County profile · official public datasets

Clay County, NE

134 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 66.4% rated Good, 27.6% Fair, 6% Poor.

134
Public bridges
66.4%
Good condition
6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 49%
lowest Poor share in state
6%
Poor-condition share
134
public highway bridges
1975
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.

Clay County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clay County ranks #43 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6%). Clay County, Nebraska contains 134 public highway bridges. Roughly 66.4% are rated “Good,” 27.6% “Fair,” and 6% “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

134

Public highway bridges in Clay County

Good condition

66.4%

89 of 134 rated 7-9

Fair condition

27.6%

37 of 134 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6%

8 of 134 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#43 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 134 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
66.4% (89)
Fair
27.6% (37)
Poor
6% (8)

Clay County's Poor-condition bridges carry 740 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 93 crossings a day against 326 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 134 of 134 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

42.5% of Clay County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

57 of the 134 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 66.4% 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 40.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

JAMES AVENUE over SCHOOL CREEK, built 1935, carries 300 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 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 740 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Clay County's bridges were built

134 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Nebraska average (1977).

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

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

The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Clay County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Clay County and the 5 Nebraska counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Thurston County 152 20.4%
Washington County 149 2.7%
Nance County 148 5.4%
Dixon County 146 9.6%
Clay County (this page) 134 6%
Sherman County 118 3.4%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NE (134 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1975 here).

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

All 134 Good 89 Fair 37 Poor 8

All bridges (134)

CO RD 304

Good

Over: STREAM

0.5S & 4W ONG, Clay, NE

Built 2017 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 40

ROAD 304

Good

Over: LITTLE SANDY CREEK

.8W ONG, Clay, NE

Built 2017 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 60

US6

Good

Over: STREAM

1E SARONVILLE SPUR, Clay, NE

Built 1998 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 1,890

N41

Good

Over: STREAM

1E CLAY CENTER, Clay, NE

Built 1978 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 665

N74

Good

Over: STREAM

9W ONG SPUR, Clay, NE

Built 1972 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 615

S18C DEWEESE SPUR

Good

Over: BUFFALO CREEK TRIB

3E DEWEESE, Clay, NE

Built 1980 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 185

S18C DEWEESE SPUR

Good

Over: BUFFALO CREEK

3E DEWEESE, Clay, NE

Built 1980 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 185

S18E GLENVIL SPUR

Good

Over: PAWNEE CREEK TRIB

1S GLENVIL, Clay, NE

Built 1988 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 415

ROAD 306

Good

Over: PAWNEE CREEK

.3S 6.3W FAIRFIELD, Clay, NE

Built 2017 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 25

FAS 2425

Good

Over: W FK BIG BLUE RIVER

JCT US6/S-18A 8W 5.3N, Clay, NE

Built 1981 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 465

COLL 7603

Good

Over: W FK BIG BLUE RIVER

6.3W .5N HARVARD, Clay, NE

Built 1998 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 40

N14

Good

Over: UPRR 813-714-L

8S CLAY CENTER, Clay, NE

Built 1977 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 1,645

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: STREAM

1W 1.1S OF ONG, Clay, NE

Built 2006 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 40

COLL 7601

Good

Over: PAWNEE CREEK

JCT N74/S-18E .1S, Clay, NE

Built 1935 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 120

COLL 7596

Good

Over: STREAM

2N .1E OF INLAND, Clay, NE

Built 1935 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 135

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: OAK CREEK

2.5N 6.9W DEWEESE, Clay, NE

Built 2005 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 40

RIVER ST

Good

Over: DRY CREEK

JCT N14/S-18C 4.8W .5S, Clay, NE

Built 2019 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 80

ROAD 311

Good

Over: LITTLE SANDY CREEK

_, Clay, NE

Built 2019 Load: 37.0 t ADT: 110

US6

Good

Over: SCHOOL CREEK

7W SARONVILLE SPUR, Clay, NE

Built 1998 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 2,815

N14

Good

Over: BIG SANDY CREEK

6S CLAY CENTER, Clay, NE

Built 2017 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 1,755

ROAD C

Good

Over: PAWNEE CREEK

5.2W 4.9N DEWEESE, Clay, NE

Built 2017 Load: 41.0 t ADT: 80

ROAD 321

Good

Over: SCHOOL CREEK TRIB

_, Clay, NE

Built 2019 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 25

ROAD 320

Good

Over: SCHOOL CREEK TRIB

.5N 2W SUTTON, Clay, NE

Built 2019 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 40

FAS 2415

Good

Over: STREAM

EJCT US6/N14 3.8N 7E, Clay, NE

Built 1933 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 555

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: SCHOOL CREEK

1.5W .2S SUTTON, Clay, NE

Built 2015 Load: 54.0 t ADT: 25

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: W FK BIG BLUE RIVER

4.2N 1E HARVARD, Clay, NE

Built 2010 Load: 65.0 t ADT: 40

TOWNSHIP ROAD

Poor

Over: BIG SANDY CREEK

2.5 E EDGAR, Clay, NE

Built 1950 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 20

ROAD W

Poor

Over: BNSF RR 073-249-U

.5W SUTTON, Clay, NE

Built 1935 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 35

RIVER ST

Poor

Over: DRY CREEK

JCT N14/S-18C 5W .5S, Clay, NE

Built 1973 Load: 2.0 t ADT: 80

TOWNSHIP ROAD

Poor

Over: LITTLE BLUE RIVER

5W 3.2N DEWEESE, Clay, NE

Built 1935 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 50

JAMES AVENUE

Poor

Over: SCHOOL CREEK

SUTTON JAMES @ MAPLE, Clay, NE

Built 1935 Load: 8.0 t ADT: 300

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Poor

Over: BIG SANDY CREEK

3E FAIRFIELD, Clay, NE

Built 1935 Load: 12.0 t ADT: 20

FAS 2455

Poor

Over: W FK BIG BLUE RIVER

JCT US6/S-18A 1W 7.3N, Clay, NE

Built 1940 Load: 13.0 t ADT: 55

FAS 2415

Poor

Over: TURKEY CREEK

JCT N74/S-18F 1W 5.8N, Clay, NE

Built 1915 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 180

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

Related

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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.