County profile · official public datasets

Cuyahoga County, OH

871 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 43.2% rated Good, 47.2% Fair, 9.6% Poor.

871
Public bridges: 43.2%
Good condition: 9.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Cuyahoga County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

81st
of 88 on Poor share: 9.6%
Poor-condition share: 871
public highway bridges: 1969
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.

Cuyahoga County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cuyahoga County ranks #81 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.6%). Cuyahoga County, Ohio contains 871 public highway bridges. Roughly 43.2% are rated “Good,” 47.2% “Fair,” and 9.6% “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

871

Public highway bridges in Cuyahoga County

Good condition

43.2%

376 of 871 rated 7-9

Fair condition

47.2%

411 of 871 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.6%

84 of 871 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#81 of 88

Among Ohio counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 871 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

43.2% (376)

Fair

47.2% (411)

Poor

9.6% (84)

Cuyahoga County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,287,751 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 15,330 crossings a day against 27,797 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 871 of 871 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

58% of Cuyahoga County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

505 of the 871 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 43.2% 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 11.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IR 480 over CR 8 (LEE RD), built 1971, carries 142,337 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 84-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,287,751 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

6
1900s

27
1910s

22
1920s

29
1930s

54
1940s

21
1950s

85
1960s

196
1970s

152
1980s

77
1990s

80
2000s

44
2010s

69
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 196 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1969, 8 years older than the Ohio average of 1977.

How Cuyahoga County compares with Ohio's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Cuyahoga County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.6% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1969 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 8 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 87 Ohio counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cuyahoga County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Franklin County	922	72.2%	25.8%	2%	1981
Cuyahoga County (this page)	871	43.2%	47.2%	9.6%	1969
Hamilton County	783	57.5%	39.6%	2.9%	1970
Montgomery County	632	67.2%	30.1%	2.7%	1981
Summit County	563	55.4%	42.3%	2.3%	1974
Wood County	508	64.2%	31.5%	4.3%	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 Cuyahoga 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 Cuyahoga County, both outside Ohio so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (871 bridges here).

Orange County, FL · 885 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · 893 bridges
Hillsborough County, FL · 840 bridges
Erie County, NY · 906 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1969 here).

Cook County, IL · avg 1969 · 1,721 bridges
Fresno County, CA · avg 1969 · 916 bridges
Ventura County, CA · avg 1969 · 501 bridges
Somerset County, PA · avg 1969 · 454 bridges

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

All 871 Good 376 Fair 411 Poor 84

Good-condition bridges (376)

Sort:

Cuyahoga County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Cuyahoga County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,287,751 vehicle crossings a day

58% of Cuyahoga County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 11.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Cuyahoga County compares with Ohio'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 (376)

IR 271 S.B.

IR 271 N.B.

RAMP NE

IR 271 SB

IR 271 NB

1R 271 S.B.

BRAINARD RD

IR 271X SB

IR 271X NB

IR 271X SB

CR- 382 (E. 55th)

RAMP WN

IR 490

BEDFORD FREEWAY

IR 480 W.B.

IR 480

IR 480 E.B.

RAMP EN

RAMP EX

IR 480

SR 21

IR 480

IR 480N

IR 480

IR 480N E.B.

480N NB-I271X NB

I271X SB togo 480N

IR 480N

USR 422

USR 422

USR 422

MEMPHIS AVE CR119

BIDDULPH RD CR 135

OVIATT ROAD CR 247

SPAFFORD RD CR 316

E 152ND ST CR 362

WOLF ROAD CR 125

W 117TH ST CR 252

CLEVELAND STREET

E.110th

WEST 65 ST

WEST 44TH STREET

S CANTERBURY ROAD

BUTRMILK FALLS PKY

Valley Parkway

USR 6

RTA

IR 271 S.B.

EAST 121ST ST

Valley Parkway

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