County profile · official public datasets

Cattaraugus County, NY

484 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 55.4% rated Good, 38.4% Fair, 6.2% Poor.

484
Public bridges: 55.4%
Good condition: 6.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Cattaraugus County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 16%
lowest Poor share in state: 6.2%
Poor-condition share: 484
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Cattaraugus County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cattaraugus County ranks #10 of 62 New York counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.2%). Cattaraugus County, New York contains 484 public highway bridges. Roughly 55.4% are rated “Good,” 38.4% “Fair,” and 6.2% “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

484

Public highway bridges in Cattaraugus County

Good condition

55.4%

268 of 484 rated 7-9

Fair condition

38.4%

186 of 484 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.2%

30 of 484 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#10 of 62

Among New York counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 484 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

55.4% (268)

Fair

38.4% (186)

Poor

6.2% (30)

Cattaraugus County's Poor-condition bridges carry 44,292 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,527 crossings a day against 2,257 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 480 of 484 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

36.2% of Cattaraugus County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

175 of the 484 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 55.4% 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 25.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

RTE I86 over GODFREY HLLOW BRK, built 1972, carries 11,480 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 30-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 44,292 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

2
1900s

1
1910s

1
1920s

7
1930s

28
1940s

9
1950s

20
1960s

43
1970s

78
1980s

80
1990s

111
2000s

63
2010s

32
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 111 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1982, 10 years newer than the New York average of 1972.

How Cattaraugus County compares with New York's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 New York counties nearest Cattaraugus County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.2% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is 10 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 61 New York counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cattaraugus County and the 5 New York counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Queens County	514	30.4%	62.3%	7.4%	1966
Oneida County	496	46.2%	42.3%	11.5%	1972
Cattaraugus County (this page)	484	55.4%	38.4%	6.2%	1982
Onondaga County	472	29%	61%	10%	1974
Orange County	472	25.4%	59.3%	15.3%	1974
Broome County	468	39.3%	58.3%	2.4%	1975

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 Cattaraugus 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 Cattaraugus County, both outside New York so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NY (484 bridges here).

Windsor County, VT · 483 bridges
St. Clair County, IL · 486 bridges
Frederick County, MD · 486 bridges
Tuscaloosa County, AL · 482 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NY (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges

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

All 484 Good 268 Fair 186 Poor 30

All bridges (484)

Sort:

Cattaraugus County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Cattaraugus County's Poor-condition bridges carry 44,292 vehicle crossings a day

36.2% of Cattaraugus County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 25.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Cattaraugus County compares with New York'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 (484)

MILL STREET

MAIN STREET

RTE 62

FLAT IRON ROAD

FLAT IRON ROAD

FIVE MILE RD

RTE 242

RTE 305

RTE I86

RTE I86

RAMP J at EXIT 26

NORTHEAST ROAD

MARTHA STREET

ABBOTTS ROAD

COUNTY ROAD 13

EARL SEATON ROAD

RTE 394

WOLF ROAD

COUNTY ROAD 18

GULF ROAD

CREEK ROAD

RTE 16

HINMAN HOLLOW RD

WHIPPLE ROAD

COUNTY ROAD 86

RTE 62

CHURCH STREET

BOZARD HILL ROAD

LEON ROAD

RTE 242

RTE 305

RTE I86

FIVE MILE ROAD

ELDRIDGE ROAD

N NINE MILE CK RD

SWAMP ROAD

TOWN LINE ROAD

RTE I86

BAILEY DRIVE

CADIZ ROAD

FLATIRON ROAD

FIRST STREET

IRR RTE 955R

COUNTY ROAD 68

RTE 280

LEON ROAD

RTE I86

RTE I86

COUNTY ROAD 24

RTE 417

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