County profile · official public datasets

Okanogan County, WA

161 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 46.6% rated Good, 45.3% Fair, 8.1% Poor.

161
Public bridges: 46.6%
Good condition: 8.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

29th
of 39 on Poor share: 8.1%
Poor-condition share: 161
public highway bridges: 1972
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.

Okanogan County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Okanogan County ranks #29 of 39 Washington counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.1%). Okanogan County, Washington contains 161 public highway bridges. Roughly 46.6% are rated “Good,” 45.3% “Fair,” and 8.1% “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

161

Public highway bridges in Okanogan County

Good condition

46.6%

75 of 161 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.3%

73 of 161 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.1%

13 of 161 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#29 of 39

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

Condition distribution

Share of 161 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

46.6% (75)

Fair

45.3% (73)

Poor

8.1% (13)

Okanogan County's Poor-condition bridges carry 33,135 vehicle crossings a day

That is 19.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,549 crossings a day against 927 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 161 of 161 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

65.8% of Okanogan County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

106 of the 161 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 46.6% 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 25.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 97 over SR 155, built 1964, carries 8,488 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 33,135 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

2
1930s

9
1940s

19
1950s

25
1960s

34
1970s

21
1980s

6
1990s

7
2000s

25
2010s

8
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 34 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Washington average (1975).

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

The 5 Washington counties nearest Okanogan County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.1% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Okanogan 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	167	58.7%	35.9%	5.4%	1977
Okanogan County (this page)	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 Okanogan 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 Okanogan County, both outside Washington so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WA (161 bridges here).

Carroll County, IN · 161 bridges
Floyd County, KY · 161 bridges
Greenup County, KY · 161 bridges
Dade County, MO · 161 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WA (1972 here).

Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
Madison County, AL · avg 1972 · 710 bridges
Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
York County, PA · avg 1972 · 569 bridges

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

All 161 Good 75 Fair 73 Poor 13

Good-condition bridges (75)

Sort:

Okanogan County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Okanogan County's Poor-condition bridges carry 33,135 vehicle crossings a day

65.8% of Okanogan County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 25.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Okanogan 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

Good-condition bridges (75)

SR 20

Salmon Creek Rd

SR 20

SR 215

NO DATA ENTERED

FAS ROUTE W240

Salmon Creek Rd

SR 20

OCR 3683

OCR 3683

SINLAHEKIN RD

SR 20

OCR 3586

OAK STREET

SR 153

COUNTY ROAD 2045

SR 20

SR 20

SR 20

US 97

Greenacres Rd

SR 20

US 97

COLUMBIA RIVER RD

NO DATA ENTERED

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