Total bridges
37
Public highway bridges in Broadwater County
County profile · official public datasets
Broadwater County, MT
37 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 27% rated Good, 67.6% Fair, 5.4% Poor.
- 37
- Public bridges
- 27%
- Good condition
- 5.4%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Broadwater County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 46%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 5.4%
- Poor-condition share
- 37
- 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.
Broadwater County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Broadwater County ranks #26 of 56 Montana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.4%). Broadwater County, Montana contains 37 public highway bridges. Roughly 27% are rated “Good,” 67.6% “Fair,” and 5.4% “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
27%
10 of 37 rated 7-9
Fair condition
67.6%
25 of 37 rated 5-6
Poor condition
5.4%
2 of 37 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#26 of 56
Among Montana counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 37 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 27% (10)
Fair 67.6% (25)
Poor 5.4% (2)
Broadwater County's Poor-condition bridges carry 275 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 138 crossings a day against 2,271 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 37 of 37 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
27% of Broadwater County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
10 of the 37 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 27% 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 63.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
HWY 287 BYPASS over MISSOURI RIVER 019, built 1920, carries 175 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 275 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Broadwater County's bridges were built
37 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 1
1920–1929
1 bridges
- 1930s 1
1930–1939
1 bridges
- 1940s 2
1940–1949
2 bridges
- 1960s 4
1960–1969
4 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
9 bridges
- 1980s 2
1980–1989
2 bridges
- 1990s 1
1990–1999
1 bridges
- 2000s 1
2000–2009
1 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
13 bridges
- 2020s 3
2020–2029
3 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 13 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 35.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1990, 13 years newer than the Montana average of 1977.
How Broadwater County compares with Montana's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Montana counties nearest Broadwater County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.4% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1990 against a peer-group mean of 1984 is 6 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 55 Montana counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chouteau County | 42 | 54.8% | 38.1% | 7.1% | 1981 |
| Carter County | 41 | 31.7% | 63.4% | 4.9% | 1985 |
| Fallon County | 37 | 45.9% | 51.4% | 2.7% | 1998 |
| Broadwater County (this page) | 37 | 27% | 67.6% | 5.4% | 1990 |
| Toole County | 35 | 34.3% | 65.7% | 0% | 1973 |
| Daniels County | 33 | 51.5% | 39.4% | 9.1% | 1982 |
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 Broadwater 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 Broadwater County, both outside Montana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside MT (37 bridges here).
- Sitka City and County, AK · 37 bridges
- Suwannee County, FL · 37 bridges
- Teton County, ID · 37 bridges
- Dickinson County, MI · 37 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MT (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.
Fair-condition bridges (25)
US287
FairOver: BEAVER CREEK
1 M NW WINSTON, Broadwater, MT
Built 1992 ADT: 6,537
S 285
FairOver: CROW CREEK
3M SE RADERSBURG, Broadwater, MT
Built 1948 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 202
CROW CREEK ROAD
FairOver: CROW CREEK
CROW CREEK 2, Broadwater, MT
Built 1967 Load: 23.0 t ADT: 50
Canton Lane
FairOver: Eastside Canal
3 mi NE of Townsend MT, Broadwater, MT
Built 1974 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 5
CROW CREEK ROAD
FairOver: CROW CREEK
CROW CREEK 1, Broadwater, MT
Built 1967 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 50
US 12
FairOver: MISSOURI RIVER
1M N TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 1935 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 6,624
WEASEL CK ROAD
FairOver: CROW CREEK
JENKINS GULCH, Broadwater, MT
Built 1983 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 20
Lower Ray Cr Road
FairOver: Eastside Canal
5 mi NE of Townsend MT, Broadwater, MT
Built 1974 Load: 25.2 t ADT: 5
CROW CREEK RD
FairOver: CROW CREEK 014
3M N RADERSBURG, Broadwater, MT
Built 1967 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 100
US 12
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
16M E TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 2014 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 707
DRY HOLLOW RD
FairOver: BROADWATER MISSOURI 015
3M N TOSTON, Broadwater, MT
Built 1976 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 100
US 12
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
18M NE TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 2014 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 707
US 12
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
18M NE TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 2014 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 707
LOWER DEEP CR ROAD
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
2M SE TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 1978 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
LOWER DEEP CREEK R
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
4 MI SE TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 1978 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
LOMBARD RD
FairOver: BROADWATER MISSOURI 018
1M SE TOSTON, Broadwater, MT
Built 1976 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
SIXMILE RD
FairOver: BROADWATER CANAL 016
2M N TOSTON, Broadwater, MT
Built 1976 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
GREAVES RD
FairOver: BROADWATER MISSOURI 017
1M N TOSTON, Broadwater, MT
Built 1976 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
FERRY ST
FairOver: BROADWATER MISSOURI 020
TOSTON, Broadwater, MT
Built 1980 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
US 287
FairOver: INT THREE FORKS I 90
3M W THREE FORKS, Broadwater, MT
Built 2012 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 6,238
US 287
FairOver: MILLIGAN CREEK
6M SW THREE FORKS, Broadwater, MT
Built 1968 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 1,524
US 12
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
10M E TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 2007 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 1,298
S 285
FairOver: TOSTON CANAL
2M W TOSTON, Broadwater, MT
Built 1948 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 314
US 287
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
2M S TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 2012 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 5,310
US 12
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
11M E TOWNSEND, Broadwater, MT
Built 2015 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 707
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.