County profile · official public datasets

Golden Valley County, ND

34 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.2% rated Good, 61.8% Fair, 0% Poor.

34
Public bridges: 38.2%
Good condition: 0%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Golden Valley County pairs a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

Top 6%
lowest Poor share in state: 0%
Poor-condition share: 34
public highway bridges: 1968
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.

Golden Valley County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Golden Valley County ranks #3 of 53 North Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Golden Valley County, North Dakota contains 34 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.2% are rated “Good,” 61.8% “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.

Total bridges

Public highway bridges in Golden Valley County

Good condition

38.2%

13 of 34 rated 7-9

Fair condition

61.8%

21 of 34 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0 of 34 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#3 of 53

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

Condition distribution

Share of 34 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

38.2% (13)

Fair

61.8% (21)

Poor

0% (0)

70.6% of Golden Valley County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

24 of the 34 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 38.2% 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.

1930s

5
1940s

1
1950s

5
1960s

13
1970s

2
1980s

3
1990s

2
2010s

2
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 13 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 38.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1968, 7 years older than the North Dakota average of 1975.

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

The 5 North Dakota counties nearest Golden Valley 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 1968 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 7 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Golden Valley County and the 5 North Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Wells County	41	61%	31.7%	7.3%	1980
Benson County	40	57.5%	25%	17.5%	1983
Ransom County	35	51.4%	37.1%	11.4%	1968
Golden Valley County (this page)	34	38.2%	61.8%	0%	1968
Sargent County	30	53.3%	30%	16.7%	1978
Burke County	29	13.8%	69%	17.2%	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 Golden Valley 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 Golden Valley County, both outside North Dakota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ND (34 bridges here).

Bear Lake County, ID · 34 bridges
Plaquemines County, LA · 34 bridges
Guayanilla County, PR · 34 bridges
Jayuya County, PR · 34 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ND (1968 here).

Montgomery County, PA · avg 1968 · 828 bridges
San Joaquin County, CA · avg 1968 · 644 bridges
Providence County, RI · avg 1968 · 476 bridges
Imperial County, CA · avg 1968 · 444 bridges

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

All 34 Good 13 Fair 21 Poor 0

All bridges (34)

Sort:

Golden Valley County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

70.6% of Golden Valley County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

How Golden Valley 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

All bridges (34)

Elk Creek Rd

Pipeline Rd

OLD HWY 10

159th Ave SW

159th Ave SW

OLD HIGHWAY 10

OLD HIGHWAY 10

OLD HIGHWAY 10

OLD HIGHWAY 10

OLD HWY 10

159th Ave SW

INTERSTATE 94

159th Ave SW

COUNTY HIGHWAY

S. West St. (CR11)

INTERSTATE 94

INTERSTATE 94

ND HIGHWAY 16

INTERSTATE 94

INTERSTATE 94

ND HIGHWAY 16

COUNTY HIGHWAY

W River Rd

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Blacktail Rd.

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Mosher Rd.

COUNTY HIGHWAY

INTERSTATE 94

INTERSTATE 94

COUNTY HIGHWAY

ND HIGHWAY 16

ND HIGHWAY 16

INTERSTATE 94

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