County profile · official public datasets

Gosper County, NE

62 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 67.7% rated Good, 22.6% Fair, 9.7% Poor.

62
Public bridges
67.7%
Good condition
9.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

67th
of 88 on Poor share
9.7%
Poor-condition share
62
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.

Gosper County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Gosper County ranks #67 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.7%). Gosper County, Nebraska contains 62 public highway bridges. Roughly 67.7% are rated “Good,” 22.6% “Fair,” and 9.7% “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.

Total bridges

62

Public highway bridges in Gosper County

Good condition

67.7%

42 of 62 rated 7-9

Fair condition

22.6%

14 of 62 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.7%

6 of 62 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#67 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 62 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
67.7% (42)
Fair
22.6% (14)
Poor
9.7% (6)

Gosper County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,300 vehicle crossings a day

That is 10.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 217 crossings a day against 219 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 62 of 62 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

30.6% of Gosper County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

19 of the 62 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 67.7% 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 93.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

JOHNSON LAKE DR over TRI-COUNTY SUPPLY CANAL, built 1935, carries 1,220 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,300 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Gosper County's bridges were built

62 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 16 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 25.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 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 Gosper County compares with Nebraska's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Gosper County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Gosper County and the 5 Nebraska counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Kearney County 71 1.4%
Boyd County 64 4.7%
Sheridan County 63 0%
Gosper County (this page) 62 9.7%
Cherry County 57 19.3%
Brown County 56 7.1%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NE (62 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.

Good-condition bridges (42)

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: DEER CREEK

15S 10.7W OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1974 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 30

FAS 1655

Good

Over: MUDDY CREEK

JCT US283/N23 7.9W 12.8S, Gosper, NE

Built 1976 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 10

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

5N 4.2W OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1983 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 20

FAS 1655

Good

Over: MUDDY CREEK

JCT US283/N23 14.3S 7.5W, Gosper, NE

Built 1985 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 20

COLL 7354

Good

Over: STREAM

3S 2W OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 2004 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 70

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: E BR TURKEY CREEK

4S OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1986 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 20

COLL 7375

Good

Over: LATERAL

3E 2.5N OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1977 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 140

FAS 1530

Good

Over: ELK CREEK

JCT US283/N23 1W 11.8S, Gosper, NE

Built 1983 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 85

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: LATERAL E-65

2E OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1977 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 25

US283

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

4NE ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1957 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 1,910

ROAD 435

Good

Over: TRI-COUNTY SUPPLY CANAL

8N 2E OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 2019 Load: 25.0 t ADT: 100

N18

Good

Over: ELK CREEK

6E GOSPER/FRONTIER CL, Gosper, NE

Built 1982 Load: 25.0 t ADT: 105

FAS 1655

Good

Over: MUDDY CREEK

JCT US283/N23 12.5S 8.4W, Gosper, NE

Built 1986 Load: 26.0 t ADT: 10

FAS 1530

Good

Over: E BR MUDDY CREEK

JCT US283/N23 4.8W 12.8S, Gosper, NE

Built 1983 Load: 27.0 t ADT: 75

FAS 1685

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

JCT US283/N23 1.5W 6N, Gosper, NE

Built 1980 Load: 27.0 t ADT: 45

RD 431

Good

Over: LATERAL E-65

4.5E OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1977 Load: 27.0 t ADT: 25

FAS 1530

Good

Over: TURKEY CREEK

JCT US283/N23 4.7E 14.6S, Gosper, NE

Built 1980 Load: 27.0 t ADT: 95

FAS 1695

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

JCT US283/N23 1N 6.6E, Gosper, NE

Built 1987 Load: 27.0 t ADT: 300

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: ELK CREEK

14S 1.5W ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 2000 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 10

FAS 1530

Good

Over: ELDER CREEK

JCT US283/N23 5.6W 12.8S, Gosper, NE

Built 2012 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 75

COLL 7351

Good

Over: LATERAL E-65

.5NW OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 2011 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 110

N18

Good

Over: STREAM

2E GOSPER/FRONTIER CL, Gosper, NE

Built 2003 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 105

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

6N 2E OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1994 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 30

COLL 7356

Good

Over: W BR TURKEY CREEK

6S 3W OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1983 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 25

N18

Good

Over: E BR MUDDY CREEK

1E GOSPER/FRONTIER CL, Gosper, NE

Built 2003 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 105

US283

Good

Over: ELK CREEK

11N ARAPAHOE, Gosper, NE

Built 1960 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 1,225

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: E BR MUDDY CREEK

15S 4.5W OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1988 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 5

FAS 1550

Good

Over: STREAM

JCT US283/N23 6.5N 11.2E, Gosper, NE

Built 1989 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 170

N23

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

4E EUSTIS, Gosper, NE

Built 1959 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 990

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

4N 4W OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1991 Load: 37.0 t ADT: 20

COLL 7351

Good

Over: W BR TURKEY CREEK

9.2S 2W OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1989 Load: 37.0 t ADT: 35

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

2.5N 2E ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1994 Load: 37.0 t ADT: 20

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: ELK CREEK

10S OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1993 Load: 37.0 t ADT: 20

COLL 7351

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

2N 1W OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1998 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 110

ROAD 731

Good

Over: TURKEY CREEK

10S 2W OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1998 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 35

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: MUDDY CREEK

14S 6W OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1993 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 20

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: E BR MUDDY CREEK

9S 5.2W OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1989 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 25

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: LATERAL E-65

5N .2E OF ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 2018 Load: 42.0 t ADT: 30

COLL 7375

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

3E 7N OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 1987 Load: 43.0 t ADT: 140

FAS 1695

Good

Over: TRI-COUNTY SUPPLY CANAL

JCT US283/N23 7N 6.6E, Gosper, NE

Built 1993 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 485

US283

Good

Over: TRI-COUNTY SUPPLY CANAL

9NE ELWOOD, Gosper, NE

Built 1992 Load: 52.0 t ADT: 2,310

ROAD 730

Good

Over: TURKEY CREEK

11S 1.7W OF SMITHFIELD, Gosper, NE

Built 2020 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 5
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.