Total bridges
80
Public highway bridges in Red Willow County
County profile · official public datasets
Red Willow County, NE
80 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 60% rated Good, 35% Fair, 5% Poor.
- 80
- Public bridges
- 60%
- Good condition
- 5%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Red Willow County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 45%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 5%
- Poor-condition share
- 80
- public highway bridges
- 1970
- 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.
Red Willow County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Red Willow County ranks #40 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5%). Red Willow County, Nebraska contains 80 public highway bridges. Roughly 60% are rated “Good,” 35% “Fair,” and 5% “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.
Good condition
60%
48 of 80 rated 7-9
Fair condition
35%
28 of 80 rated 5-6
Poor condition
5%
4 of 80 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#40 of 88
Among Nebraska counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 80 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 60% (48)
Fair 35% (28)
Poor 5% (4)
Red Willow County's Poor-condition bridges carry 110 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 28 crossings a day against 1,298 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 80 of 80 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
55% of Red Willow County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
44 of the 80 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 60% 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 45.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
FAS 1525 over DRIFTWOOD CREEK, built 1975, carries 50 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 4-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 110 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Red Willow County's bridges were built
80 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s
1930–1939
17 bridges
- 1940s 4
1940–1949
4 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
10 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
9 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
9 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
9 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
12 bridges
- 2000s 2
2000–2009
2 bridges
- 2010s 4
2010–2019
4 bridges
- 2020s 4
2020–2029
4 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 17 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1970, 7 years older than the Nebraska average of 1977.
How Red Willow County compares with Nebraska's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Red Willow County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 87 Nebraska counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greeley County | 84 | 28.6% | 54.8% | 16.7% | 1969 |
| Phelps County | 80 | 52.5% | 40% | 7.5% | 1980 |
| Red Willow County (this page) | 80 | 60% | 35% | 5% | 1970 |
| Hitchcock County | 77 | 77.9% | 18.2% | 3.9% | 1969 |
| Dakota County | 73 | 50.7% | 39.7% | 9.6% | 1975 |
| Deuel County | 73 | 80.8% | 17.8% | 1.4% | 1979 |
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 Red Willow 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 Red Willow County, both outside Nebraska so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside NE (80 bridges here).
- Moffat County, CO · 80 bridges
- Burke County, GA · 80 bridges
- Gooding County, ID · 80 bridges
- Madison County, ID · 80 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1970 here).
- Hamilton County, OH · avg 1970 · 783 bridges
- Yavapai County, AZ · avg 1970 · 543 bridges
- Garfield County, OK · avg 1970 · 504 bridges
- San Luis Obispo County, CA · avg 1970 · 401 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (28)
Field Access
FairOver: Red Willow Canal
300 feet off of Highway 6, Red Willow, NE
Built 1970 ADT: 5
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: STREAM
4S 4.7W OF MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1935 Load: 6.0 t ADT: 10
ROAD 720
FairOver: WILDCAT CREEK
N EDGE OF BARTLEY, Red Willow, NE
Built 1935 Load: 7.0 t ADT: 40
FAS 1450
FairOver: SILVER CREEK
EJCT US6/US83 20.8E 3.1N, Red Willow, NE
Built 1972 Load: 7.0 t ADT: 40
FAS 1535
FairOver: DRY CREEK
JCT US83/N89 4W 7.7N, Red Willow, NE
Built 1972 Load: 10.0 t ADT: 155
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: DRY CREEK
3S .6W OF MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1981 Load: 11.0 t ADT: 30
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: BEAVER CREEK
.2E .4N OF LEBANON, Red Willow, NE
Built 1982 Load: 11.0 t ADT: 25
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: BEAVER CREEK
1.5W .5S OF DANBURY, Red Willow, NE
Built 1935 Load: 15.0 t ADT: 35
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: BEAVER CREEK
1E 1.2N OF DANBURY, Red Willow, NE
Built 1935 Load: 16.0 t ADT: 30
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: STREAM
2.4W 2.5N OF LEBANON, Red Willow, NE
Built 1935 Load: 17.0 t ADT: 30
US6/US34
FairOver: STREAM
4W MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1931 Load: 18.0 t ADT: 4,870
US6/US34
FairOver: REPUBLICAN RIVER TRIB
6W MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1931 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 4,870
US6/US34
FairOver: STREAM
4W MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1931 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 4,870
US83
FairOver: RED WILLOW CREEK
10.3N MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1935 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 2,045
N89
FairOver: STREAM
4W DANBURY, Red Willow, NE
Built 1958 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 580
SERVICE ROAD
FairOver: STREAM
2.4E OF MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1931 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 50
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: ASH CREEK
5.2S 3.6W OF INDIANOLA, Red Willow, NE
Built 1935 Load: 23.0 t ADT: 25
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: COON CREEK
.4W 2N OF INDIANOLA, Red Willow, NE
Built 1935 Load: 23.0 t ADT: 25
FAS 1545
FairOver: REPUBLICAN RIVER
EJCT US6/US83 10.9E 1.4N, Red Willow, NE
Built 1970 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 415
FAS 1565
FairOver: BEAVER CREEK
JCT US83/N89 15.5E 3.8N, Red Willow, NE
Built 1938 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 115
County Road 720
FairOver: Red Willow Canal
7.2 mi NE of McCook, Red Willow, NE
Built 1955 Load: 25.6 t ADT: 5
COLL 7283
FairOver: BEAVER CREEK
1E .7N OF MARION, Red Willow, NE
Built 1969 Load: 26.0 t ADT: 40
N89
FairOver: STREAM
1W MARION, Red Willow, NE
Built 1958 Load: 26.0 t ADT: 580
FAS 1555
FairOver: REPUBLICAN RIVER
EJCT US6/US83 1.1N 6.5E, Red Willow, NE
Built 1980 Load: 27.0 t ADT: 235
COLL 7280
FairOver: RED WILLOW CREEK
.1N 4.5W OF INDIANOLA, Red Willow, NE
Built 2012 Load: 28.0 t ADT: 90
FAS 1565
FairOver: REPUBLICAN RIVER
EJCT US6/US83 17.2E 2.4N, Red Willow, NE
Built 1975 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 305
US83
FairOver: REPUBLICAN RIVER
1S MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1931 Load: 30.0 t ADT: 2,815
COLL 7279
FairOver: DRY CREEK
1W 7S OF MCCOOK, Red Willow, NE
Built 1975 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 40
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.