County profile · official public datasets

Richland County, ND

197 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.1% rated Good, 48.7% Fair, 13.2% Poor.

197
Public bridges: 38.1%
Good condition: 13.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

37th
of 53 on Poor share: 13.2%
Poor-condition share: 197
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.

Richland County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Richland County ranks #37 of 53 North Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 13.2%). Richland County, North Dakota contains 197 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.1% are rated “Good,” 48.7% “Fair,” and 13.2% “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

197

Public highway bridges in Richland County

Good condition

38.1%

75 of 197 rated 7-9

Fair condition

48.7%

96 of 197 rated 5-6

Poor condition

13.2%

26 of 197 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#37 of 53

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

Condition distribution

Share of 197 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

38.1% (75)

Fair

48.7% (96)

Poor

13.2% (26)

Richland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 475 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 13.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 18 crossings a day against 789 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 197 of 197 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.8% of Richland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

104 of the 197 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 38.1% 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 4.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

COUNTY HIGHWAY over SHEYENNE RIVER, built 1917, 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 26-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 475 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

13
1920s

12
1930s

17
1940s

4
1950s

5
1960s

4
1970s

74
1980s

22
1990s

13
2000s

18
2010s

14
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 74 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 37.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1971) matches the North Dakota average (1975).

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

The 5 North Dakota counties nearest Richland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 13.2% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is 5 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Richland County and the 5 North Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Walsh County	257	30%	50.2%	19.8%	1969
Pembina County	204	22.5%	54.9%	22.5%	1969
Richland County (this page)	197	38.1%	48.7%	13.2%	1971
Stark County	157	43.3%	52.9%	3.8%	1976
Traill County	151	31.1%	51%	17.9%	1970
McKenzie County	129	60.5%	37.2%	2.3%	1996

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ND (197 bridges here).

Crawford County, IL · 197 bridges
Fountain County, IN · 197 bridges
Warrick County, IN · 197 bridges
Allamakee County, IA · 197 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 197 Good 75 Fair 96 Poor 26

Good-condition bridges (75)

Sort:

Richland County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Richland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 475 vehicle crossings a day

52.8% of Richland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 4.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Richland 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

Good-condition bridges (75)

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