County profile · official public datasets

Nemaha County, NE

179 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.1% rated Good, 19.6% Fair, 36.3% Poor.

179
Public bridges
44.1%
Good condition
36.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Nemaha County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

88th
of 88 on Poor share
36.3%
Poor-condition share
179
public highway bridges
1967
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.

Nemaha County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Nemaha County ranks #88 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 36.3%). Nemaha County, Nebraska contains 179 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.1% are rated “Good,” 19.6% “Fair,” and 36.3% “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

179

Public highway bridges in Nemaha County

Good condition

44.1%

79 of 179 rated 7-9

Fair condition

19.6%

35 of 179 rated 5-6

Poor condition

36.3%

65 of 179 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#88 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 179 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
44.1% (79)
Fair
19.6% (35)
Poor
36.3% (65)

Nemaha County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,516 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 36.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 69 crossings a day against 890 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 179 of 179 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

53.6% of Nemaha County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

96 of the 179 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 44.1% 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 54.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US136 over MISSOURI RIVER, built 1938, carries 2,450 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 65-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 4,516 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Nemaha County's bridges were built

179 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 75 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 41.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1967, 10 years older than the Nebraska average of 1977.

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

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

The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Nemaha County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 36.3% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1967 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is 6 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Nemaha County and the 5 Nebraska counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Nemaha County (this page) 179 36.3%
Pierce County 177 13.6%
Hamilton County 175 12%
Johnson County 173 25.4%
Merrick County 173 8.7%
Burt County 169 3%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NE (179 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1967 here).

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

All 179 Good 79 Fair 35 Poor 65

Fair-condition bridges (35)

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

.5N 1.7E OF AUBURN, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 10

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

1N 1.4E OF BROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 3.0 t ADT: 15

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

.5N 2.7W OF NEMAHA, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 4.0 t ADT: 5

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: LITTLE MUDDY CREEK

4.5E 9.4S JOHNSON, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 40

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

.1NW OF NEMAHA, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 100

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: JIVERS CREEK

1.5W 2.2S OF NEMAHA, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 10

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: CODINGTON CREEK

.5E .4S OF AUBURN, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 25

723RD RD

Fair

Over: MUDDY CREEK TRIB

5S .9W OF AUBURN, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 35

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: INDIAN CREEK

.5N 4.7W OF NEMAHA, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 5

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: ORD CREEK

.4E 1.2S OF GLENROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 5.0 t ADT: 35

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

4.5E 9.7S OF JOHNSON, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 7.0 t ADT: 40

FAS 3695

Fair

Over: TRIBUTARY TO DUCK CREEK

JCT US73/S-64A 1S 4E, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 9.0 t ADT: 65

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

2N BROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1985 Load: 11.0 t ADT: 30

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: HUGHES CREEK

3.7E 1S AUBURN, Nemaha, NE

Built 1987 Load: 12.0 t ADT: 5

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: LITTLE NEMAHA RIVER TRIB

1S 5.4W OF BROWNVILLE, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 12.0 t ADT: 20

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

.4E 3.9S OF JULIAN, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 12.0 t ADT: 25

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

1.2N OF HOWE, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 13.0 t ADT: 40

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

4.5W .7S OF BROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1935 Load: 13.0 t ADT: 25

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

2.2S .2E OF PERU, Nemaha, NE

Built 1950 Load: 15.0 t ADT: 10

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: LONGS CREEK

.5W .5N OF AUBURN, Nemaha, NE

Built 1993 Load: 18.0 t ADT: 100

FAS 3670

Fair

Over: STREAM

5S OF JOHNSON, Nemaha, NE

Built 1992 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 40

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: BUCK CREEK

.1N OF PERU, Nemaha, NE

Built 1995 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 80

CALIF /FAS 3697

Fair

Over: BUCK CREEK TRIBUTARY

PERU CALIFORNIA @ FOURTH, Nemaha, NE

Built 2004 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 145

N67

Fair

Over: HIGGINS BRANCH

4E BROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1960 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 440

US136

Fair

Over: MUDDY CREEK TRIBUTARY

9E TECUMSEH, Nemaha, NE

Built 1939 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 1,980

FAS 3675

Fair

Over: LITTLE NEMAHA RIVER

JCT N67/N105 2.9E .5N, Nemaha, NE

Built 1996 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 30

FAS 3674

Fair

Over: MUDDY CREEK

JCT N105/S-64B .9W, Nemaha, NE

Built 1940 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 125

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: MUDDY CREEK

1.5E 3.1S OF JOHNSON, Nemaha, NE

Built 1985 Load: 30.0 t ADT: 25

N67

Fair

Over: LITTLE NEMAHA RIVER

1E BROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1950 Load: 30.0 t ADT: 440

728 RD

Fair

Over: MUDDY CREEK

.5E 2S OF JOHNSON, Nemaha, NE

Built 1982 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 15

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

1.5W OF PERU, Nemaha, NE

Built 2015 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 5

FAS 3660

Fair

Over: HUGHES CREEK

JCT US73/US136 5S 1E, Nemaha, NE

Built 1965 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 65

N67

Fair

Over: ROCK CREEK

5E BROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1960 Load: 38.0 t ADT: 440

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: STREAM

1.5S .4E OF BROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1990 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 20

N67

Fair

Over: STREAM

2W BROCK, Nemaha, NE

Built 1965 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 340

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.