County profile · official public datasets

Potter County, SD

24 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 54.2% rated Good, 45.8% Fair, 0% Poor.

24
Public bridges
54.2%
Good condition
0%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Potter County pairs a top-5% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 2%
lowest Poor share in state
0%
Poor-condition share
24
public highway bridges
1981
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.

Potter County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Potter County ranks #1 of 66 South Dakota counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Potter County, South Dakota contains 24 public highway bridges. Roughly 54.2% are rated “Good,” 45.8% “Fair,” and 0% “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

24

Public highway bridges in Potter County

Good condition

54.2%

13 of 24 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.8%

11 of 24 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0%

0 of 24 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#1 of 66

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

Condition distribution

Share of 24 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
54.2% (13)
Fair
45.8% (11)
Poor
0% (0)

37.5% of Potter County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

9 of the 24 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 54.2% 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.

When Potter County's bridges were built

24 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 9 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 37.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1981, 6 years newer than the South Dakota average of 1975.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 South Dakota counties nearest Potter County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Potter County and the 5 South Dakota counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Dewey County 28 14.3%
Mellette County 28 7.1%
Buffalo County 25 4%
Todd County 24 29.2%
Potter County (this page) 24 0%
Hyde County 23 26.1%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SD (24 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside SD (1981 here).

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

All 24 Good 13 Fair 11 Poor 0

All bridges (24)

305 AVENUE

Fair

Over: ARTICHOKE CK

5 W & 5.5 S OF GETTYSBURG, Potter, SD

Built 1998 Load: 19.3 t ADT: 99

SD020

Fair

Over: CK

1.8 W JCT SD 47 N, Potter, SD

Built 1952 Load: 21.6 t ADT: 184

299 AVENUE

Fair

Over: CK

11W & 2N GETTYSBURG, Potter, SD

Built 1963 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 15

160 ST

Fair

Over: CK

1.1W LEBANON, Potter, SD

Built 2007 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 45

155 STREET

Fair

Over: CK

7S & 0.3W HOVEN, Potter, SD

Built 1940 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 25

IRR US212

Fair

Over: MISSOURI RV (OAHE LK)

DEWEY - POTTER CO. LINE, Potter, SD

Built 1958 Load: 31.2 t ADT: 582

158 STREET

Fair

Over: LITTLE CHEYENNE CK

8.6W & 6N GETTYSBURG, Potter, SD

Built 1978 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 47

US083

Fair

Over: LITTLE CHEYENNE CK

7.8 S WALWORTH CO LINE, Potter, SD

Built 2003 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 939

SD1804

Fair

Over: CHEYENNE CK

3.7 N JCT US 212, Potter, SD

Built 1969 Load: 40.3 t ADT: 277

SD020

Fair

Over: CK

1.4 W JCT SD 47 N, Potter, SD

Built 1952 Load: 43.9 t ADT: 184

154 STREET

Fair

Over: CK

6S & 0.2W HOVEN, Potter, SD

Built 2007 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 10

US212

Good

Over: CHEYENNE CK

0.8 W JCT US 83 S, Potter, SD

Built 1940 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 985

297 AVENUE

Good

Over: ARTICHOKE CK

12W & 6.4S GETTYSBURG, Potter, SD

Built 2003 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 10

311 AVENUE

Good

Over: CK

1.0E & 4.1S GETTYSBURG, Potter, SD

Built 1936 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 143

311 AVENUE

Good

Over: CK

4.4S & 1E GETTYSBURG, Potter, SD

Built 1936 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 143

157 ST

Good

Over: CHEYENNE CK

7N & 6.8W GETTYSBURG, Potter, SD

Built 2018 Load: 33.9 t ADT: 12

US083

Good

Over: TRIB LITTLE CHEYENNE CK

10.3 S WALWORTH CO LINE, Potter, SD

Built 2003 Load: 39.8 t ADT: 939

152 STREET

Good

Over: CK

4S & 0.4W HOVEN, Potter, SD

Built 1991 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 15

US083

Good

Over: ARTICHOKE CK

1.6 N SULLY CO LINE, Potter, SD

Built 1989 Load: 47.7 t ADT: 1,452

US212

Good

Over: CK

0.5M W JCT. SD47 N, Potter, SD

Built 2001 Load: 48.8 t ADT: 1,035

156 ST.

Good

Over: CK

4N & 0.3W LEBANON, Potter, SD

Built 1992 Load: 53.4 t ADT: 10

US212

Good

Over: CK

0.4M W JCT.SD47 N, Potter, SD

Built 2001 Load: 62.2 t ADT: 1,035

155 ST.

Good

Over: LITTLE CHEYENNE CK

5.1W & 9N OF GETTYSBURG, Potter, SD

Built 2008 Load: 73.5 t ADT: 25

US083

Good

Over: LITTLE CHEYENNE CK

8.8 S WALWORTH CO LINE, Potter, SD

Built 2003 Load: 77.6 t ADT: 939

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.