County profile · official public datasets

Adams County, ND

45 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 35.6% rated Good, 51.1% Fair, 13.3% Poor.

45
Public bridges: 35.6%
Good condition: 13.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

38th
of 53 on Poor share: 13.3%
Poor-condition share: 45
public highway bridges: 1972
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.

Adams County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Adams County ranks #38 of 53 North Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 13.3%). Adams County, North Dakota contains 45 public highway bridges. Roughly 35.6% are rated “Good,” 51.1% “Fair,” and 13.3% “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

Public highway bridges in Adams County

Good condition

35.6%

16 of 45 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.1%

23 of 45 rated 5-6

Poor condition

13.3%

6 of 45 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#38 of 53

Among North Dakota counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 45 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

35.6% (16)

Fair

51.1% (23)

Poor

13.3% (6)

Adams County's Poor-condition bridges carry 46 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 13.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 8 crossings a day against 396 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 45 of 45 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

44.4% of Adams County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

20 of the 45 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 35.6% 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 21.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

14TH ST SW over BUFFALO CREEK, built 1919, carries 10 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 46 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

1
1930s

9
1940s

1
1950s

2
1960s

3
1970s

8
1980s

7
1990s

3
2000s

8
2010s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 9 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the North Dakota average (1975).

How Adams County compares with North Dakota's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 North Dakota counties nearest Adams County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 13.3% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1985 is 13 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 52 North Dakota counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Adams County and the 5 North Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Ramsey County	48	43.8%	47.9%	8.3%	1987
Adams County (this page)	45	35.6%	51.1%	13.3%	1972
Dickey County	43	62.8%	37.2%	0%	1986
Slope County	43	86%	14%	0%	1989
Wells County	41	61%	31.7%	7.3%	1980
Benson County	40	57.5%	25%	17.5%	1983

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 Adams 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 Adams County, both outside North Dakota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ND (45 bridges here).

Dawson County, GA · 45 bridges
Miller County, GA · 45 bridges
Twiggs County, GA · 45 bridges
Caribou County, ID · 45 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ND (1972 here).

Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
Madison County, AL · avg 1972 · 710 bridges
Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
York County, PA · avg 1972 · 569 bridges

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

All 45 Good 16 Fair 23 Poor 6

Fair-condition bridges (23)

Sort:

Adams County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Adams County's Poor-condition bridges carry 46 vehicle crossings a day

44.4% of Adams County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 21.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Adams County compares with North Dakota's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Fair-condition bridges (23)

13TH ST NW

31ST ST NE

7th Street NE

8th Ave NE

120TH AVE SW

1ST AVE. EAST

29TH ST. NE

ND HIGHWAY 8

4TH ST NORTHEAST

4TH ST NE

ND HIGHWAY 22

18TH AVE. NW

ND HIGHWAY 8

ND HIGHWAY 8

8TH AVE NORTHEAST

9TH AVE. NE

19TH ST SE

3rd st NW

18TH AVE NORTHWEST

ND HIGHWAY 22

ND HIGHWAY 8

US HIGHWAY 12

18th St. NE

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