County profile · official public datasets

Dixon County, NE

146 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.2% rated Good, 56.2% Fair, 9.6% Poor.

146
Public bridges: 34.2%
Good condition: 9.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

65th
of 88 on Poor share: 9.6%
Poor-condition share: 146
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.

Dixon County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Dixon County ranks #65 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.6%). Dixon County, Nebraska contains 146 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.2% are rated “Good,” 56.2% “Fair,” and 9.6% “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

146

Public highway bridges in Dixon County

Good condition

34.2%

50 of 146 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56.2%

82 of 146 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.6%

14 of 146 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#65 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 146 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

34.2% (50)

Fair

56.2% (82)

Poor

9.6% (14)

Dixon County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,890 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 135 crossings a day against 567 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 146 of 146 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

37% of Dixon County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

54 of the 146 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 34.2% 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 76.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

N12 over N. AOWA CREEK TRIB, built 1994, carries 1,450 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,890 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

2
1930s

27
1940s

2
1950s

9
1960s

4
1970s

15
1980s

31
1990s

20
2000s

15
2010s

4
2020s

16

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 31 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the Nebraska average (1977).

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

The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Dixon County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 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 Dixon County and the 5 Nebraska counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Cheyenne County	159	82.4%	16.4%	1.3%	1973
Thurston County	152	48.7%	30.9%	20.4%	1980
Washington County	149	76.5%	20.8%	2.7%	1989
Nance County	148	54.1%	40.5%	5.4%	1973
Dixon County (this page)	146	34.2%	56.2%	9.6%	1978
Clay County	134	66.4%	27.6%	6%	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 Dixon 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 Dixon County, both outside Nebraska so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NE (146 bridges here).

Jackson County, FL · 146 bridges
Frio County, TX · 146 bridges
La Salle County, TX · 146 bridges
Barren County, KY · 147 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 146 Good 50 Fair 82 Poor 14

Good-condition bridges (50)

Sort:

Dixon County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Dixon County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,890 vehicle crossings a day

37% of Dixon County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 76.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Dixon 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

Good-condition bridges (50)

N9/N35

N12

N15

N15

S26B CONCORD SPUR

TOWNSHIP ROAD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

COLL 7887

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

FAS 3140

577 AVE

586 AVE

TOWNSHIP ROAD

862 RD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

N9

N35

COLL 7791

TOWNSHIP ROAD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

863 RD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

862 RD

N9

COLL 7716

TOWNSHIP ROAD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

583 AVE

TOWNSHIP ROAD

FAS 3585

TOWNSHIP ROAD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

US20

862 RD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

FAS 3575

US20

N116

N116

TOWNSHIP ROAD

N116

TOWNSHIP ROAD

US20

TOWNSHIP ROAD

TOWNSHIP ROAD

877 RD

583 AVE

US20

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