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.

When Morton County's bridges were built

272 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

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).

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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 Poor
Cass County 369 4.6%
Grand Forks County 335 12.5%
Morton County (this page) 272 8.8%
Walsh County 257 19.8%
Pembina County 204 22.5%
Richland County 197 13.2%

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).

Similar average build year

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

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

Poor-condition bridges (24)

45th Ave

Poor

Over: SWEET BRIAR CREEK

7 NORTH OF NEW SALEM, Morton, ND

Built 1922 Load: 2.2 t ADT: 20

Judson St.

Poor

Over: CREEK

AT JUDSON, Morton, ND

Built 1940 Load: 2.5 t ADT: 10

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Poor

Over: N BR CANTEPETA CREEK

8 WEST 3 NORTH OF FT RICE, Morton, ND

Built 1972 Load: 3.3 t ADT: 5

22ND AVE

Poor

Over: SE BR LITTLE HEART RIVER

2 S 1 E OF ST ANTHONY, Morton, ND

Built 1919 Load: 3.9 t ADT: 24

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Poor

Over: CHANTA PETA CREEK

10 EAST 1 NORTH FLASHER, Morton, ND

Built 1919 Load: 5.2 t ADT: 20

SOUTH PARK STREET

Poor

Over: BRANCH OF KNIFE RIVER

CITY OF HEBRON, Morton, ND

Built 1916 Load: 5.8 t ADT: 200

58th St.

Poor

Over: SE BR LITTLE HEART RIVER

3 SOUTH 1 EAST ST ANTHONY, Morton, ND

Built 1971 Load: 7.2 t ADT: 5

49 1/2 AVENUE

Poor

Over: BIG MUDDY CREEK

1 E 1 S ALMONT, Morton, ND

Built 1940 Load: 11.1 t ADT: 10

40TH AVE

Poor

Over: CREEK

11 NORTH 1 WEST FLASHER, Morton, ND

Built 1942 Load: 12.7 t ADT: 30

53RD ST

Poor

Over: LITTLE HEART RIVER

2 NORTH 2 WEST ST ANTHONY, Morton, ND

Built 1960 Load: 13.1 t ADT: 10

Main Avenue

Poor

Over: LITTLE KNIFE RIVER

1 EAST OF HEBRON, Morton, ND

Built 1955 Load: 13.7 t ADT: 130

25TH AVE

Poor

Over: OTTER CREEK

7 NORTH 13 EAST OF JUDSON, Morton, ND

Built 1945 Load: 14.3 t ADT: 15

44TH AVE

Poor

Over: DRAINAGE AREA

2 EAST 9 SOUTH OF HEBRON, Morton, ND

Built 1965 Load: 16.6 t ADT: 25

CR139

Poor

Over: CREEK

1 NORTH 6 EAST OF JUDSON, Morton, ND

Built 1960 Load: 19.1 t ADT: 405

70th Ave. SW

Poor

Over: DRAINAGE AREA

3 SOUTH 6 EAST OF HEBRON, Morton, ND

Built 1967 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 5

58TH AVENUE

Poor

Over: DRAINAGE AREA

5 SOUTH 8 WEST OF ALMONT, Morton, ND

Built 1966 Load: 20.2 t ADT: 25

34TH STREET

Poor

Over: SQUARE BUTTE CREEK

2 WEST 6 NORTH OF MANDAN, Morton, ND

Built 1971 Load: 22.1 t ADT: 25

EAST FULTON AVENUE

Poor

Over: BRANCH OF KNIFE RIVER

CITY OF HEBRON, Morton, ND

Built 1924 Load: 22.5 t

County Highway 86

Poor

Over: DRAINAGE AREA

1 SOUTH OF ALMONT, Morton, ND

Built 1968 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 110

COUNTY HIGHWAY

Poor

Over: ATV TRAIL

12 South of I94 off 1806, Morton, ND

Built 1960 Load: 28.0 t ADT: 5

17TH AVE

Poor

Over: NW BR. CANTEPETA CREEK

3 SOUTH 9 WEST FORT RICE, Morton, ND

Built 1971 Load: 28.7 t ADT: 20

STATE ROUTE 87

Poor

Over: HAILSTONE CREEK

9 E 10 N GLEN ULLIN, Morton, ND

Built 1940 Load: 31.9 t ADT: 20

INTERSTATE 94

Poor

Over: CO HWY RR/EAGLE NEST INT

7 WEST OF ND 49, Morton, ND

Built 1962 Load: 34.8 t ADT: 2,250

COUNTY HIGHWAY 83

Poor

Over: CREEK

1 NORTH 7 EAST OF JUDSON, Morton, ND

Built 1979 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 45

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.