County profile · official public datasets

Cedar County, NE

313 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 47% rated Good, 46.6% Fair, 6.4% Poor.

313
Public bridges
47%
Good condition
6.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

46th
of 88 on Poor share
6.4%
Poor-condition share
313
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.

Cedar County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cedar County ranks #46 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.4%). Cedar County, Nebraska contains 313 public highway bridges. Roughly 47% are rated “Good,” 46.6% “Fair,” and 6.4% “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

313

Public highway bridges in Cedar County

Good condition

47%

147 of 313 rated 7-9

Fair condition

46.6%

146 of 313 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.4%

20 of 313 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#46 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 313 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
47% (147)
Fair
46.6% (146)
Poor
6.4% (20)

Cedar County's Poor-condition bridges carry 10,355 vehicle crossings a day

That is 6.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 518 crossings a day against 565 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 313 of 313 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

42.2% of Cedar County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

132 of the 313 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 47% 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 33.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US81 over NORWEGIAN BOW CREEK TRIB, built 1945, carries 3,475 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 20-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 10,355 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Cedar County's bridges were built

313 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 54 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Nebraska average (1977).

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

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

The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Cedar County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.4% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 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 Cedar County and the 5 Nebraska counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Knox County 329 3%
Cedar County (this page) 313 6.4%
Saline County 312 8%
Custer County 303 7.9%
Madison County 302 8.3%
Dawson County 300 3.7%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NE (313 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1977 here).

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

All 313 Good 147 Fair 146 Poor 20

Good-condition bridges (147)

N12

Good

Over: BOW CREEK

2SE WYNOT, Cedar, NE

Built 2017 Load: 37.0 t ADT: 825

N57

Good

Over: KERLOO CREEK

8S HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1987 Load: 37.0 t ADT: 1,835

N121

Good

Over: MISSOURI RIVER TRIB

11NE CROFTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1989 Load: 37.0 t ADT: 1,535

557TH AVE

Good

Over: WEST BOW CREEK

1W OF FORDYCE, Cedar, NE

Built 2005 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 25

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: BAKER CREEK

3S 3W OF LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 1983 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 30

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: LOGAN CREEK

3SW OF LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 1997 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 70

880 ROAD

Good

Over: BOW CREEK

7.5S 1.5W OF FORDYCE, Cedar, NE

Built 2019 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 25

573RD AVE

Good

Over: LOGAN CREEK

.5NE OF LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 1998 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 120

888TH RD

Good

Over: WEST BOW CREEK

2.5E OF FORDYCE, Cedar, NE

Built 1998 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 135

N121

Good

Over: BEAVER CREEK

13NE CROFTON, Cedar, NE

Built 2019 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 1,535

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: WEST BOW CREEK

4W OF FORDYCE, Cedar, NE

Built 2017 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 55

573RD ST

Good

Over: BAKER CREEK

1E 2S LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 1981 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 70

891ST RD

Good

Over: WEST BOW CREEK

1.5W OF WYNOT, Cedar, NE

Built 2004 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 100

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: LOGAN CREEK

1.5NE OF BELDEN, Cedar, NE

Built 2006 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 45

571 AVE

Good

Over: NORTH LOGAN CREEK

4E OF COLERIDGE, Cedar, NE

Built 2019 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 60

565TH AVE

Good

Over: BOW CREEK TRIB

1.5NE OF HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 2000 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 40

N12

Good

Over: WEST BOW CREEK

3SW WYNOT, Cedar, NE

Built 2018 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 1,170

N59

Good

Over: PERRIN CREEK

6SE COLERIDGE, Cedar, NE

Built 1987 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 855

560TH AVE

Good

Over: MIDDLE LOGAN CREEK

1E OF RANDOLPH, Cedar, NE

Built 1991 Load: 41.0 t ADT: 30

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: STREAM

2NE OF RANDOLPH, Cedar, NE

Built 2009 Load: 41.0 t ADT: 80

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: WEST BOW CREEK

.7NE OF FORDYCE, Cedar, NE

Built 1993 Load: 41.0 t ADT: 30

US20

Good

Over: STREAM

5NE LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 2011 Load: 41.0 t ADT: 2,015

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: WEST BOW CREEK TRIB

1S 1W OF FORDYCE, Cedar, NE

Built 2005 Load: 42.0 t ADT: 25

N57

Good

Over: KERLOO CREEK

4S HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1987 Load: 42.0 t ADT: 1,835

N57

Good

Over: BOW CREEK TRIB & OVE

1S HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1987 Load: 42.0 t ADT: 1,835

N57

Good

Over: BOW CREEK

2S HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1987 Load: 43.0 t ADT: 1,835

BRIDGE STREET

Good

Over: MIDDLE LOGAN CREEK TRIB

RANDOLPH BRIDGE @ MOSHER, Cedar, NE

Built 1982 Load: 44.0 t ADT: 245

US20

Good

Over: LOGAN CREEK

2W LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 2018 Load: 44.0 t ADT: 1,735

N57

Good

Over: BRANCH PEARL CREEK

3S HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1987 Load: 44.0 t ADT: 1,835

US81

Good

Over: ANTELOPE CREEK

7S YANKTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1994 Load: 44.0 t ADT: 4,110

N84

Good

Over: BOW CREEK

0E HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1965 Load: 44.0 t ADT: 1,035

N84

Good

Over: DEAD CREEK

3E HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1997 Load: 44.0 t ADT: 1,035

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: AMES CREEK

3.5N OF OBERT, Cedar, NE

Built 2003 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 10

N15

Good

Over: EAST BOW CREEK

12N LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 2001 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 665

563 RD

Good

Over: SECOND BOW CREEK

3S 1W OF SAINT HELENA, Cedar, NE

Built 2018 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 20

N57

Good

Over: WEST BOW CREEK

6N HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 2023 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 2,055

N84

Good

Over: EAST BOW CREEK

8E HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1997 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 640

N84

Good

Over: BOW CREEK TRIB

1E HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 1997 Load: 49.0 t ADT: 1,035

COLL 7801

Good

Over: STREAM

2NE OF LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 2018 Load: 50.0 t ADT: 30

881 ROAD

Good

Over: EAST BOW CREEK TRIB.

1S 6E OF HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 2022 Load: 51.0 t ADT: 20

875TH RD

Good

Over: NORTH LOGAN CREEK TRIB

5.5E OF COLERIDGE, Cedar, NE

Built 2019 Load: 55.0 t ADT: 30

N15

Good

Over: NORTH LOGAN CREEK

5N LAUREL, Cedar, NE

Built 2001 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 875

883RD RD

Good

Over: NORWEGIAN BOW CR OVERFLO

.5NW OF HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 2019 Load: 59.0 t ADT: 100

552ND AVE

Good

Over: BEAVER CREEK TRIB

6N N12 KNOX CL, Cedar, NE

Built 1935 Load: 62.0 t ADT: 65

COLL 7797

Good

Over: PEARL CREEK TRIBUTARY

1.0N 4.5W OF COLERIDGE, Cedar, NE

Built 2023 Load: 82.0 t ADT: 35

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: STREAM

6E OF HARTINGTON, Cedar, NE

Built 2022 Load: 88.0 t ADT: 20

558 AVE

Good

Over: PEARL CREEK

5E 4.3N OF MAGNET, Cedar, NE

Built 2022 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 15

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

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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.