Total bridges
126
Public highway bridges in Hand County
County profile · official public datasets
Hand County, SD
126 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.6% rated Good, 46% Fair, 29.4% Poor.
- 126
- Public bridges
- 24.6%
- Good condition
- 29.4%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Hand 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.
- 62nd
- of 66 on Poor share
- 29.4%
- Poor-condition share
- 126
- public highway bridges
- 1961
- 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.
Hand County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Hand County ranks #62 of 66 South Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 29.4%). Hand County, South Dakota contains 126 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.6% are rated “Good,” 46% “Fair,” and 29.4% “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.
Good condition
24.6%
31 of 126 rated 7-9
Fair condition
46%
58 of 126 rated 5-6
Poor condition
29.4%
37 of 126 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#62 of 66
Among South Dakota counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 126 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 24.6% (31)
Fair 46% (58)
Poor 29.4% (37)
Hand County's Poor-condition bridges carry 968 vehicle crossings a day
That is 2.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 29.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 26 crossings a day against 309 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 126 of 126 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
65.9% of Hand County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
83 of the 126 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 24.6% 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 6.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
365TH AVE over CK, built 1930, carries 59 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 37-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 968 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Hand County's bridges were built
126 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1910s 10
1910–1919
10 bridges
- 1920s
1920–1929
13 bridges
- 1930s
1930–1939
30 bridges
- 1950s 7
1950–1959
7 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
20 bridges
- 1970s 6
1970–1979
6 bridges
- 1980s 3
1980–1989
3 bridges
- 1990s 10
1990–1999
10 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
16 bridges
- 2010s 7
2010–2019
7 bridges
- 2020s 4
2020–2029
4 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1961, 14 years older than the South Dakota average of 1975.
How Hand County compares with South Dakota's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 South Dakota counties nearest Hand County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 29.4% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1961 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is 12 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 65 South Dakota counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butte County | 143 | 30.8% | 57.3% | 11.9% | 1976 |
| Lawrence County | 136 | 36% | 51.5% | 12.5% | 1980 |
| Bon Homme County | 126 | 21.4% | 50.8% | 27.8% | 1961 |
| Hand County (this page) | 126 | 24.6% | 46% | 29.4% | 1961 |
| Davison County | 123 | 34.1% | 48.8% | 17.1% | 1973 |
| Lyman County | 114 | 40.4% | 50% | 9.6% | 1975 |
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 Hand 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 Hand County, both outside South Dakota so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside SD (126 bridges here).
- Bibb County, AL · 126 bridges
- Coosa County, AL · 126 bridges
- Lawrence County, AR · 126 bridges
- Coffee County, GA · 126 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside SD (1961 here).
- Westchester County, NY · avg 1961 · 774 bridges
- Tehama County, CA · avg 1961 · 450 bridges
- Berkshire County, MA · avg 1961 · 450 bridges
- Schuylkill County, PA · avg 1961 · 368 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (126)
175 ST
PoorOver: CK
3S & 0.3E ROCKHAM, Hand, SD
Built 1978 Load: 11.8 t ADT: 35
369TH AVE
PoorOver: SAND CK
13.7S VAYLAND, Hand, SD
Built 1932 Load: 11.8 t ADT: 37
365 AVE
PoorOver: SHAEFER CK
5 E & 11.1 N MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1935 Load: 12.6 t ADT: 15
368TH AVE
PoorOver: LITTLE TURTLE CK
8E & 6.2N MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1928 Load: 13.0 t ADT: 15
201 ST
PoorOver: CK
3 S & 2.7 W MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1926 Load: 14.7 t ADT: 10
369 AVE
PoorOver: CK
1 E & 6.2 S ROCKHAM, Hand, SD
Built 1935 Load: 14.7 t ADT: 10
359TH AVE
PoorOver: CK
1W & 2.4S MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1930 Load: 15.5 t ADT: 15
357TH AVE
PoorOver: CK
3W & 4.1 S MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1926 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 10
347TH AVE
PoorOver: CK
8.5S & 2W REE HEIGHTS, Hand, SD
Built 1910 Load: 17.9 t ADT: 43
345TH AVE
PoorOver: CK
3.7W & 9.4S REE HEIGHTS, Hand, SD
Built 1930 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 43
GREEN VALLEY RD
PoorOver: CK
5.8S & 1.7W REE HEIGHTS, Hand, SD
Built 1920 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 43
198TH ST
PoorOver: CK
REE HEIGHTS, Hand, SD
Built 1930 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 30
202ND ST
PoorOver: CK
4S & 2.9W MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1928 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 10
193RD ST
PoorOver: CK
4N & 0.9W MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1930 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 43
W. 2ND ST
PoorOver: REE CK
MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1914 Load: 19.6 t ADT: 10
365TH AVE
PoorOver: REE CK
3.1N & 3E ST LAWRENCE, Hand, SD
Built 1920 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 43
344TH AVE
PoorOver: ELM CK
5W & 13.2S REE HEIGHTS, Hand, SD
Built 1930 Load: 20.8 t ADT: 18
355 AVE
PoorOver: LOST CK
10.5 N & 5 W MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1930 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 43
356TH AVE
PoorOver: WOLF CK
4W & 6.2N MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1922 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 10
215TH ST
PoorOver: CK
17S & 5.1E MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1930 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 10
369 AVE
PoorOver: CK
4 S 1.2 E ROCKHAM SD, Hand, SD
Built 1966 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 43
370 AVE
PoorOver: MEDICINE CK
2E & 6.1S ROCKHAM, Hand, SD
Built 1915 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 43
370TH AVE
PoorOver: PEARL CK
10E & 1.8N MILLER, Hand, SD
Built 1920 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 25
191ST ST
PoorOver: CK
11N & 0.6W WESSINGTON, Hand, SD
Built 1935 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 15
202ND ST
PoorOver: CAIN CK
0.3W WESSINGTON, Hand, SD
Built 1925 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 18
365TH AVE
PoorOver: CK
1.2N DANFORTH, Hand, SD
Built 1930 Load: 26.2 t ADT: 59
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.