County profile · official public datasets

Richland County, MT

97 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 28.9% rated Good, 68% Fair, 3.1% Poor.

97
Public bridges
28.9%
Good condition
3.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Richland County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 20%
lowest Poor share in state
3.1%
Poor-condition share
97
public highway bridges
1988
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.

Richland County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Richland County ranks #11 of 56 Montana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.1%). Richland County, Montana contains 97 public highway bridges. Roughly 28.9% are rated “Good,” 68% “Fair,” and 3.1% “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

97

Public highway bridges in Richland County

Good condition

28.9%

28 of 97 rated 7-9

Fair condition

68%

66 of 97 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.1%

3 of 97 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#11 of 56

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

Condition distribution

Share of 97 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
28.9% (28)
Fair
68% (66)
Poor
3.1% (3)

Richland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,289 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,763 crossings a day against 366 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 97 of 97 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

19.6% of Richland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

19 of the 97 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 28.9% 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 52.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

S 16 over CRANE CREEK, built 1957, carries 2,766 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,289 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Richland County's bridges were built

97 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 28 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 28.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1988, 11 years newer than the Montana average of 1977.

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

How Richland County compares with Montana's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Montana counties nearest Richland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.1% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1988 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 13 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 55 Montana counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Richland County and the 5 Montana counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Blaine County 102 9.8%
Phillips County 101 16.8%
Madison County 97 11.3%
Richland County (this page) 97 3.1%
Pondera County 96 4.2%
Sweet Grass County 94 5.3%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MT (97 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MT (1988 here).

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

All 97 Good 28 Fair 66 Poor 3

Good-condition bridges (28)

COUNTY ROAD 122

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 003

3M SW SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 2000 Load: 15.9 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 405

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 005

6M SW SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 2006 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 332

Good

Over: BEEF SLOUGH 095

3M S SAVAGE, Richland, MT

Built 1991 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 134

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 070

1M SW FAIRVIEW, Richland, MT

Built 2016 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 129

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 067

6M SW FAIRVIEW, Richland, MT

Built 2015 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 81

COUNTY ROAD 128

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 089

4M N SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 1997 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 126

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 054

1M N SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 2013 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 485

MAIN ST

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 051

EAST EDGE SAVAGE, Richland, MT

Built 1992 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 53

COUNTY RD 358

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 094

4M NE CRANE, Richland, MT

Built 2005 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 36

S 261

Good

Over: SHADWELL CREEK

19M S SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 1971 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 86

4TH ST

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 073

WEST EDGE FAIRVIEW-4TH ST, Richland, MT

Built 2008 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 339

7TH ST

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 093

SW EDGE FAIRVIEW 7TH ST, Richland, MT

Built 2019 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 017

Good

Over: CHARLIE CREEK 046

45M NW SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 2021 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 001

Good

Over: E HARDSCRABBLE CREEK 040

33M NW SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 2007 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 127

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 053

2M N SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 2015 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 356

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 006

9M SW SAVAGE, Richland, MT

Built 1994 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 100

S 23

Good

Over: BENNIE PEER CREEK

7M SE SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 1986 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 696

COUNTY ROAD 211

Good

Over: SECOND HAY CREEK 065

4M SW FAIRVIEW, Richland, MT

Built 2018 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 012

Good

Over: WEST CHARLIE CREEK 085

47M NW FAIRVIEW, Richland, MT

Built 1993 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 037

Good

Over: DRAINAGE 032

8M NE LAMBERT, Richland, MT

Built 1992 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 131

Good

Over: USBR MAIN CANAL 080

3M SW FAIRVIEW, Richland, MT

Built 1998 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100

COUNTY ROAD 326

Good

Over: FOX CREEK 009

5M SW SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 1994 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 69

COUNTY ROAD 502

Good

Over: CRANE CREEK 007

12M W CRANE, Richland, MT

Built 2000 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100

IRR - S 480

Good

Over: LONG GRASS CREEK

20M N RICHEY, Richland, MT

Built 1984 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 22

S 16

Good

Over: DAY CREEK

4M SE CULBERTSON, Richland, MT

Built 2009 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 963

COUNTY ROAD 321

Good

Over: CHARLEY CREEK 015

53M NW SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 1998 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 100

S 261

Good

Over: SMITH CREEK

23M S SIDNEY, Richland, MT

Built 2008 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 74

S 16-HOLLY ST

Good

Over: USRS CANAL

NW EDGE SIDNEY-HOLLY ST, Richland, MT

Built 1999 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 5,753

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

Related

Browse all → | Rankings →
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.