County profile · official public datasets

Walla Walla County, WA

195 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 64.1% rated Good, 27.2% Fair, 8.7% Poor.

195
Public bridges: 64.1%
Good condition: 8.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Walla Walla 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.

30th
of 39 on Poor share: 8.7%
Poor-condition share: 195
public highway bridges: 1980
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.

Walla Walla County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Walla Walla County ranks #30 of 39 Washington counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.7%). Walla Walla County, Washington contains 195 public highway bridges. Roughly 64.1% are rated “Good,” 27.2% “Fair,” and 8.7% “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

195

Public highway bridges in Walla Walla County

Good condition

64.1%

125 of 195 rated 7-9

Fair condition

27.2%

53 of 195 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.7%

17 of 195 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#30 of 39

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

Condition distribution

Share of 195 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

64.1% (125)

Fair

27.2% (53)

Poor

8.7% (17)

Walla Walla County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,238 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,249 crossings a day against 2,172 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 195 of 195 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

36.9% of Walla Walla County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

72 of the 195 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 64.1% 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 36.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 12 over NINE MILE CR & RR, built 1933, carries 7,778 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 21,238 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1910s

10
1920s

17
1930s

4
1940s

1
1950s

10
1960s

14
1970s

22
1980s

19
1990s

32
2000s

29
2010s

17
2020s

17

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 32 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1980, 5 years newer than the Washington average of 1975.

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

The 5 Washington counties nearest Walla Walla County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1980 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is 8 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Walla Walla County and the 5 Washington counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Clark County	218	55%	40.8%	4.1%	1979
Thurston County	205	59.5%	39.5%	1%	1979
Walla Walla County (this page)	195	64.1%	27.2%	8.7%	1980
Adams County	187	35.3%	54.5%	10.2%	1961
Lincoln County	180	56.7%	37.2%	6.1%	1965
Benton County	167	58.7%	35.9%	5.4%	1977

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WA (195 bridges here).

Otero County, CO · 195 bridges
Lucas County, IA · 195 bridges
LaSalle County, LA · 195 bridges
Sabine County, LA · 195 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WA (1980 here).

Tulsa County, OK · avg 1980 · 1,135 bridges
Miami-Dade County, FL · avg 1980 · 1,057 bridges
Pulaski County, AR · avg 1980 · 721 bridges
McLennan County, TX · avg 1980 · 714 bridges

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

All 195 Good 125 Fair 53 Poor 17

All bridges (195)

Sort:

Walla Walla County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Walla Walla County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,238 vehicle crossings a day

36.9% of Walla Walla County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 36.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Walla Walla 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 (195)

PLAZA WAY

TALBOTT RD

KENDALL RD

MCDONALD RD

SPRING VALLEY RD

GARDEN STREET

LAST CHANCE RD

SMITH SPRINGS RD

US 12

POWERLINE RD

US 12

MIDDLE WAITSBURG

SIMS RD

TOUCHET NORTH RD

SMITH RD

MAIN ST

COLVILLE ST

LOWDEN GARDENA RD

S WILBUR AVENUE

SPRING VALLEY RD

S PALOUSE ST

DIVISION ST

Rose Street

GARDENA RD

LAMAR RD

SR 124

SR 124

PEPPERS BRIDGE RD

McCOWN RD

SR 125

DETOUR RD

THIRD ST (D)

MUD CREEK RD

HOOD RD

SPOKANE STREET

VAN AUSDLE LANE

HUMORIST ROAD

SWEGLE RD

SR 124

US 12

US 12

SR 124

RESER RD

BISCUIT RIDGE RD

US 12

CUMMINS ROAD

WOODWARD CANYON RD

LOWER DRY CREEK RD

US 12

US 12

Related