Total bridges
19
Public highway bridges in Thomas County
County profile · official public datasets
Thomas County, NE
19 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 57.9% rated Good, 42.1% Fair, 0% Poor.
- 19
- Public bridges
- 57.9%
- Good condition
- 0%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Thomas County pairs a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 10%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 0%
- Poor-condition share
- 19
- public highway bridges
- 1989
- 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.
Thomas County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Thomas County ranks #9 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Thomas County, Nebraska contains 19 public highway bridges. Roughly 57.9% are rated “Good,” 42.1% “Fair,” and 0% “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
57.9%
11 of 19 rated 7-9
Fair condition
42.1%
8 of 19 rated 5-6
Poor condition
0%
0 of 19 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#9 of 88
Among Nebraska counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 19 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 57.9% (11)
Fair 42.1% (8)
Poor 0% (0)
26.3% of Thomas County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
5 of the 19 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 57.9% 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.
When Thomas County's bridges were built
19 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1950s 2
1950–1959
2 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
3 bridges
- 1970s 1
1970–1979
1 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
6 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
6 bridges
- 2010s 1
2010–2019
1 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 6 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1989, 12 years newer than the Nebraska average of 1977.
How Thomas County compares with Nebraska's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Thomas County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1989 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 12 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 87 Nebraska counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield County | 24 | 58.3% | 37.5% | 4.2% | 1978 |
| Keya Paha County | 23 | 43.5% | 43.5% | 13% | 1971 |
| Loup County | 20 | 50% | 35% | 15% | 1977 |
| Blaine County | 19 | 57.9% | 31.6% | 10.5% | 1990 |
| Thomas County (this page) | 19 | 57.9% | 42.1% | 0% | 1989 |
| Rock County | 14 | 42.9% | 50% | 7.1% | 1968 |
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 Thomas 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 Thomas County, both outside Nebraska so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside NE (19 bridges here).
- Gilpin County, CO · 19 bridges
- Foster County, ND · 19 bridges
- Aguada County, PR · 19 bridges
- Gurabo County, PR · 19 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1989 here).
- Harris County, TX · avg 1989 · 4,029 bridges
- Mecklenburg County, NC · avg 1989 · 746 bridges
- Brazos County, TX · avg 1989 · 370 bridges
- Dubuque County, IA · avg 1989 · 346 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (8)
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: DISMAL RIVER
13S OF THEDFORD, Thomas, NE
Built 1969 Load: 12.0 t ADT: 15
SCENIC OVERLOOK RD
FairOver: DISMAL RIVER
15S THEDFORD, Thomas, NE
Built 1951 Load: 21.0 t ADT: 10
FDR 259
FairOver: MIDDLE LOUP RIVER
1.3 MI. E. OF THEDFORD, Thomas, NE
Built 1965 Load: 21.4 t ADT: 30
FAS 1495
FairOver: DISMAL RIVER
JCT N2/S-86A 13S, Thomas, NE
Built 1996 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 15
S86B NATL FOREST
FairOver: MIDDLE LOUP RIVER
1SW HALSEY, Thomas, NE
Built 1952 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 135
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: MIDDLE LOUP RIVER
.2S OF THEDFORD, Thomas, NE
Built 2002 Load: 30.0 t ADT: 50
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: MIDDLE LOUP RIVER
1E OF SENECA, Thomas, NE
Built 2003 Load: 32.0 t ADT: 30
COUNTY HIGHWAY
FairOver: MIDDLE LOUP RIVER
3W OF THEDFORD, Thomas, NE
Built 2004 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 15
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.