County profile · official public datasets

Midland County, TX

135 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 45.9% rated Good, 52.6% Fair, 1.5% Poor.

135
Public bridges: 45.9%
Good condition: 1.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Midland 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.

159th
of 247 on Poor share: 1.5%
Poor-condition share: 135
public highway bridges: 1987
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.

Midland County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Midland County ranks #159 of 247 Texas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.5%). Midland County, Texas contains 135 public highway bridges. Roughly 45.9% are rated “Good,” 52.6% “Fair,” and 1.5% “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

135

Public highway bridges in Midland County

Good condition

45.9%

62 of 135 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.6%

71 of 135 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.5%

2 of 135 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#159 of 247

Among Texas counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 135 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

45.9% (62)

Fair

52.6% (71)

Poor

1.5% (2)

Midland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,040 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,520 crossings a day against 15,785 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 135 of 135 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

31.9% of Midland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

43 of the 135 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 45.9% 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 54.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SCHARBAUER DR WB over MIDLAND DRAW, built 1970, carries 4,950 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 9,040 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1940s

1
1950s

9
1960s

22
1970s

14
1980s

22
1990s

38
2000s

10
2010s

9
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 28.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1987, 7 years newer than the Texas average of 1980.

How Midland County compares with Texas's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Texas counties nearest Midland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.5% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1987 against a peer-group mean of 1967 is 20 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 246 Texas counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Midland County and the 5 Texas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Refugio County	136	39.7%	58.1%	2.2%	1969
Jack County	135	44.4%	54.8%	0.7%	1968
Midland County (this page)	135	45.9%	52.6%	1.5%	1987
Gillespie County	134	56.7%	42.5%	0.7%	1967
Jeff Davis County	134	60.4%	39.6%	0%	1953
Tyler County	134	50%	47.8%	2.2%	1979

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 Midland 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 Midland County, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TX (135 bridges here).

Nevada County, CA · 135 bridges
Meriwether County, GA · 135 bridges
Steuben County, IN · 135 bridges
Warren County, IN · 135 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TX (1987 here).

St. Louis County, MO · avg 1987 · 912 bridges
St. Louis County, MN · avg 1987 · 663 bridges
Palm Beach County, FL · avg 1987 · 610 bridges
Dane County, WI · avg 1987 · 590 bridges

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

All 135 Good 62 Fair 71 Poor 2

All bridges (135)

Sort:

Midland County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Midland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,040 vehicle crossings a day

31.9% of Midland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 54.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Midland County compares with Texas's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (135)

NORTH DIRT RD

IH 20 BUS

IH-20 BUSINESS EB

IH 20 BUS WB

IH 20

IH 20

IH 20

IH 20 SFR & FM 307

SH 349

SH 158 WBFR

FM 868

LP 250

LP 250

NORTH A ST

GARFIELD ST

N LAMESA RD

N LAMESA RD

MIDKIFF RD

WESTERN DR

IH 20 BUS

IH 20 BUS

SH 158 / SH 191

CARVER ST

N FAIRGROUNDS RD

N FAIRGROUNDS RD

HAYNES AVE

SCHARBAUER DR EB

N JACKSON ST

N LAMESA RD

MAXWELL DR

OAK AVE

WADLEY AVE

IH 20 WB

IH 20 EB

IH 20 BUS

FM 1788

SH 158 WB/SL 250NB

Industrial Ave

FM 1788 Connector

FM 1788

LOOP 250

SH 158 EB/SL 250SB

IH 20 EB

IH 20 WB

IH 20 WB

IH 20 EB

IH 20 EB

IH 20 WB

IH 20 EB

IH 20 EB

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