County profile · official public datasets

Thurston County, NE

152 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.7% rated Good, 30.9% Fair, 20.4% Poor.

152
Public bridges: 48.7%
Good condition: 20.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

83rd
of 88 on Poor share: 20.4%
Poor-condition share: 152
public highway bridges: 1980
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.

Thurston County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Thurston County ranks #83 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 20.4%). Thurston County, Nebraska contains 152 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.7% are rated “Good,” 30.9% “Fair,” and 20.4% “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

152

Public highway bridges in Thurston County

Good condition

48.7%

74 of 152 rated 7-9

Fair condition

30.9%

47 of 152 rated 5-6

Poor condition

20.4%

31 of 152 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#83 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 152 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

48.7% (74)

Fair

30.9% (47)

Poor

20.4% (31)

Thurston County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,533 vehicle crossings a day

That is 18.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 20.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 501 crossings a day against 391 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 152 of 152 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39.5% of Thurston County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

60 of the 152 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 48.7% 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 42.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IRR/US77 over STREAM, built 1939, carries 6,565 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 31-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 15,533 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

2
1910s

3
1920s

1
1930s

27
1940s

4
1950s

14
1960s

9
1970s

5
1980s

9
1990s

18
2000s

20
2010s

31
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 31 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1980) matches the Nebraska average (1977).

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

The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Thurston County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 20.4% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1980 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Thurston County and the 5 Nebraska counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Howard County	161	29.2%	64.6%	6.2%	1977
Cheyenne County	159	82.4%	16.4%	1.3%	1973
Thurston County (this page)	152	48.7%	30.9%	20.4%	1980
Washington County	149	76.5%	20.8%	2.7%	1989
Nance County	148	54.1%	40.5%	5.4%	1973
Dixon County	146	34.2%	56.2%	9.6%	1978

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NE (152 bridges here).

Logan County, AR · 152 bridges
Kosciusko County, IN · 152 bridges
Muhlenberg County, KY · 152 bridges
Clinton County, MO · 152 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1980 here).

Tulsa County, OK · avg 1980 · 1,135 bridges
Miami-Dade County, FL · avg 1980 · 1,057 bridges
Pulaski County, AR · avg 1980 · 721 bridges
McLennan County, TX · avg 1980 · 714 bridges

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

All 152 Good 74 Fair 47 Poor 31

All bridges (152)

Sort:

Thurston County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Thurston County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,533 vehicle crossings a day

39.5% of Thurston County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 42.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

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

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (152)

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COLL 7784

IRR/COLL 7881

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COLL 7784

IRR/TOWNSHIP ROAD

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/FAS 3560

IRR/N94

IRR/N94

600 AVE @ 842.8

IRR/N9/N16

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/N9

IRR/N9

IRR/N16

IRR/US75

IRR/US77

IRR/US77

IRR/US77

IRR/COLL 7877

IRR/FAS 3550

IRR/N94

IRR/US75/US77

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/TOWNSHIP ROAD

IRR BIA RTE 2

IRR/FAS 3565

28TH RD

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/N94

M AVE

IRR/N9

IRR BIA RTE 1

21ST RD

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/N9

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

F AVE

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

IRR/COUNTY HIGHWAY

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