County profile · official public datasets

McKenzie County, ND

129 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 60.5% rated Good, 37.2% Fair, 2.3% Poor.

129
Public bridges: 60.5%
Good condition: 2.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

McKenzie 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 15%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.3%
Poor-condition share: 129
public highway bridges: 1996
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.

McKenzie County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, McKenzie County ranks #8 of 53 North Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.3%). McKenzie County, North Dakota contains 129 public highway bridges. Roughly 60.5% are rated “Good,” 37.2% “Fair,” and 2.3% “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

129

Public highway bridges in McKenzie County

Good condition

60.5%

78 of 129 rated 7-9

Fair condition

37.2%

48 of 129 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.3%

3 of 129 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#8 of 53

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

Condition distribution

Share of 129 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

60.5% (78)

Fair

37.2% (48)

Poor

2.3% (3)

McKenzie County's Poor-condition bridges carry 60 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 20 crossings a day against 1,190 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 129 of 129 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

12.4% of McKenzie County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

16 of the 129 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 60.5% 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 33.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

COUNTY HIGHWAY over CHARBONNEAU CREEK, built 1962, carries 20 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 60 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1940s

3
1950s

3
1960s

8
1970s

10
1980s

30
1990s

21
2000s

9
2010s

27
2020s

18

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1996, 21 years newer than the North Dakota average of 1975.

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

The 5 North Dakota counties nearest McKenzie County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.3% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1996 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is 24 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for McKenzie County and the 5 North Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Traill County	151	31.1%	51%	17.9%	1970
McKenzie County (this page)	129	60.5%	37.2%	2.3%	1996
Bottineau County	124	29%	53.2%	17.7%	1972
Ward County	123	43.9%	48.8%	7.3%	1980
Burleigh County	113	50.4%	47.8%	1.8%	1979
McHenry County	112	20.5%	51.8%	27.7%	1960

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ND (129 bridges here).

Clay County, AL · 129 bridges
Cross County, AR · 129 bridges
Lake County, CA · 129 bridges
Lincoln County, CO · 129 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ND (1996 here).

Clark County, NV · avg 1996 · 1,141 bridges
Hamilton County, IN · avg 1996 · 454 bridges
Hays County, TX · avg 1996 · 272 bridges
Jackson County, MS · avg 1996 · 268 bridges

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

All 129 Good 78 Fair 48 Poor 3

All bridges (129)

Sort:

McKenzie County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

McKenzie County's Poor-condition bridges carry 60 vehicle crossings a day

12.4% of McKenzie County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 33.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How McKenzie 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 (129)

US HIGHWAY 85

IRRFB ND HIWAY 23

COUNTY HIGHWAY

THIRD AVENUE S.E.

IRRFB ND HIWAY 23

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

US HIGHWAY 85

COUNTY ROAD

ND HIGHWAY 16

COUNTY HIWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

US HIGHWAY 85

US HIGHWAY 85

US HIGHWAY 85

COUNTY HIGHWAY

ND HIGHWAY-23A

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Related