County profile · official public datasets

Clatsop County, OR

155 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.9% rated Good, 63.2% Fair, 3.9% Poor.

155
Public bridges: 32.9%
Good condition: 3.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

19th
of 36 on Poor share: 3.9%
Poor-condition share: 155
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Clatsop County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clatsop County ranks #19 of 36 Oregon counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.9%). Clatsop County, Oregon contains 155 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.9% are rated “Good,” 63.2% “Fair,” and 3.9% “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

155

Public highway bridges in Clatsop County

Good condition

32.9%

51 of 155 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.2%

98 of 155 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.9%

6 of 155 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#19 of 36

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

Condition distribution

Share of 155 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

32.9% (51)

Fair

63.2% (98)

Poor

3.9% (6)

Clatsop County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20,467 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,411 crossings a day against 1,785 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 154 of 155 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

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

82 of the 155 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 32.9% 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 35.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

W BROADWAY over NECANICUM RV, built 1924, carries 7,315 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 20,467 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

9
1930s

16
1940s

1
1950s

24
1960s

27
1970s

12
1980s

17
1990s

10
2000s

21
2010s

13
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 27 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Oregon average (1975).

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

The 5 Oregon counties nearest Clatsop County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.9% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Clatsop County and the 5 Oregon counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Union County	166	42.2%	54.2%	3.6%	1980
Polk County	161	29.2%	64%	6.8%	1976
Clatsop County (this page)	155	32.9%	63.2%	3.9%	1974
Deschutes County	152	56.6%	42.1%	1.3%	1986
Yamhill County	149	24.2%	71.1%	4.7%	1975
Wasco County	148	31.8%	60.1%	8.1%	1968

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OR (155 bridges here).

Clarke County, AL · 155 bridges
Marshall County, IL · 155 bridges
Tallahatchie County, MS · 155 bridges
Haskell County, OK · 155 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OR (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 155 Good 51 Fair 98 Poor 6

Fair-condition bridges (98)

Sort:

Clatsop County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Clatsop County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20,467 vehicle crossings a day

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

One structure carries 35.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Clatsop 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

Fair-condition bridges (98)

AVENUE U

LOWER NEHALEM RD

US 30 (HWY 92)

ALDRICH POINT RD

OLD 30 SVENSEN

BRIDGE LANE

US 30 (HWY 92)

US101 (Hwy 9)

SUNSET BEACH RD

ALTERNATE HWY 101

HILL CREST LOOP RD

US101 (Hwy 9)

Wunsch Road

Hwy 102

THOMPSON FALL DR.

Maggie Johnson Rd

Hwy 103

LOWER NEHALEM RD

Hwy 105

AVENUE S

SVENSEN ISLAND RD

WALLUSKI LP ROAD

HIGHLANDS DRIVE

AVENUE A

LEWIS & CLARK SPUR

HAMLET ROAD

OR 202 (Hwy 102)

YOUNGS RIVER LP RD

US101 (HWY 9)

OR 202 (Hwy 102)

US101 (Hwy 9)

LOGAN RD

HWY 2W CONN

US 26 (HWY 47)

OLNEY CUT-OFF RD.

EAST BROADWAY

Greasy Spoon Rd

BROWNSMEAD DIKE RD

Northrup Creek Rd

BARENDSE RD

Hwy 102

HILL ROAD

Gnat Creek Road

US101 (Hwy 9)

LOWER NEHALEM RD

US 26 (HWY 047)

US101 (Hwy 9)

ODF & W ROAD

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