Total bridges
991
Public highway bridges in Denton County
County profile · official public datasets
Denton County, TX
991 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 57.8% rated Good, 41.3% Fair, 0.9% Poor.
- 991
- Public bridges
- 57.8%
- Good condition
- 0.9%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Denton County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
- 129th
- of 247 on Poor share
- 0.9%
- Poor-condition share
- 991
- public highway bridges
- 1994
- 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.
Denton County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Denton County ranks #129 of 247 Texas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0.9%). Denton County, Texas contains 991 public highway bridges. Roughly 57.8% are rated “Good,” 41.3% “Fair,” and 0.9% “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
57.8%
573 of 991 rated 7-9
Fair condition
41.3%
409 of 991 rated 5-6
Poor condition
0.9%
9 of 991 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#129 of 247
Among Texas counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 991 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 57.8% (573)
Fair 41.3% (409)
Poor 0.9% (9)
Denton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 127,256 vehicle crossings a day
That is 1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 0.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 14,140 crossings a day against 13,125 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 989 of 991 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
22.3% of Denton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
221 of the 991 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 57.8% 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 26.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
IH 35 NBML over CLEAR CREEK, built 1958, carries 33,174 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 127,256 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Denton County's bridges were built
991 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 3
1920–1929
3 bridges
- 1930s 10
1930–1939
10 bridges
- 1940s 17
1940–1949
17 bridges
- 1950s 83
1950–1959
83 bridges
- 1960s 70
1960–1969
70 bridges
- 1970s 54
1970–1979
54 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
105 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
158 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
231 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
229 bridges
- 2020s 31
2020–2029
31 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 231 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1994, 14 years newer than the Texas average of 1980.
How Denton County compares with Texas's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Texas counties nearest Denton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0.9% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1994 against a peer-group mean of 1991 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 246 Texas counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamson County | 1,170 | 67.4% | 32.2% | 0.3% | 1995 |
| Collin County | 1,127 | 67% | 32.9% | 0.1% | 1998 |
| Denton County (this page) | 991 | 57.8% | 41.3% | 0.9% | 1994 |
| Fort Bend County | 795 | 72.8% | 24.7% | 2.5% | 1998 |
| El Paso County | 783 | 54.4% | 44.8% | 0.8% | 1986 |
| McLennan County | 714 | 51.8% | 46.2% | 2% | 1980 |
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 Denton 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 Denton County, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside TX (991 bridges here).
- Lane County, OR · 1,010 bridges
- Worcester County, MA · 1,014 bridges
- Santa Clara County, CA · 964 bridges
- Marion County, IN · 958 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside TX (1994 here).
- St. Charles County, MO · avg 1994 · 417 bridges
- Rock County, WI · avg 1994 · 304 bridges
- Pitt County, NC · avg 1994 · 228 bridges
- Columbus County, NC · avg 1994 · 226 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Good-condition bridges (573)
JOHN PAINE ROAD
GoodOver: IH 35W
1.50 MI S OF FM 2449, Denton, TX
Built 1969 Load: 14.5 t ADT: 100
FM 1171
GoodOver: IH 35W
2.69 MI S OF FM 407, Denton, TX
Built 1969 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 7,000
US 377
GoodOver: GRAVEYARD BRANCH DRAW
2.10 MI N OF FM 407, Denton, TX
Built 1942 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 6,879
US 377
GoodOver: Marshall Crk Trib
0.02 MI N of Tarrant C/L, Denton, TX
Built 1992 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 16,503
FM 428
GoodOver: CLEAR CREEK RELIEF NO 1
2.20 MI NE OF LP 288, Denton, TX
Built 1986 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 1,560
FM 428
GoodOver: CLEAR CREEK RELIEF NO 2
2.45 MI NE OF LP 288, Denton, TX
Built 1986 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 1,560
FM 428
GoodOver: CULP BRANCH
4.60 MI NE OF LP 288, Denton, TX
Built 1992 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 5,969
US 377
GoodOver: RUNNING BRANCH
0.60 MI S OF FM 428, Denton, TX
Built 1962 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 14,313
US 377
GoodOver: DRAIN
0.35 MI N OF FM 455, Denton, TX
Built 1963 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 10,454
US 377
GoodOver: WILLIAMS BRANCH
4.70 MI E OF LP 288, Denton, TX
Built 1999 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 8,070
IH 35W
GoodOver: PAMELA BRANCH
0.20 MI N OF TARRANT CL, Denton, TX
Built 1966 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 68,914
IH35W
GoodOver: DRAW
0.60 MI N OF TARRANT CL, Denton, TX
Built 1991 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 68,914
US 380
GoodOver: DRAW
0.10 MI W OF IH 35, Denton, TX
Built 1971 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 31,752
US 377/380
GoodOver: DRAIN
0.70 MI E OF LP 288, Denton, TX
Built 1999 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 33,649
US 377/380
GoodOver: TIMBER BRANCH
1.45 MI E OF LP 288, Denton, TX
Built 1999 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 33,649
US 377/380
GoodOver: THOMPSON CREEK
2.10 MI E OF LP 288, Denton, TX
Built 1999 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 36,434
US 380
GoodOver: WILLIAMS BRANCH
4.70 MI E OF LP 288, Denton, TX
Built 1999 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 37,952
IH 35 NBFR
GoodOver: CRAGER CREEK
1.55 MI N OF FM 455, Denton, TX
Built 1958 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 580
IH 35E
GoodOver: DRAINAGE DITCH
0.40 MI NW OF FM 2181, Denton, TX
Built 1950 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 86,898
US 77 (DALLAS DR)
GoodOver: DRAIN
0.75 MI NW OF IH 35E, Denton, TX
Built 1994 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 14,654
SH 114
GoodOver: DRAIN
2.20 MI E OF IH 35W, Denton, TX
Built 1998 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 46,647
SH 114 WB
GoodOver: WEST SLOUGH
2.10 MI E OF IH 35W, Denton, TX
Built 1999 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 22,871
SH 121 BUS
GoodOver: DRAW
3.25 MI NE OF IH 35E, Denton, TX
Built 1994 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 31,000
SH 121
GoodOver: DRAIN
4.95 MI NE OF IH 35E, Denton, TX
Built 1994 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 31,000
FM 156
GoodOver: FLAT DRAW
0.60 MI N OF US 380, Denton, TX
Built 1947 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 3,646
FM 156
GoodOver: DRAIN
1.90 MI N OF SH 114, Denton, TX
Built 1994 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 12,255
FM 455
GoodOver: DRAW
2.25 MI W OF FM 2450, Denton, TX
Built 1951 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 1,924
FM 455
GoodOver: N HICKORY CREEK
2.25 MI W OF FM 1173, Denton, TX
Built 1999 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 1,655
FM 428
GoodOver: DRAW
1.90 MI E OF US 377, Denton, TX
Built 1966 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 4,201
FM 428
GoodOver: DRAW
3.65 MI E OF US 377, Denton, TX
Built 1966 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 3,557
FM 407
GoodOver: DRAIN
1.8 MI W OF IH 35W, Denton, TX
Built 1994 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 15,367
FM 423
GoodOver: HACKBERRY CREEK
5.10 MI N OF SH 121, Denton, TX
Built 1955 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 30,955
FM 407
GoodOver: CURRY BRANCH
3.00 MI W OF FM 156, Denton, TX
Built 1953 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 5,289
FM 2281
GoodOver: DRAIN
0.50 MI S OF SH 121, Denton, TX
Built 1999 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 11,818
LP 288
GoodOver: KLUCK BRANCH
0.10 MI S OF US 380, Denton, TX
Built 1987 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 30,215
LP 288
GoodOver: DRAIN
0.90 MI E OF IH 35, Denton, TX
Built 1992 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 19,512
FM 2449
GoodOver: DRAIN
0.15 MI W OF FM 156, Denton, TX
Built 1986 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 2,256
FM 2450
GoodOver: DRAW
1.40 MI NW OF FM 455, Denton, TX
Built 1959 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 469
FM 2499
GoodOver: DONALD BRANCH
0.90 MI S OF FM 1171, Denton, TX
Built 1996 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 33,524
FM 2499
GoodOver: DRAIN
0.70 MI S OF FM 1171, Denton, TX
Built 1996 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 6,000
FM 2499
GoodOver: DRAW
1.80 MI N OF FM 1171, Denton, TX
Built 1997 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 30,812
FM 2931
GoodOver: DRAW
6.15 MI NE OF US 380, Denton, TX
Built 1970 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 5,680
FM 2931
GoodOver: DRAW
3.45 MI NE OF US 380, Denton, TX
Built 1970 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 5,680
FM 2931
GoodOver: DRAW
1.20 MI N OF US 380, Denton, TX
Built 1970 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 5,680
FM 2934
GoodOver: DRAIN
1.30 MI E OF FM 423, Denton, TX
Built 1969 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 37,933
SH 121
GoodOver: MIDWAY BRANCH
3.35 MI NE OF IH 35E, Denton, TX
Built 1998 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 15,000
SH 170
GoodOver: Trib. of Marshall Creek
5.4 MI E of IH 35E, Denton, TX
Built 1992 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 5,000
N Bonnie Brae St
GoodOver: Pecan Creek
0.6 MI N of UNIVERSITY DR, Denton, TX
Built 1989 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 11,787
JIM CHRISTAL RD
GoodOver: TRIB OF DRY FORK CRK
0.30 MI W OF WESTERN BL, Denton, TX
Built 1995 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 1,011
JIM CHRISTAL RD
GoodOver: TRIB OF DRY FORK CRK
0.10 MI E OF WESTERN BL, Denton, TX
Built 1995 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 1,011
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.