County profile · official public datasets

Grand Forks County, ND

335 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 30.4% rated Good, 57% Fair, 12.5% Poor.

335
Public bridges: 30.4%
Good condition: 12.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

36th
of 53 on Poor share: 12.5%
Poor-condition share: 335
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Grand Forks County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Grand Forks County ranks #36 of 53 North Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.5%). Grand Forks County, North Dakota contains 335 public highway bridges. Roughly 30.4% are rated “Good,” 57% “Fair,” and 12.5% “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

335

Public highway bridges in Grand Forks County

Good condition

30.4%

102 of 335 rated 7-9

Fair condition

57%

191 of 335 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.5%

42 of 335 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#36 of 53

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

Condition distribution

Share of 335 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

30.4% (102)

Fair

57% (191)

Poor

12.5% (42)

Grand Forks County's Poor-condition bridges carry 35,989 vehicle crossings a day

That is 8.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 857 crossings a day against 1,942 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 335 of 335 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

53.4% of Grand Forks County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

179 of the 335 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 30.4% 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 59.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US HIGHWAY 2 over RED RIVER OF THE NORTH, built 1963, carries 21,500 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 42-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 35,989 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

10
1920s

5
1930s

5
1940s

13
1950s

53
1960s

73
1970s

33
1980s

41
1990s

43
2000s

41
2010s

12
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 73 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the North Dakota average (1975).

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

The 5 North Dakota counties nearest Grand Forks County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.5% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Grand Forks County and the 5 North Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Cass County	369	52%	43.4%	4.6%	1987
Grand Forks County (this page)	335	30.4%	57%	12.5%	1974
Morton County	272	42.3%	48.9%	8.8%	1971
Walsh County	257	30%	50.2%	19.8%	1969
Pembina County	204	22.5%	54.9%	22.5%	1969
Richland County	197	38.1%	48.7%	13.2%	1971

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ND (335 bridges here).

Shelby County, IL · 335 bridges
Washington County, KS · 335 bridges
Iredell County, NC · 335 bridges
Jefferson County, AR · 336 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ND (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 335 Good 102 Fair 191 Poor 42

All bridges (335)

Sort:

Grand Forks County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Grand Forks County's Poor-condition bridges carry 35,989 vehicle crossings a day

53.4% of Grand Forks County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 59.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Grand Forks 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 (335)

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APPROACH DRIVE

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INTERSTATE 29

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US HIGHWAY 2

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INTERSTATE 29

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