County profile · official public datasets

Stark County, ND

157 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 43.3% rated Good, 52.9% Fair, 3.8% Poor.

157
Public bridges: 43.3%
Good condition: 3.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 28%
lowest Poor share in state: 3.8%
Poor-condition share: 157
public highway bridges: 1976
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.

Stark County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Stark County ranks #15 of 53 North Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.8%). Stark County, North Dakota contains 157 public highway bridges. Roughly 43.3% are rated “Good,” 52.9% “Fair,” and 3.8% “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

157

Public highway bridges in Stark County

Good condition

43.3%

68 of 157 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.9%

83 of 157 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.8%

6 of 157 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#15 of 53

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

Condition distribution

Share of 157 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

43.3% (68)

Fair

52.9% (83)

Poor

3.8% (6)

Stark County's Poor-condition bridges carry 270 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 45 crossings a day against 860 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 157 of 157 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.9% of Stark County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

83 of the 157 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 43.3% 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 83.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

2nd AVENUE NW over HEART RIVER, built 1930, carries 225 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 270 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1910s

2
1920s

2
1930s

9
1940s

2
1950s

14
1960s

41
1970s

15
1980s

21
1990s

16
2000s

8
2010s

18
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 41 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the North Dakota average (1975).

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

The 5 North Dakota counties nearest Stark County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.8% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1978 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 Stark County and the 5 North Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Richland County	197	38.1%	48.7%	13.2%	1971
Stark County (this page)	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
Bottineau County	124	29%	53.2%	17.7%	1972
Ward County	123	43.9%	48.8%	7.3%	1980

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ND (157 bridges here).

Lowndes County, AL · 157 bridges
Jefferson County, IA · 157 bridges
Franklin County, MS · 157 bridges
Washington County, MO · 157 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ND (1976 here).

Marion County, IN · avg 1976 · 958 bridges
Mohave County, AZ · avg 1976 · 641 bridges
Comanche County, OK · avg 1976 · 593 bridges
Prince George's County, MD · avg 1976 · 576 bridges

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

All 157 Good 68 Fair 83 Poor 6

Fair-condition bridges (83)

Sort:

Stark County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Stark County's Poor-condition bridges carry 270 vehicle crossings a day

52.9% of Stark County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 83.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Stark 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 (83)

9TH STREET

W 10TH ST

I-94 BUSINESS LOOP

COUNTY ROAD

COUNTY ROAD

105TH AVE SW

COUNTY ROAD

US HIGHWAY 85

ND HIGHWAY 8

81ST AVE SW

COUNTY ROAD

80th AVE SW

ND HIGHWAY 22

COUNTY HIGHWAY

21ST ST WEST

COUNTY HIGHWAY

ND HIGHWAY 22

ND HIGHWAY 8

STATE HIGHWAY 22

COUNTY ROAD

INTERSTATE 94

INTERSTATE 94

COUNTY ROAD

STATE HWY/BUS. 94

COUNTY ROAD

COUNTY ROAD

ND HIGHWAY 22

INTERSTATE 94

INTERSTATE 94

US HIGHWAY 85

10 AVENUE EAST

ND HIGHWAY 8

US HIGHWAY 85

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