County profile · official public datasets

Deschutes County, OR

152 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 56.6% rated Good, 42.1% Fair, 1.3% Poor.

152
Public bridges: 56.6%
Good condition: 1.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Deschutes County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 14%
lowest Poor share in state: 1.3%
Poor-condition share: 152
public highway bridges: 1986
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.

Deschutes County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Deschutes County ranks #5 of 36 Oregon counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.3%). Deschutes County, Oregon contains 152 public highway bridges. Roughly 56.6% are rated “Good,” 42.1% “Fair,” and 1.3% “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

152

Public highway bridges in Deschutes County

Good condition

56.6%

86 of 152 rated 7-9

Fair condition

42.1%

64 of 152 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.3%

2 of 152 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#5 of 36

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

Condition distribution

Share of 152 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

56.6% (86)

Fair

42.1% (64)

Poor

1.3% (2)

Deschutes County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 10 crossings a day against 8,716 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 152 of 152 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

28.9% of Deschutes County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

44 of the 152 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 56.6% 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 65% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

COYOTE RD NG/BBRG1 over NORTH UNIT CANAL, built 1960, carries 13 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 20 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1930s

1
1940s

2
1950s

4
1960s

21
1970s

30
1980s

24
1990s

26
2000s

28
2010s

11
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1986, 11 years newer than the Oregon average of 1975.

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

The 5 Oregon counties nearest Deschutes County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.3% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 11 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Deschutes County and the 5 Oregon counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Polk County	161	29.2%	64%	6.8%	1976
Clatsop County	155	32.9%	63.2%	3.9%	1974
Deschutes County (this page)	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
Grant County	144	45.1%	49.3%	5.6%	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 Deschutes 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 Deschutes County, both outside Oregon so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OR (152 bridges here).

Logan County, AR · 152 bridges
Kosciusko County, IN · 152 bridges
Muhlenberg County, KY · 152 bridges
Clinton County, MO · 152 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OR (1986 here).

El Paso County, TX · avg 1986 · 783 bridges
Caddo County, LA · avg 1986 · 682 bridges
Weld County, CO · avg 1986 · 614 bridges
Polk County, IA · avg 1986 · 545 bridges

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

All 152 Good 86 Fair 64 Poor 2

Good-condition bridges (86)

Sort:

Deschutes County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Deschutes County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20 vehicle crossings a day

28.9% of Deschutes County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 65% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Deschutes 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

Good-condition bridges (86)

SPRING RIVER ROAD

US 97 (HWY 004)SB

LOWER BRIDGE RD

US 20 (HWY 017)

NEWPORT AVENUE

NW MAPLE AVE

HAMEHOOK ROAD

US 97 (HWY 004)

Sisemore Road

EMPIRE AVE

FALL RIVER ROAD

FERGUSON ROAD

Mt. Washington Dr.

U XING 3RD ST BR

CASCADE LAKES HWY

46TH ST-PHILLI

PLEASANT RIDGE

Cascade Lakes Hwy

CLINE FALLS HWY

BRIDGE DRIVE SRD4

US 97 (HWY 004)

US 97 (HWY 004) SB

So. Century Dr.

US 97 (HWY 004)NB

LARCH AVE

US 20 (HWY 007)

THREE CREEKS ROAD

US 97 (HWY 004BG)

OR 126 (HWY 015)

CAMP POLK ROAD

U XING MURPHY BR

PAULINA LAKE RD

TETHEROW ROAD

LaPine Ste Rec Rd

WALKER ROAD

Deschutes Market

NE 5TH ST

Hwy 017

BRINSON BLVD

Colorado Ave

SOLAR DRIVE

BRINSON BLVD

BROOKSWOOD BLVD

THREE CREEKS ROAD

US 97 (HWY 004)

BAKER ROAD

MURPHY RD

CHINA HAT ROAD

Cascade Lakes Hwy

S. Creekside Dr.

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