County profile · official public datasets

Steele County, ND

94 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 51.1% rated Good, 42.6% Fair, 6.4% Poor.

94
Public bridges: 51.1%
Good condition: 6.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 40%
lowest Poor share in state: 6.4%
Poor-condition share: 94
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Steele County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Steele County ranks #21 of 53 North Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.4%). Steele County, North Dakota contains 94 public highway bridges. Roughly 51.1% are rated “Good,” 42.6% “Fair,” and 6.4% “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

Public highway bridges in Steele County

Good condition

51.1%

48 of 94 rated 7-9

Fair condition

42.6%

40 of 94 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.4%

6 of 94 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#21 of 53

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

Condition distribution

Share of 94 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

51.1% (48)

Fair

42.6% (40)

Poor

6.4% (6)

Steele County's Poor-condition bridges carry 85 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 14 crossings a day against 84 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 94 of 94 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39.4% of Steele County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

37 of the 94 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 51.1% 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 28.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

COUNTY HIGHWAY over ELM RIVER, built 1937, carries 24 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 85 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

1
1930s

13
1940s

4
1950s

3
1960s

5
1970s

15
1980s

29
1990s

12
2000s

5
2010s

4
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 29 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the North Dakota average (1975).

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

The 5 North Dakota counties nearest Steele County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.4% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1972 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 Steele County and the 5 North Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Burleigh County	113	50.4%	47.8%	1.8%	1979
McHenry County	112	20.5%	51.8%	27.7%	1960
Williams County	100	37%	40%	23%	1974
Steele County (this page)	94	51.1%	42.6%	6.4%	1973
Barnes County	79	55.7%	41.8%	2.5%	1978
Stutsman County	78	39.7%	53.8%	6.4%	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 Steele 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 Steele County, both outside North Dakota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside ND (94 bridges here).

Yukon-Koyukuk County, AK · 94 bridges
Lee County, AR · 94 bridges
Huerfano County, CO · 94 bridges
Henry County, KY · 94 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside ND (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges

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

All 94 Good 48 Fair 40 Poor 6

All bridges (94)

Sort:

Steele County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Steele County's Poor-condition bridges carry 85 vehicle crossings a day

39.4% of Steele County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 28.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Steele 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 (94)

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