County profile · official public datasets

Toole County, MT

35 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.3% rated Good, 65.7% Fair, 0% Poor.

35
Public bridges: 34.3%
Good condition: 0%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Toole County posts a top-5% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.

Top 2%
lowest Poor share in state: 0%
Poor-condition share: 35
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Toole County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Toole County ranks #1 of 56 Montana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Toole County, Montana contains 35 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.3% are rated “Good,” 65.7% “Fair,” and 0% “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

Public highway bridges in Toole County

Good condition

34.3%

12 of 35 rated 7-9

Fair condition

65.7%

23 of 35 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0 of 35 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#1 of 56

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

Condition distribution

Share of 35 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

34.3% (12)

Fair

65.7% (23)

Poor

0% (0)

51.4% of Toole County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

18 of the 35 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 34.3% 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.

1930s

2
1950s

1
1960s

9
1970s

15
1980s

6
2010s

1
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 15 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 42.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Montana average (1977).

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

The 5 Montana counties nearest Toole County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1987 is 14 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Toole County and the 5 Montana counties closest to it in inventory size
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
Broadwater County	37	27%	67.6%	5.4%	1990
Fallon County	37	45.9%	51.4%	2.7%	1998
Toole County (this page)	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 Toole 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 Toole County, both outside Montana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MT (35 bridges here).

Seminole County, GA · 35 bridges
Manistee County, MI · 35 bridges
Ransom County, ND · 35 bridges
Gilliam County, OR · 35 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MT (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges

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

All 35 Good 12 Fair 23 Poor 0

All bridges (35)

Sort:

Toole County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

51.4% of Toole County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

How Toole 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 (35)

LINCOLN RD

NUTTER LEASE RD

MARIAS VALLEY RD

I 15

I 15

OILMONT HWY

I 15

S 67

SWAYZE RD

F BRIDGE RD

N DEVON RD

MARIAS VALLEY RD

I 15

S 67

I 15

POTTER RD

I 15

I 15

I 15

I 15

S 214-3RD AVE

I 15

BOOTLEGGER TRAIL

HELSA RD

I 15

BRONKEN RD

OILMONT HWY

I 15

MCVEY-MCALPINE RD

GUS BLAZE RD

OILMONT HWY

US 2

OILMONT HWY

US 2

JAP EVANS RD

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