County profile · official public datasets

Hutchinson County, SD

161 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.9% rated Good, 50.9% Fair, 16.1% Poor.

161
Public bridges: 32.9%
Good condition: 16.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

38th
of 66 on Poor share: 16.1%
Poor-condition share: 161
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.

Hutchinson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Hutchinson County ranks #38 of 66 South Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 16.1%). Hutchinson County, South Dakota contains 161 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.9% are rated “Good,” 50.9% “Fair,” and 16.1% “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

161

Public highway bridges in Hutchinson County

Good condition

32.9%

53 of 161 rated 7-9

Fair condition

50.9%

82 of 161 rated 5-6

Poor condition

16.1%

26 of 161 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#38 of 66

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

Condition distribution

Share of 161 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

32.9% (53)

Fair

50.9% (82)

Poor

16.1% (26)

Hutchinson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,293 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 16.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 88 crossings a day against 657 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 161 of 161 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

42.2% of Hutchinson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

68 of the 161 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 30.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US018 over JAMES RV, built 1956, carries 707 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 26-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,293 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

3
1930s

19
1940s

9
1950s

13
1960s

16
1970s

17
1980s

36
1990s

19
2000s

14
2010s

9
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 36 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the South Dakota average (1975).

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

The 5 South Dakota counties nearest Hutchinson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 16.1% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1968 is 6 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Hutchinson County and the 5 South Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Spink County	176	13.6%	52.8%	33.5%	1957
Brown County	170	32.9%	55.3%	11.8%	1983
Union County	170	31.2%	49.4%	19.4%	1975
Hutchinson County (this page)	161	32.9%	50.9%	16.1%	1974
Roberts County	157	22.9%	52.9%	24.2%	1970
Beadle County	152	19.1%	47.4%	33.6%	1955

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SD (161 bridges here).

Carroll County, IN · 161 bridges
Floyd County, KY · 161 bridges
Greenup County, KY · 161 bridges
Dade County, MO · 161 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside SD (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 161 Good 53 Fair 82 Poor 26

Poor-condition bridges (26)

Sort:

Hutchinson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Hutchinson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,293 vehicle crossings a day

42.2% of Hutchinson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 30.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Hutchinson 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

Poor-condition bridges (26)

27490 416 AVE.

41630 268 ST.

28070 416 AVE.

40480 285 STR.

27310 BENSON RD

41840 280 ST.

41910 283 ST.

42130 CO. RD. 11

27290 433 AVE.

28980 417 AVE.

26970 417 AVE.

27260 418 AVE.

ASH STREET

41590 289 ST.

27440 BENSEN ROAD

28220 432 AVE.

28760 433 AVE.

26990 407 AVE

27140 417 AVE.

28430 420 AVE.

28550 421 AVE.

28450 423 AVE

43290 288 ST.

BEN STREET

41750 290 ST.

US018

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