Total bridges
190
Public highway bridges in Lincoln County
County profile · official public datasets
Lincoln County, MT
190 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.4% rated Good, 46.8% Fair, 14.7% Poor.
- 190
- Public bridges
- 38.4%
- Good condition
- 14.7%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Lincoln County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- 51st
- of 56 on Poor share
- 14.7%
- Poor-condition share
- 190
- public highway bridges
- 1977
- 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.
Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lincoln County ranks #51 of 56 Montana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 14.7%). Lincoln County, Montana contains 190 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.4% are rated “Good,” 46.8% “Fair,” and 14.7% “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
38.4%
73 of 190 rated 7-9
Fair condition
46.8%
89 of 190 rated 5-6
Poor condition
14.7%
28 of 190 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#51 of 56
Among Montana counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 190 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 38.4% (73)
Fair 46.8% (89)
Poor 14.7% (28)
Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 10,779 vehicle crossings a day
That is 11.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 14.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 385 crossings a day against 572 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 190 of 190 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
47.4% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
90 of the 190 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 38.4% 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 51.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
US 2 over BIG CHERRY CREEK, built 1976, carries 5,592 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 28-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 10,779 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Lincoln County's bridges were built
190 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1910s 2
1910–1919
2 bridges
- 1920s 1
1920–1929
1 bridges
- 1930s 4
1930–1939
4 bridges
- 1940s 1
1940–1949
1 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
19 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
43 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
44 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
35 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
20 bridges
- 2000s 6
2000–2009
6 bridges
- 2010s 13
2010–2019
13 bridges
- 2020s 2
2020–2029
2 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 44 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Montana average (1977).
How Lincoln County compares with Montana's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Montana counties nearest Lincoln County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 14.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 55 Montana counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallatin County | 210 | 19% | 76.7% | 4.3% | 1977 |
| Missoula County | 206 | 33.5% | 58.7% | 7.8% | 1976 |
| Flathead County | 204 | 30.9% | 64.2% | 4.9% | 1983 |
| Lewis and Clark County | 200 | 58% | 36.5% | 5.5% | 1979 |
| Lincoln County (this page) | 190 | 38.4% | 46.8% | 14.7% | 1977 |
| Cascade County | 185 | 41.6% | 54.6% | 3.8% | 1965 |
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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County, both outside Montana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside MT (190 bridges here).
- Clinton County, IL · 190 bridges
- Wapello County, IA · 190 bridges
- Webster County, IA · 190 bridges
- Bienville County, LA · 190 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MT (1977 here).
- San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
- King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
- Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
- Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (89)
RD 278
FairOver: BEAR CR
NEAR JCT W/U. BEAR CR., Lincoln, MT
Built 1976 Load: 30.1 t ADT: 50
337 BOULDER/BASIN
FairOver: EAST FORK YAAK RIVER
JCT WITH YAAK 92, Lincoln, MT
Built 1981 Load: 30.5 t ADT: 60
RD 384
FairOver: HIATT CREEK
AT JCT WITH CAMPGROUND, Lincoln, MT
Built 1976 Load: 30.5 t ADT: 50
US 2
FairOver: LIBBY CREEK
11M S LIBBY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1988 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 1,597
US 2
FairOver: MCKILLOP RD
2M W HAPPY`S INN, Lincoln, MT
Built 1960 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 1,480
593 LONG MEADOW RD
FairOver: YAAK R
JCT 593/508, Lincoln, MT
Built 1961 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 50
EDNA CREEK RD
FairOver: FORTINE CREEK 132
4M SW TREGO, Lincoln, MT
Built 1983 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
SINCLAIR CREEK RD
FairOver: SINCLAIR CREEK 160
3M NE EUREKA, Lincoln, MT
Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
LAKE CREEK RD
FairOver: LAKE CREEK 074
4M S TROY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1970 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
HOUGHTON CREEK RD
FairOver: FISHER RIVER 086
12M W HAPPY`S INN, Lincoln, MT
Built 1985 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
MEADOW CREEK RD
FairOver: FORTINE CREEK 133
E FORTINE, Lincoln, MT
Built 1989 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,203
W 6TH ST
FairOver: FLOWER CREEK 004
W EDGE LIBBY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1968 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,723
US 2
FairOver: LAKE CREEK
1M SE TROY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1989 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,987
S 37 FH 57
FairOver: FIVE MILE CREEK
12M N LIBBY DAM, Lincoln, MT
Built 1974 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 449
S 37 FH 57
FairOver: TEN MILE CREEK
18M N LIBBY DAM, Lincoln, MT
Built 1974 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 324
746 VINAL LAKE RD.
FairOver: E FK YAAK
0.1 MI FROM JCT WITH 92, Lincoln, MT
Built 1968 Load: 33.4 t ADT: 50
473 KEELER/RATTLE
FairOver: N F KEELER CR
JUST PAST JCT WITH 404, Lincoln, MT
Built 1976 Load: 33.4 t ADT: 25
DAVID THOMPSON BRG
FairOver: KOOTENAI RIVER D/S DAM
LIBBY DAM MONTANA, Lincoln, MT
Built 1967 Load: 33.4 t ADT: 100
US 2
FairOver: YAAK RIVER
8M NW TROY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1934 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 2,286
US 2
FairOver: CALLAHAN CREEK
TROY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1989 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 4,850
US 93 FH 12
FairOver: GRAVE CREEK
2M NW FORTINE, Lincoln, MT
Built 1991 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 3,036
S 37 FH 57
FairOver: KOOTENAI RIVER
3M S LIBBY DAM, Lincoln, MT
Built 1969 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 649
337 BOULDER/BASIN
FairOver: BASIN CREEK
6 MILES FROM JCT W/92, Lincoln, MT
Built 1968 Load: 34.3 t ADT: 50
RD 601
FairOver: QUARTZ CREEK
LOWER QUARTZ, Lincoln, MT
Built 1976 Load: 34.3 t ADT: 50
6761
FairOver: FISHER RIVER
HOUGHTON CREEK, Lincoln, MT
Built 1986 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 20
FLAT CREEK ROAD
FairOver: SUTTON CREEK
SUTTON CREEK, Lincoln, MT
Built 1980 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 40
FARM TO MARKET RD
FairOver: LIBBY CREEK
5M S LIBBY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1962 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 939
4554 GOAT CR. RD.
FairOver: S FK CALLAHAN CR
0.1 MI. FROM JCT WITH 414, Lincoln, MT
Built 1976 Load: 36.6 t ADT: 20
S 567-PIPE CR RD
FairOver: PIPE CREEK
11M N LIBBY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1965 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 213
YOUNG CR ROAD
FairOver: YOUNG CR
YOUNG CREEK, Lincoln, MT
Built 1973 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 50
RD 600
FairOver: SEVENTEEN MILE CR
SEVENTEEN MILE, Lincoln, MT
Built 1968 Load: 39.5 t ADT: 40
RD 763
FairOver: FISHER RIVER
SMOKEY HOLLOW AREA, Lincoln, MT
Built 1969 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 50
RD 231
FairOver: LIBBY CR
OLD TOWN, Lincoln, MT
Built 1984 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 99
RD 36
FairOver: WOLF CR
WOLF CR. MP 16.9 FAIRVIEW, Lincoln, MT
Built 1969 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 50
RD 2345
FairOver: PL. VALLEY-FISHER RIVER
SO. PLEASANT VALLEY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1982 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 40
RD 36
FairOver: WOLF CR
MP 2.3 ON RD 36, Lincoln, MT
Built 1969 Load: 44.1 t ADT: 50
RD 36
FairOver: WOLF CR
WOLF CREEK MP 13.1, Lincoln, MT
Built 1980 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 40
RD 36
FairOver: BN RAILROAD
WOLF CREEK MP 24.3, Lincoln, MT
Built 1968 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 99
RD 4785
FairOver: BIG CHERRY CR
UPPER BIG CHERRY, Lincoln, MT
Built 1966 Load: 59.3 t ADT: 50
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.