Total bridges
250
Public highway bridges in Scotts Bluff County
County profile · official public datasets
250 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 64% rated Good, 30.8% Fair, 5.2% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Scotts Bluff 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.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Scotts Bluff County ranks #41 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.2%). Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska contains 250 public highway bridges. Roughly 64% are rated “Good,” 30.8% “Fair,” and 5.2% “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
250
Public highway bridges in Scotts Bluff County
Good condition
64%
160 of 250 rated 7-9
Fair condition
30.8%
77 of 250 rated 5-6
Poor condition
5.2%
13 of 250 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#41 of 88
Among Nebraska counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 250 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 0.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 48 crossings a day against 1,245 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 250 of 250 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
116 of the 250 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 64% 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.
COOK OIL over TRI-STATE CANAL, built 1975, carries 150 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 625 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
250 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1910–1919
6 bridges
1930–1939
44 bridges
1940–1949
4 bridges
1950–1959
6 bridges
1960–1969
37 bridges
1970–1979
35 bridges
1980–1989
53 bridges
1990–1999
23 bridges
2000–2009
33 bridges
2010–2019
8 bridges
2020–2029
1 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 53 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 is 1972, 5 years older than the Nebraska average of 1977.
The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Scotts Bluff County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.2% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1979 is 7 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 87 Nebraska counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richardson County | 258 | 41.9% | 44.6% | 13.6% | 1966 |
| Nuckolls County | 255 | 33.3% | 57.6% | 9% | 1979 |
| Colfax County | 252 | 62.7% | 35.3% | 2% | 1990 |
| Wayne County | 251 | 55% | 35.5% | 9.6% | 1978 |
| Scotts Bluff County (this page) | 250 | 64% | 30.8% | 5.2% | 1972 |
| Seward County | 244 | 66.4% | 25.8% | 7.8% | 1980 |
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 Scotts Bluff County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Scotts Bluff County, both outside Nebraska so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside NE (250 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1972 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
1.5E 7S OF LYMAN, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
1.2E 3S OF LYMAN, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
7.2S 1E OF MORRILL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: MITCHELL-GERING CANAL
2.5S OF HENRY, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: MITCHELL-GERING CANAL
2.2E 1N OF LYMAN, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
1.5E OF MORRILL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
9.5S OF MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: STREAM
1E NINEMILE CK SPEC AREA, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
2E 4N OF MINATARE, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
12W 1S OF MELBETA, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
5.5S 1W GERING, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: STREAM
2N 1W OF MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: LOW LINE CANAL
2E NINEMILE CREEK AREA, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
2.5SE OF MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: NINEMILE CREEK
NINEMILE CK SPECIAL AREA, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: HOPE CREEK TRIB
1N .2W NINE MILE CREEK, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
6E 2N OF MINATARE, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: HORSE CREEK
.2N OF LYMAN, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
5S 2W OF MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: MITCHELL-GERING CANAL
1.5S 2W OF MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: S CH N PLATTE RIVER
JCT N92/L-79E 1.8S 5.2E, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
4.5E 2N OF MINATARE, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
4.7S 2W GERING, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: NORTH PLATTE RIVER
JCT N92/L-79E 1.7S 5.2E, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: N CH N PLATTE R
.1S HENRY, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
5S 1.5E OF GERING, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: WINTERS CREEK
1E OF SCOTTSBLUFF, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TUB SPRINGS CREEK
WJCT US26/N29 7E, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: STREAM
N EDGE OF LAKE MINATARE, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: DRY SPOTTED TAIL CREEK
1W N29 SIOUX CL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: CEDAR CANYON DRAIN
2.5S 2W OF GERING, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: HIGH LINE CANAL
1.2NW OF LAKE MINATARE, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: KIOWA CREEK
10.7S OF MORRILL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: MAIN CH N PLATTE R
.4 S HENRY, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: DRY CREEK DRAIN
JCT N92/L-79C 1.5E, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: OWL CREEK
JCT N92/L-79C 2E, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
5.7E OF LYMAN, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: MITCHELL-GERING CANAL
4S OF MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
.5E 10.5S OF MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: STREAM
4S .5W OF GERING, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
1E 3.5N OF MINATARE, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: STREAM
3SE MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: FORT LARAMIE CANAL
3.2S OF MORRILL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: GERING VALLEY DRAIN
JCT N71/N92 2.6S .8E, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: ENTERPRISE CANAL
1.2NW OF SCOTTSBLUFF, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: LAKE MINATARE INLET
.5NW OF LAKE MINATARE, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
JCT US26/L-79E 4E 4.9N, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
3.5E OF MORRILL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: ENTERPRISE CANAL
1.5SE OF MITCHELL, Scotts Bluff, NE
Over: TRI-STATE CANAL
JCT N92/L-79E 1E 4N, Scotts Bluff, NE
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.