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.

1910s

2
1920s

1
1930s

4
1940s

1
1950s

19
1960s

43
1970s

44
1980s

35
1990s

20
2000s

6
2010s

13
2020s

2

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lincoln County and the 5 Montana counties closest to it in inventory size
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.

All 190 Good 73 Fair 89 Poor 28

All bridges (190)

Sort:

Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 10,779 vehicle crossings a day

47.4% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 51.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Lincoln County compares with Montana'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 (190)

RD 278

337 BOULDER/BASIN

RD 384

US 2

US 2

593 LONG MEADOW RD

EDNA CREEK RD

SINCLAIR CREEK RD

LAKE CREEK RD

HOUGHTON CREEK RD

MEADOW CREEK RD

W 6TH ST

US 2

S 37 FH 57

S 37 FH 57

746 VINAL LAKE RD.

473 KEELER/RATTLE

DAVID THOMPSON BRG

US 2

US 2

US 93 FH 12

S 37 FH 57

337 BOULDER/BASIN

RD 601

6761

FLAT CREEK ROAD

FARM TO MARKET RD

4554 GOAT CR. RD.

S 567-PIPE CR RD

YOUNG CR ROAD

RD 600

RD 763

RD 231

RD 36

RD 2345

RD 36

RD 36

RD 36

RD 4785

SWAMP CREEK ROAD

RTE 471

RD 336

YAAK 92

414 S.F.CALLAHAN

SINCLAIR CREEK RD

RD 867

RD 231

DALBERG SIDING RD

RD 6212

GRANITE CREEK RD

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