County profile · official public datasets

Washington County, MN

112 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.9% rated Good, 52.7% Fair, 4.5% Poor.

112
Public bridges: 42.9%
Good condition: 4.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

49th
of 87 on Poor share: 4.5%
Poor-condition share: 112
public highway bridges: 1990
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.

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Washington County ranks #49 of 87 Minnesota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.5%). Washington County, Minnesota contains 112 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.9% are rated “Good,” 52.7% “Fair,” and 4.5% “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

112

Public highway bridges in Washington County

Good condition

42.9%

48 of 112 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.7%

59 of 112 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.5%

5 of 112 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#49 of 87

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

Condition distribution

Share of 112 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.9% (48)

Fair

52.7% (59)

Poor

4.5% (5)

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 13,307 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,661 crossings a day against 13,039 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 112 of 112 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

23.2% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

26 of the 112 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 42.9% 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 54.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CSAH 19 over US 61, built 1958, carries 7,253 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 13,307 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

3
1930s

1
1950s

1
1960s

20
1970s

6
1980s

21
1990s

7
2000s

33
2010s

17
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 33 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1990) matches the Minnesota average (1986).

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

The 5 Minnesota counties nearest Washington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.5% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1990 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 Washington County and the 5 Minnesota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
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 (this page)	112	42.9%	52.7%	4.5%	1990
Brown County	108	60.2%	38%	1.9%	1982
Mille Lacs County	107	55.1%	37.4%	7.5%	1986

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MN (112 bridges here).

Columbia County, FL · 112 bridges
Sumter County, FL · 112 bridges
Houston County, GA · 112 bridges
Tift County, GA · 112 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MN (1990 here).

Maricopa County, AZ · avg 1990 · 2,847 bridges
Tarrant County, TX · avg 1990 · 2,617 bridges
Fairfax County, VA · avg 1990 · 751 bridges
Guilford County, NC · avg 1990 · 736 bridges

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

All 112 Good 48 Fair 59 Poor 5

All bridges (112)

Sort:

CON 113

Fair

Over: UP RR

0.09 M E OF JCT TH95, Washington, MN

Built 2016 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 3,176

I 494

Fair

Over: TH 61; CP; BNSF RR

AT THE JCT TH 494; 61, Washington, MN

Built 2003 Load: 50.0 t ADT: 35,406

CR 71

Fair

Over: I 94

5.7 MI E OF JCT TH 494, Washington, MN

Built 1983 Load: 51.9 t ADT: 1,825

MSAS 108

Fair

Over: I 494

0.9 MI SW OF JCT TH 120, Washington, MN

Built 1994 Load: 53.2 t ADT: 9,400

MSAS 127

Fair

Over: I 94

3.7 MI E OF JCT TH 494, Washington, MN

Built 1983 Load: 54.2 t ADT: 3,550

CSAH 2

Fair

Over: I 35

0.5 MI S OF JCT TH 8, Washington, MN

Built 2011 Load: 54.9 t ADT: 24,626

I 694

Fair

Over: 50TH ST N

0.8 MI S OF JCT TH 36, Washington, MN

Built 1967 Load: 57.1 t ADT: 37,500

CSAH 38

Fair

Over: 7TH AVE; BNSF; CP RR

1 MI S JCT TH 494; 61, Washington, MN

Built 2003 Load: 58.6 t ADT: 5,000

CSAH 13

Fair

Over: I 94

1.2 MI E OF JCT TH 494, Washington, MN

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 13,307 vehicle crossings a day

23.2% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 54.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Washington 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 (112)

CON 113

I 494

CR 71

MSAS 108

MSAS 127

CSAH 2

I 694

CSAH 38

CSAH 13

M 256

T 64

M 53

CR 51

M 53

MSAS 108

MSAS 112

MSAS 112

M 239

I 494

CSAH 38

US 61

MN 36

CSAH 32

T 208

M 760

CSAH 13

US 8

CSAH 5

CSAH 22

MSAS 111

UNDETERMINED RD

T 174

CSAH 15

MN 95

I 694

I 694

CON 681

M 19

CON 5466

CSAH 23

CSAH 39

CSAH 22

I 494

CR 75

MN 36

CON 166

MSAS 117

M 281

I 494

I 494

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