County profile · official public datasets

Wayne County, NE

251 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 55% rated Good, 35.5% Fair, 9.6% Poor.

251
Public bridges
55%
Good condition
9.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

64th
of 88 on Poor share
9.6%
Poor-condition share
251
public highway bridges
1978
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.

Wayne County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Wayne County ranks #64 of 88 Nebraska counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.6%). Wayne County, Nebraska contains 251 public highway bridges. Roughly 55% are rated “Good,” 35.5% “Fair,” and 9.6% “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

251

Public highway bridges in Wayne County

Good condition

55%

138 of 251 rated 7-9

Fair condition

35.5%

89 of 251 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.6%

24 of 251 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#64 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 251 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
55% (138)
Fair
35.5% (89)
Poor
9.6% (24)

Wayne County's Poor-condition bridges carry 605 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 25 crossings a day against 355 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 251 of 251 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

42.2% of Wayne County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

106 of the 251 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 55% 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 14.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SUNRISE ROAD over DEER CREEK, built 1935, carries 90 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 24-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 605 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Wayne County's bridges were built

251 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 81 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 32.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the Nebraska average (1977).

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

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

The 5 Nebraska counties nearest Wayne County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Wayne County and the 5 Nebraska counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Richardson County 258 13.6%
Nuckolls County 255 9%
Colfax County 252 2%
Wayne County (this page) 251 9.6%
Scotts Bluff County 250 5.2%
Seward County 244 7.8%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NE (251 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NE (1978 here).

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

Good-condition bridges (138)

580TH AVENUE

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

4E 9S OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 1982 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 25

SHOLES DRIVE

Good

Over: STREAM

JCT N57/N98 5.4W 6.8N, Wayne, NE

Built 1976 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 110

562ND AVENUE

Good

Over: TRIB. TO SPRING CREEK

.6E .6N OF HOSKINS, Wayne, NE

Built 2004 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 30

562ND AVE

Good

Over: STREAM

JCT N57/N98 5W .4S, Wayne, NE

Built 1975 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 100

568TH AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

5S OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 1989 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 50

572ND AVE

Good

Over: DEER CREEK TRIBUTARY

JCT N35/N98 4E 1.8N, Wayne, NE

Built 2004 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 70

850TH ROAD

Good

Over: STREAM

6S 2.2E OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 2002 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 20

850TH ROAD

Good

Over: STREAM

5.3S 3.4E OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 2008 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 10

850TH ROAD

Good

Over: STREAM

5.3S 7.4E OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 2002 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 25

849TH ROAD

Good

Over: HUMBUG CREEK

2.6S 1.9W OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 2007 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 35

849TH ROAD

Good

Over: STREAM

6.3S 3.1E OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 2000 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 25

577TH AVENUE

Good

Over: COON CREEK

.5E 2.9S OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 2007 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 60

580TH AVENUE

Good

Over: COON CREEK

3.5E 2.6S OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 2001 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 30

581ST AVE/COL 7791

Good

Over: COON CREEK

4.5E 2.4S OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 2000 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 95

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Good

Over: COON CREEK

5.4E 2.4S OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 2004 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 10

EAST 21ST STREET

Good

Over: STREAM

1N .6E OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 1985 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 30

IRR/N16

Good

Over: RATTLESNAKE CREEK

8W PENDER, Wayne, NE

Built 1965 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 915

N16

Good

Over: STREAM

6S WAKEFIELD, Wayne, NE

Built 1963 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 1,070

N35

Good

Over: STREAM

2E HOSKINS, Wayne, NE

Built 1955 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 2,440

N98

Good

Over: STREAM

17W WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 1969 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 1,265

N98

Good

Over: STREAM

12W WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 1969 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 1,265

N98

Good

Over: STREAM

9W WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 1936 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 1,265

858TH ROAD

Good

Over: SOUTH LOGAN CREEK

3E N15 DIXON CL, Wayne, NE

Built 1984 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 155

N35

Good

Over: CHAPIN CREEK TRIBUTARY

3N WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 1955 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 2,180

569TH AVENUE

Good

Over: DOG CREEK

1.6E 1.2N OF CARROLL, Wayne, NE

Built 2000 Load: 28.0 t ADT: 20

860TH ROAD

Good

Over: DEER CREEK

1N 3.5W OF CARROLL, Wayne, NE

Built 2011 Load: 30.0 t ADT: 35

565TH AVENUE

Good

Over: DEER CREEK

2W .9N OF CARROLL, Wayne, NE

Built 1986 Load: 31.0 t ADT: 30

567TH AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

.5W 5.4S OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 2015 Load: 31.0 t ADT: 40

CENTENNIAL ROAD

Good

Over: SOUTH LOGAN CREEK

.6E OF WAYNE, Wayne, NE

Built 1988 Load: 32.0 t ADT: 100

558TH AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

1N N98 PIERCE CL, Wayne, NE

Built 2012 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 30

559TH AVE/COL 7793

Good

Over: STREAM

2.2W 2.2N OF HOSKINS, Wayne, NE

Built 2017 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 60

559TH AVE

Good

Over: TURTLE CREEK

2.2W 2.5N OF HOSKINS, Wayne, NE

Built 2021 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 60

559TH AVE/COL 7793

Good

Over: STREAM

3W 8.7N OF HOSKINS, Wayne, NE

Built 2012 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 45

559TH AVE/COL 7793

Good

Over: STREAM

2.2W 11.7N OF HOSKINS, Wayne, NE

Built 2010 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 30

863RD RD

Good

Over: DOG CREEK

JCT N57/N98 2.6W 7.1N, Wayne, NE

Built 2015 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 20

863RD ROAD

Good

Over: STREAM

1.1E 4N OF CARROLL, Wayne, NE

Built 2013 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 35

560TH AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

1.7N 1W OF HOSKINS, Wayne, NE

Built 2012 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 25

862 RD

Good

Over: DEER CREEK

3.85S & 1.6E RANDOLPH, Wayne, NE

Built 2017 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 50

862ND RD.

Good

Over: STREAM

JCT N98/N57 6N 4E, Wayne, NE

Built 2013 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 25

562ND AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

1NE OF HOSKINS, Wayne, NE

Built 2013 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 30

562ND AVE/COL 7795

Good

Over: DOG CREEK

.6N OF SHOLES, Wayne, NE

Built 2015 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 130

860TH RD

Good

Over: DEER CREEK

_, Wayne, NE

Built 2020 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 35

859TH ROAD

Good

Over: N FK ELKHORN RIVER TRIB

JCT N57/N98 3N 8.7W, Wayne, NE

Built 2019 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 20

564TH AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

3.5W 1.1S OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 2014 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 10

565TH AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

3S 3W OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 2014 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 40

56TH AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

1.2S 3W OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 2019 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 10

565TH AVENUE

Good

Over: STREAM

.1S 3W OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 2017 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 30

565TH AVE

Good

Over: SOUTH LOGAN CREEK

2.5W .9N OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 2023 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 45

565TH AVE

Good

Over: DOG CREEK TRIB

2W 2.7N OF CARROLL, Wayne, NE

Built 2020 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 30

566TH AVENUE

Good

Over: SOUTH LOGAN CREEK

1.5W OF WINSIDE, Wayne, NE

Built 2014 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 10
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.