County profile · official public datasets

Benton County, WA

167 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 58.7% rated Good, 35.9% Fair, 5.4% Poor.

167
Public bridges: 58.7%
Good condition: 5.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

20th
of 39 on Poor share: 5.4%
Poor-condition share: 167
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Benton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Benton County ranks #20 of 39 Washington counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.4%). Benton County, Washington contains 167 public highway bridges. Roughly 58.7% are rated “Good,” 35.9% “Fair,” and 5.4% “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

167

Public highway bridges in Benton County

Good condition

58.7%

98 of 167 rated 7-9

Fair condition

35.9%

60 of 167 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.4%

9 of 167 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#20 of 39

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

Condition distribution

Share of 167 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

58.7% (98)

Fair

35.9% (60)

Poor

5.4% (9)

Benton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 61,432 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 6,826 crossings a day against 8,145 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 167 of 167 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

37.7% of Benton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

63 of the 167 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 58.7% 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 20.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

WASHINGTON STREET over CID CANAL, built 1971, carries 12,416 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 61,432 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1930s

2
1940s

2
1950s

24
1960s

15
1970s

33
1980s

60
1990s

16
2000s

11
2010s

1
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 60 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 35.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Washington average (1975).

How Benton County compares with Washington's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Washington counties nearest Benton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.4% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 38 Washington counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Benton County and the 5 Washington counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Lincoln County	180	56.7%	37.2%	6.1%	1965
Benton County (this page)	167	58.7%	35.9%	5.4%	1977
Okanogan County	161	46.6%	45.3%	8.1%	1972
Cowlitz County	160	46.3%	50%	3.8%	1974
Clallam County	151	56.3%	37.7%	6%	1979
Chelan County	149	57.7%	34.2%	8.1%	1974

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WA (167 bridges here).

Cherokee County, AL · 167 bridges
Garfield County, CO · 167 bridges
Mitchell County, IA · 167 bridges
Ness County, KS · 167 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WA (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges
Contra Costa County, CA · avg 1977 · 618 bridges

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

All 167 Good 98 Fair 60 Poor 9

All bridges (167)

Sort:

Benton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Benton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 61,432 vehicle crossings a day

37.7% of Benton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 20.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Benton County compares with Washington'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 (167)

OIEH

38TH AVENUE

FERN LOOP

C.C.B.

SR 225

BUNN ROAD

TAPTEAL LOOP

US 395

US 395

DISTRICT LINE ROAD

HESS ROAD

KELLOGG STREET

US 395

KING TULL ROAD

US 395

I-182 S-E RAMP

NO DATA ENTERED

COLUMBIA PRK TRAIL

AUBURN STREET

OLYMPIA STREET

MCDONALD ROAD

GRAHAM ROAD

COUNTY RT 12

I-82

W KENNEWICK AVE

W 1ST AVENUE

I-82

I-182

I-182

MCKINLEY SPRINGS

W 45TH AVENUE

HORRIGAN ROAD

CASE ROAD

US 395

COLUMBIA CTR BLVD

WINE COUNTRY ROAD

I-82

COLUMBIA CNTR BLVD

I-82

I-82

US 395

SR 24

SR 397

KEENE ROAD

SR 14

I-82

I-82

I-82

I-82

I-82

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