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.

Total bridges

190

Public highway bridges in Lincoln County

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

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).

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lincoln County and the 5 Montana counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Gallatin County 210 4.3%
Missoula County 206 7.8%
Flathead County 204 4.9%
Lewis and Clark County 200 5.5%
Lincoln County (this page) 190 14.7%
Cascade County 185 3.8%

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).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MT (1977 here).

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

All 190 Good 73 Fair 89 Poor 28

Good-condition bridges (73)

S 508 FH 62

Good

Over: MEADOW CREEK

11M SW YAAK, Lincoln, MT

Built 1994 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 255

BIG CREEK ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLE NF BIG CREEK

LITTLE NF BIG CREEK, Lincoln, MT

Built 1995 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 40

US 2

Good

Over: CEDAR CREEK

4M NW LIBBY, Lincoln, MT

Built 1989 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 3,663

US 2

Good

Over: FLOWER CREEK

LIBBY, Lincoln, MT

Built 1970 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 8,640

746 VINAL LAKE RD.

Good

Over: VINAL CREEK

VINAL CREEK, Lincoln, MT

Built 1980 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 50

BOTHMAN DR

Good

Over: PIPE CREEK 121

4M NW LIBBY, Lincoln, MT

Built 2010 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 100

US 2

Good

Over: SWAMP CREEK

24M NW HAPPY`S INN, Lincoln, MT

Built 2013 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 1,597

691 CAMP CR. ROAD

Good

Over: MADGE CREEK

NO DATA ENTERED, Lincoln, MT

Built 2011 Load: 39.5 t ADT: 50

RD 112

Good

Over: E F PIPE CREEK

DARK PURCELL, Lincoln, MT

Built 2019 Load: 39.5 t ADT: 50

4445 KOOTENAI MTN

Good

Over: OBRIEN CREEK

.2 MILES FROM JCT W/331, Lincoln, MT

Built 1966 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 20

S 508 FH 62

Good

Over: RED TOP CREEK

13M SW YAAK, Lincoln, MT

Built 1994 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 255

US 2

Good

Over: SWAMP CREEK

22 MILES NORTHWEST OF HAP, Lincoln, MT

Built 2018 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 1,597

RD 535

Good

Over: PL. VALLEY FISHER RIVER

SW END OF LOON LAKE, Lincoln, MT

Built 1982 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 40

WOLVERENE CR ROAD

Good

Over: WIGWAM CR

WIGWAM CR, Lincoln, MT

Built 1981 Load: 42.4 t ADT: 50

US 2

Good

Over: SWAMP CREEK

23M NW HAPPY`S INN, Lincoln, MT

Built 2013 Load: 44.5 t ADT: 1,597

S 508 FH 62

Good

Over: HELLROARING CREEK

10M SW YAAK, Lincoln, MT

Built 1994 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 255

S 508 FH 62

Good

Over: CYCLONE CREEK

15M SW YAAK, Lincoln, MT

Built 1994 Load: 49.0 t ADT: 255

RD 257

Good

Over: PLEASANT VALLEY FISHER

MP 3.2 ON 257/LARSON RES, Lincoln, MT

Built 1979 Load: 55.1 t ADT: 40

6127 CONN-MULE RD.

Good

Over: 17 MILE CR

.1 FROM JCT 471, Lincoln, MT

Built 1993 Load: 60.3 t ADT: 10

US 2

Good

Over: MILLER CREEK

14M W HAPPY`S INN, Lincoln, MT

Built 1988 Load: 61.0 t ADT: 1,480

S 508 FH 62

Good

Over: PETE CREEK

2M W YAAK, Lincoln, MT

Built 1989 Load: 62.6 t ADT: 269

W KOOTENAI RD

Good

Over: DODGE CREEK 138

7M NW REXFORD, Lincoln, MT

Built 1974 Load: 78.0 t ADT: 100

S 567-PIPE CR RD

Good

Over: PIPE CREEK

14M N LIBBY, Lincoln, MT

Built 1968 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 213

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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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.