Total bridges
26
Public highway bridges in Wheatland County
County profile · official public datasets
Wheatland County, MT
26 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 30.8% rated Good, 61.5% Fair, 7.7% Poor.
- 26
- Public bridges
- 30.8%
- Good condition
- 7.7%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Wheatland County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
- 38th
- of 56 on Poor share
- 7.7%
- Poor-condition share
- 26
- public highway bridges
- 1967
- 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.
Wheatland County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Wheatland County ranks #38 of 56 Montana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.7%). Wheatland County, Montana contains 26 public highway bridges. Roughly 30.8% are rated “Good,” 61.5% “Fair,” and 7.7% “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
30.8%
8 of 26 rated 7-9
Fair condition
61.5%
16 of 26 rated 5-6
Poor condition
7.7%
2 of 26 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#38 of 56
Among Montana counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 26 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 30.8% (8)
Fair 61.5% (16)
Poor 7.7% (2)
Wheatland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,359 vehicle crossings a day
That is 11.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 680 crossings a day against 613 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 26 of 26 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
69.2% of Wheatland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
18 of the 26 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 30.8% 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 51.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
US 191 over S FORK AMERICAN FORK, built 1941, carries 702 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 1,359 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Wheatland County's bridges were built
26 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s
1930–1939
3 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
5 bridges
- 1950s 1
1950–1959
1 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
7 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
4 bridges
- 1980s 2
1980–1989
2 bridges
- 1990s 1
1990–1999
1 bridges
- 2000s 1
2000–2009
1 bridges
- 2010s 2
2010–2019
2 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 7 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1967, 10 years older than the Montana average of 1977.
How Wheatland County compares with Montana's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Montana counties nearest Wheatland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.7% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1967 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 10 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 55 Montana counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Musselshell County | 28 | 57.1% | 39.3% | 3.6% | 1986 |
| Garfield County | 26 | 38.5% | 57.7% | 3.8% | 1989 |
| Petroleum County | 26 | 30.8% | 53.8% | 15.4% | 1967 |
| Treasure County | 26 | 34.6% | 50% | 15.4% | 1966 |
| Wheatland County (this page) | 26 | 30.8% | 61.5% | 7.7% | 1967 |
| Wibaux County | 25 | 12% | 84% | 4% | 1975 |
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 Wheatland 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 Wheatland County, both outside Montana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside MT (26 bridges here).
- Mineral County, CO · 26 bridges
- Webster County, GA · 26 bridges
- St. James County, LA · 26 bridges
- Deaf Smith County, TX · 26 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MT (1967 here).
- Los Angeles County, CA · avg 1967 · 3,547 bridges
- Allegheny County, PA · avg 1967 · 1,294 bridges
- Sonoma County, CA · avg 1967 · 609 bridges
- Merced County, CA · avg 1967 · 528 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (26)
PORCUPINE BUTTE RD
FairOver: AMERICAN FORK CREEK 002
12M S TWO DOT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1960 Load: 19.2 t ADT: 100
THIRD ST NE
FairOver: ABANDONED RR-ANTELOPE CR
HARLOWTON-THIRD ST NE, Wheatland, MT
Built 1939 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 2,051
UPPER N HILL RD
FairOver: EAST FK ROBERTS CR 006
12M SE JUDITH GAP, Wheatland, MT
Built 1962 Load: 23.5 t ADT: 19
US 191
FairOver: DRAINAGE
12M S HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1942 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 702
LOGAN ST SE
FairOver: ANTELOPE CREEK 019
SE EDGE HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1931 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 100
US 12
FairOver: DAISY DEAN CREEK
5M W TWO DOT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1933 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 499
S 297
FairOver: ROBERTS CREEK
8M N SHAWMUT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1974 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 34
S SHAWMUT RD
FairOver: MUSSELSHELL RIVER 009
S SHAWMUT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1949 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 100
S 297
FairOver: DEADMAN`S BASIN CANAL
1M N SHAWMUT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1959 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 79
US 191
FairOver: AMERICAN FORK
10M S HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1942 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 702
SELKIRK RD
FairOver: MARTINSDALE RES SPWY 021
8M W TWO DOT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1976 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 100
BIG ELK RD
FairOver: BIG ELK CREEK 004
7M S TWO DOT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1974 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
FOSTER RD
FairOver: AMERICAN FORK CREEK 007
5M SE HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1982 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
LOWER N HILL RD
FairOver: ROBERTS CREEK 005
14M SE JUDITH GAP, Wheatland, MT
Built 1962 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
US 12
FairOver: HAYMAKER CREEK
N TWO DOT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1966 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 554
TWO DOT HWY
FairOver: MUSSELSHELL RIVER 017
N EDGE TWO DOT, Wheatland, MT
Built 1965 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 100
US 191
GoodOver: ABANDONED RR
HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1969 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 800
US 191
GoodOver: LEBO CREEK
7M S HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 2014 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 702
TIERNEY LOOP DR
GoodOver: MUSSELSHELL RIVER 008
4M E HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1988 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 100
US 191
GoodOver: MUSSELSHELL RIVER
1M S HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1969 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 800
RED BRIDGE RD
GoodOver: MUSSELSHELL RIVER 016
2M SE HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
RED BRIDGE RD
GoodOver: AMERICAN FORK CREEK 015
6M SE HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1993 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
SELKIRK RD
GoodOver: MUSSELSHELL RIVER 018
6M W TWO DOT, Wheatland, MT
Built 2011 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 100
US 191
GoodOver: RR
JUDITH GAP, Wheatland, MT
Built 2009 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 2,199
US 191
PoorOver: FISH CREEK
14M S HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1942 Load: 21.4 t ADT: 657
US 191
PoorOver: S FORK AMERICAN FORK
11M S HARLOWTON, Wheatland, MT
Built 1941 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 702
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.