traverse, MN
Over: CO DITCH #42
0.1 MI S OF JCT CR 82, Traverse, MN
Over: OLD MUSTINKA RIVER
0.3 MI W OF CSAH 11, Traverse, MN
Over: TWELVE MILE CREEK
1.2 MI W OF JCT CSAH13, Traverse, MN
Over: MUSTINKA RIVER
0.3 MI W OF JCT TH 27, Traverse, MN
Over: MUSTINKA RIVER
1.1 MI N OF JCT MN 27, Traverse, MN
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.