County profile · official public datasets

Lincoln County, OR

190 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.6% rated Good, 51.1% Fair, 7.4% Poor.

190
Public bridges: 41.6%
Good condition: 7.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

31st
of 36 on Poor share: 7.4%
Poor-condition share: 190
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.

Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lincoln County ranks #31 of 36 Oregon counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.4%). Lincoln County, Oregon contains 190 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.6% are rated “Good,” 51.1% “Fair,” and 7.4% “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

190

Public highway bridges in Lincoln County

Good condition

41.6%

79 of 190 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.1%

97 of 190 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.4%

14 of 190 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#31 of 36

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

Condition distribution

Share of 190 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

41.6% (79)

Fair

51.1% (97)

Poor

7.4% (14)

Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 42,092 vehicle crossings a day

That is 8.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,007 crossings a day against 1,982 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 190 of 190 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

55.8% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

106 of the 190 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 41.6% 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 41.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US101 (HWY 9) over Yaquina Bay, built 1934, carries 17,391 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 42,092 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

6
1930s

12
1940s

8
1950s

29
1960s

40
1970s

23
1980s

13
1990s

6
2000s

27
2010s

21
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.1% 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 Lincoln County compares with Oregon's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Oregon counties nearest Lincoln County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.4% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 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 Lincoln 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 (this page)	190	41.6%	51.1%	7.4%	1974
Baker County	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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County, both outside Oregon so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OR (190 bridges here).

Clinton County, IL · 190 bridges
Wapello County, IA · 190 bridges
Webster County, IA · 190 bridges
Bienville County, LA · 190 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 190 Good 79 Fair 97 Poor 14

All bridges (190)

Sort:

Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 42,092 vehicle crossings a day

55.8% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 41.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Lincoln 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 (190)

OR 18 (Hwy 39)

BAYVIEW RD

Crab Creek Road

OR 34 (Hwy 27)

N YACHATS RIVER RD

GRANT CREEK RD

US101 (HWY 9)

OLD US 20 (HWY 33)

US101 (HWY 9)

OR 229 (HWY 181)

US101 (HWY 9)

OR 229 (HWY 181)

CHITWOOD RD

US101 (HWY 9)

DRIFT CREEK ROAD

EDDYVILLE SHOOL RD

YACHATS RIVER ROAD

OR 18 (Hwy 39)

HWY 180

YACHATS RIVER ROAD

YACHATS RIVER ROAD

OTTER CREST LP

US101 (HWY 9)

US101 (HWY 9)

OR 34 (Hwy 27)

OR 34 (HWY 27)

OLD US 20- HWY 033

US101 (HWY 9)

US101 (HWY 9)

OR 34 (Hwy 27)

OLD SCENIC HWY 101

US101 (HWY 9)

FIVE RIVERS RD

MILLPORT SLOUGH RD

Newport Pier

BEAR CREEK RD

BUTLER BRIDGE ROAD

Park Road

ROAD

OR 18 (Hwy 39)

OR 229 (HWY 181)

OR 229 (HWY 181)

IRR HUTCHCROFT RD

EAST BUCK CREEK RD

OR 34 (Hwy 27)

US101 (HWY 9)

OR 34 (Hwy 27)

ROAD

HWY 180

US101 (HWY 9)

Related