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.

Total bridges

991

Public highway bridges in Denton County

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

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.

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

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Denton County and the 5 Texas counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Williamson County 1,170 0.3%
Collin County 1,127 0.1%
Denton County (this page) 991 0.9%
Fort Bend County 795 2.5%
El Paso County 783 0.8%
McLennan County 714 2%

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).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TX (1994 here).

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

All 991 Good 573 Fair 409 Poor 9

Good-condition bridges (573)

Fox Hollow Rd

Good

Over: Draw

40 FT E of HOPKINS RD, Denton, TX

Built 2019 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 300

Union Park Blvd

Good

Over: Simpson Branch

0.3 ME W of FM 1385, Denton, TX

Built 2018 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,250

Grandscape Blvd

Good

Over: Pedestrian Xing

0.3 MI SE of SH 121, Denton, TX

Built 2015 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 7,500

Grandscape Blvd EB

Good

Over: BNSF RR

0.7 MI SE of SH 121, Denton, TX

Built 2015 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 186

Grandscape Blvd WB

Good

Over: BNSF RR

0.7 MI SE of SH 121, Denton, TX

Built 2015 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 186

IH 35 NBFR

Good

Over: WEAVER CREEK

6.00 MI N OF US 380, Denton, TX

Built 1958 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 1,370

IH 35W SBML

Good

Over: SH 114

3.28 MI SW OF FM 1171, Denton, TX

Built 1969 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 33,691

IH 35W NBML

Good

Over: SH 114

3.28 MI SW OF FM 1171, Denton, TX

Built 1969 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 25,007

FM 428

Good

Over: MUSTANG CREEK

4.60 MI E OF US 377, Denton, TX

Built 1990 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 3,557

IH 35W NBML

Good

Over: DENTON CREEK RELIEF

1.40 MI S OF FM 1171, Denton, TX

Built 1969 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 25,007

IH 35W NBML

Good

Over: CATHERINE BRANCH

1.70 MI S OF FM 1171, Denton, TX

Built 1969 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 25,007

IH 35W SBML

Good

Over: CATHERINE BRANCH

1.70 MI S OF FM 1171, Denton, TX

Built 1969 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 24,816

IH 35W SBML

Good

Over: HICKORY CRK REL

1.80 MI S OF FM 1515, Denton, TX

Built 1969 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 27,418

IH 35W NBML

Good

Over: HICKORY CRK REL

1.80 MI S OF FM 1515, Denton, TX

Built 1969 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 27,136

US 380

Good

Over: CANTRELL SLOUGH

1.60 MI E OF US 377, Denton, TX

Built 2004 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 37,952

IH 35E ML

Good

Over: MAYHILL RD

4.20 MI NW OF FM 2181, Denton, TX

Built 1960 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 39,990

TROPHY LAKE DRIVE

Good

Over: SH 114

1.40 MI E OF US 377, Denton, TX

Built 1994 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 100

N COUNTY LINE RD

Good

Over: DENTON CREEK

0.40 MI S OF US 380, Denton, TX

Built 2001 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 628

BELL & ROBERTSON

Good

Over: TRIB OF PECAN CR

0.20 MI NE OF US 77, Denton, TX

Built 2000 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 23,886

JIM CHRISTAL RD

Good

Over: N HICKORY CREEK

2.25 MI E OF FM 156, Denton, TX

Built 1999 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 100

FM 2281 SB

Good

Over: FURNEAUX CREEK

4.35 MI S OF SH 121, Denton, TX

Built 1985 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 13,500

ROBSON RANCH RD

Good

Over: TRIB DENTON CREEK

2.7 MI W of IH 35W, Denton, TX

Built 2000 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 5,230

ROBSON RANCH RD

Good

Over: DRAW

3.0 MI W of IH 35W, Denton, TX

Built 2000 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 5,230

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.