County profile · official public datasets

Faulk County, SD

46 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 19.6% rated Good, 58.7% Fair, 21.7% Poor.

46
Public bridges: 19.6%
Good condition: 21.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Faulk 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.

47th
of 66 on Poor share: 21.7%
Poor-condition share: 46
public highway bridges: 1966
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.

Faulk County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Faulk County ranks #47 of 66 South Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 21.7%). Faulk County, South Dakota contains 46 public highway bridges. Roughly 19.6% are rated “Good,” 58.7% “Fair,” and 21.7% “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

Public highway bridges in Faulk County

Good condition

19.6%

9 of 46 rated 7-9

Fair condition

58.7%

27 of 46 rated 5-6

Poor condition

21.7%

10 of 46 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#47 of 66

Among South Dakota counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 46 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

19.6% (9)

Fair

58.7% (27)

Poor

21.7% (10)

Faulk County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,413 vehicle crossings a day

That is 18.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 21.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 141 crossings a day against 201 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 46 of 46 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.2% of Faulk County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

24 of the 46 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 19.6% 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 54% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US212 over SOUTH FORK SNAKE CK, built 1939, carries 763 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 10-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,413 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

5
1930s

12
1940s

3
1950s

3
1970s

4
1980s

6
1990s

3
2000s

5
2010s

3
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 12 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1966, 9 years older than the South Dakota average of 1975.

How Faulk County compares with South Dakota's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 South Dakota counties nearest Faulk County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 21.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1966 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is 10 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 65 South Dakota counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Faulk County and the 5 South Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Gregory County	51	39.2%	54.9%	5.9%	1976
Corson County	49	32.7%	57.1%	10.2%	1973
Harding County	49	51%	46.9%	2%	1985
Faulk County (this page)	46	19.6%	58.7%	21.7%	1966
Douglas County	44	45.5%	38.6%	15.9%	1969
Hughes County	40	40%	37.5%	22.5%	1978

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 Faulk 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 Faulk County, both outside South Dakota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SD (46 bridges here).

Butts County, GA · 46 bridges
Marion County, GA · 46 bridges
Towns County, GA · 46 bridges
Russell County, KY · 46 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside SD (1966 here).

Butler County, KS · avg 1966 · 591 bridges
Grafton County, NH · avg 1966 · 544 bridges
Queens County, NY · avg 1966 · 514 bridges
Lehigh County, PA · avg 1966 · 381 bridges

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

All 46 Good 9 Fair 27 Poor 10

All bridges (46)

Sort:

Faulk County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Faulk County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,413 vehicle crossings a day

52.2% of Faulk County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 54% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Faulk County compares with South Dakota'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 (46)

167TH ST

353RD AVE

170TH ST

152ND ST

339TH AVE

355TH AVE

359TH AVE

360TH AVE

153RD ST

368TH AVE

171ST ST

168TH ST

367TH AVE

365TH AVE

SD020

349TH AVE

SD045

150TH ST

167TH ST

160TH ST

158TH ST

152ND ST

372ND AVE

158TH ST

361ST AVE

SD020

US212

167TH ST

US212

US212

361 ST

357TH AVE

369TH AVE

359 AVE

355TH AVE

350TH AVE

370TH AVE

365TH AVE

TENTH AVENUE

364TH AVE

169TH ST

161ST ST

343RD AVE

US212

372ND AVE

361ST AVE

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