County profile · official public datasets

Morton County, ND

272 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.3% rated Good, 48.9% Fair, 8.8% Poor.

272
Public bridges: 42.3%
Good condition: 8.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

29th
of 53 on Poor share: 8.8%
Poor-condition share: 272
public highway bridges: 1971
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.

Morton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Morton County ranks #29 of 53 North Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.8%). Morton County, North Dakota contains 272 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.3% are rated “Good,” 48.9% “Fair,” and 8.8% “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

272

Public highway bridges in Morton County

Good condition

42.3%

115 of 272 rated 7-9

Fair condition

48.9%

133 of 272 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.8%

24 of 272 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#29 of 53

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

Condition distribution

Share of 272 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.3% (115)

Fair

48.9% (133)

Poor

8.8% (24)

Morton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,414 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 148 crossings a day against 712 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 271 of 272 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

63.6% of Morton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

173 of the 272 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 42.3% 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 65.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

INTERSTATE 94 over CO HWY RR/EAGLE NEST INT, built 1962, carries 2,250 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 24-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 3,414 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

9
1920s

2
1930s

9
1940s

21
1950s

22
1960s

76
1970s

46
1980s

29
1990s

21
2000s

16
2010s

11
2020s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 76 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1971) matches the North Dakota average (1975).

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

The 5 North Dakota counties nearest Morton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.8% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1974 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 Morton 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	335	30.4%	57%	12.5%	1974
Morton County (this page)	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 Morton 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 Morton County, both outside North Dakota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ND (272 bridges here).

Rock Island County, IL · 272 bridges
Berrien County, MI · 272 bridges
Bolivar County, MS · 272 bridges
Blaine County, OK · 272 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ND (1971 here).

Wayne County, MI · avg 1971 · 1,026 bridges
Baltimore County, MD · avg 1971 · 783 bridges
Washington County, PA · avg 1971 · 655 bridges
Linn County, OR · avg 1971 · 566 bridges

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

All 272 Good 115 Fair 133 Poor 24

Fair-condition bridges (133)

Sort:

Morton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Morton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,414 vehicle crossings a day

63.6% of Morton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 65.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Morton 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 (133)

38TH ST

31ST ST

COUNTY HIGHWAY 83

40th St

COUNTY HIGHWAY 83

26TH AVE

62nd Street

IRRSR COUNTY HIWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY 138

49th St (CR 137)

CR83

31ST ST

36TH STREET

COUNTY HIGHWAY

24TH AVE

75th Ave

35th Street

28TH AVE

67TH ST

County Road 137

COUNTY HIGHWAY

46th St

County Road 139

County Road 140

37TH STREET

COUNTY HIGHWAY

37TH STREET

COUNTY HIGHWAY

75th Ave

35TH ST

CR89

74th ave

33 1/2 ST

41ST AVE

64th St

COUNTY HIGHWAY

MAIN STREET

CR138

61ST STREET

COUNTY HIGHWAY

COUNTY HIGHWAY

County Road 137

S ELK St

55th Ave.

ND HIGHWAY 49

COUNTY ROAD 139

COUNTY HIGHWAY 139

Hwy 139

CR139

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