County profile · official public datasets

Baker County, OR

188 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 27.7% rated Good, 65.4% Fair, 6.9% Poor.

188
Public bridges: 27.7%
Good condition: 6.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

29th
of 36 on Poor share: 6.9%
Poor-condition share: 188
public highway bridges: 1972
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.

Baker County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Baker County ranks #29 of 36 Oregon counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.9%). Baker County, Oregon contains 188 public highway bridges. Roughly 27.7% are rated “Good,” 65.4% “Fair,” and 6.9% “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

188

Public highway bridges in Baker County

Good condition

27.7%

52 of 188 rated 7-9

Fair condition

65.4%

123 of 188 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.9%

13 of 188 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#29 of 36

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

Condition distribution

Share of 188 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

27.7% (52)

Fair

65.4% (123)

Poor

6.9% (13)

Baker County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,052 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 81 crossings a day against 1,980 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 188 of 188 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

67.6% of Baker County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

127 of the 188 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 27.7% 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 18.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

C-584 NON-FA over S FK BURNT R (ROUSE RD), built 1979, carries 193 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,052 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

7
1930s

3
1940s

2
1950s

19
1960s

56
1970s

54
1980s

20
1990s

10
2000s

12
2010s

4
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 56 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Oregon average (1975).

How Baker County compares with Oregon's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Oregon counties nearest Baker County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.9% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 35 Oregon counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Baker County and the 5 Oregon counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Benton County	190	32.6%	60%	7.4%	1974
Lincoln County	190	41.6%	51.1%	7.4%	1974
Baker County (this page)	188	27.7%	65.4%	6.9%	1972
Malheur County	181	31.5%	65.7%	2.8%	1976
Union County	166	42.2%	54.2%	3.6%	1980
Polk County	161	29.2%	64%	6.8%	1976

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 Baker 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 Baker County, both outside Oregon so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OR (188 bridges here).

Pope County, AR · 188 bridges
Kennebec County, ME · 188 bridges
Coos County, NH · 188 bridges
Socorro County, NM · 188 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OR (1972 here).

Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
Madison County, AL · avg 1972 · 710 bridges
Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
York County, PA · avg 1972 · 569 bridges

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

All 188 Good 52 Fair 123 Poor 13

All bridges (188)

Sort:

Baker County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Baker County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,052 vehicle crossings a day

67.6% of Baker County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 18.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Baker County compares with Oregon'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 (188)

C-659 NON-FA

OR 203 (HWY 340)

C-564 HUCKLEBERRY

C-685 NON-FA

OR 86 (HWY 012)

County Rd 539

D Street

BROADWAY AVE O.S.

WOLF CREEK ROAD

CRACKER CREEK RD.

C-666 BEAVER CR LP

EAST EAGLE CK RD

ROAD 7015

C-575 NON-FA

RYE VALLEY LANE

C-0529 WHITNEY RD

COUNTY RD 1027

COUNTY RD 1121

HWY 6 (CONN # 3)

US 30 (HWY 449)

C-1118 GULICK RD

OR 86 (HWY 012)

C-853 NON-FA

US 30 (HWY 449)

MYRTLE STREET

LARCH CREEK RD.

C-584 NON-FA

1123 BRIDGEPORT LN

COUNTY RD 539

C-550 SILVER CR LN

C1144/FOOTHILL RD

EAGLE DRIVE

FISH CREEK ROAD

C1135-BIDWELL LN

1123 BRIDGEPORT LN

OR 86 (HWY 012)

C-773 NON-FA

1600000

Related