County profile · official public datasets

Adams County, NE

211 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 60.2% rated Good, 33.6% Fair, 6.2% Poor.

211
Public bridges: 60.2%
Good condition: 6.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Adams County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 50%
lowest Poor share in state: 6.2%
Poor-condition share: 211
public highway bridges: 1978
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.

Adams County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Adams County ranks #44 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.2%). Adams County, Nebraska contains 211 public highway bridges. Roughly 60.2% are rated “Good,” 33.6% “Fair,” and 6.2% “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

211

Public highway bridges in Adams County

Good condition

60.2%

127 of 211 rated 7-9

Fair condition

33.6%

71 of 211 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.2%

13 of 211 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#44 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 211 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

60.2% (127)

Fair

33.6% (71)

Poor

6.2% (13)

Adams County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,385 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 337 crossings a day against 880 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 211 of 211 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

41.7% of Adams County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

88 of the 211 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 60.2% 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 69% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US6/US34 over W BR THIRTY-TWO MILE CR, built 1931, carries 3,025 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 4,385 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

2
1930s

45
1950s

7
1960s

11
1970s

33
1980s

28
1990s

25
2000s

27
2010s

24
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 45 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the Nebraska average (1977).

How Adams County compares with Nebraska's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Adams County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.2% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 87 Nebraska counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Adams County and the 5 Nebraska counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Stanton County	223	48.4%	42.2%	9.4%	1983
Thayer County	220	55%	40%	5%	1968
Fillmore County	218	69.7%	21.6%	8.7%	1978
Butler County	211	20.4%	76.8%	2.8%	1983
Adams County (this page)	211	60.2%	33.6%	6.2%	1978
York County	205	57.6%	39.5%	2.9%	1974

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NE (211 bridges here).

Colusa County, CA · 211 bridges
Charlotte County, FL · 211 bridges
Kemper County, MS · 211 bridges
Pike County, MS · 211 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1978 here).

Orange County, CA · avg 1978 · 1,164 bridges
Sumner County, KS · avg 1978 · 659 bridges
Allen County, IN · avg 1978 · 613 bridges
Livingston County, IL · avg 1978 · 579 bridges

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

All 211 Good 127 Fair 71 Poor 13

Fair-condition bridges (71)

Sort:

Adams County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Adams County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,385 vehicle crossings a day

41.7% of Adams County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 69% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Adams County compares with Nebraska's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Fair-condition bridges (71)

COUNTY GRAVEL

E BLUE HILL ROAD

E BLUE HILL ROAD

PROSSER AVENUE

WINCHESTER AVE.

W SADDLEHORN ROAD

MONUMENT ROAD

E SILVER LAKE ROAD

E SILVER LAKE ROAD

D.L.D. ROAD

CONESTOGA AVE.

POWERLINE RD.

W. MONUMENT RD.

E SILVER LAKE ROAD

W. 26TH. ST.

ADAMS CENTRAL AVE.

CRYSTAL LAKE ROAD

ASSUMPTION RD.

COUNTY GRAVEL

W. SUNDOWN RD.

PRIVATE DRIVEWAY

PAULINE BLVD.

PRIMROSE AVE.

CONSTITUTION AVE.

DLD RD.

ROSELAND AVE.

94TH ST.

PAWNEE AVE.

E 26TH ST

PALOMINO AVE.

W. 12TH STREET

WABASH AVE.

COUNTY GRAVEL

CIMMARON RD.

E. 42ND STREET

PROSSER AVE

S. ROSELAND AVE.

ROSELAND AVE

W. PRAIRIE LAKE RD

PAWNEE AVE.

SILVERLAKE RD

W. BARROWS RD.

SHOWBOAT BLVD

SHOWBOAT BLVD

EASTSIDE BLVD

CALIFORNIA AVE

HERITAGE DR

S SHOWBOAT BLVD

COUNTY GRAVEL

SAND AVE.

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