County profile · official public datasets

Ashland County, WI

84 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 52.4% rated Good, 40.5% Fair, 7.1% Poor.

84
Public bridges
52.4%
Good condition
7.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

44th
of 72 on Poor share
7.1%
Poor-condition share
84
public highway bridges
1983
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.

Ashland County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Ashland County ranks #44 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.1%). Ashland County, Wisconsin contains 84 public highway bridges. Roughly 52.4% are rated “Good,” 40.5% “Fair,” and 7.1% “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

84

Public highway bridges in Ashland County

Good condition

52.4%

44 of 84 rated 7-9

Fair condition

40.5%

34 of 84 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.1%

6 of 84 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#44 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 84 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
52.4% (44)
Fair
40.5% (34)
Poor
7.1% (6)

Ashland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,000 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 500 crossings a day against 731 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 84 of 84 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

26.2% of Ashland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

22 of the 84 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 52.4% 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 56.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STH 13 over CHIPPEWA RIVER 33, built 1997, carries 1,700 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 3,000 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Ashland County's bridges were built

84 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 20 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the Wisconsin average (1984).

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

How Ashland County compares with Wisconsin's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Ashland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.1% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1986 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 71 Wisconsin counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Ashland County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Sawyer County 97 12.4%
Kewaunee County 93 5.4%
Ashland County (this page) 84 7.1%
Marquette County 81 3.7%
Langlade County 78 14.1%
Polk County 73 17.8%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (84 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WI (1983 here).

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

All 84 Good 44 Fair 34 Poor 6

Fair-condition bridges (34)

FR164

Fair

Over: E. FK. CHIPPEWA RIVER

9.8 M. S. JCT STH 77, Ashland, WI

Built 1951 Load: 12.0 t ADT: 20

FR162

Fair

Over: E. FK. CHIPPEWA RIVER

8.0 M. N. JCT STH 70, Ashland, WI

Built 1953 Load: 12.0 t ADT: 20

FR184

Fair

Over: BAD RIVER

1.2 M. W. JCT STH 13, Ashland, WI

Built 1956 Load: 14.9 t ADT: 20

STH 13

Fair

Over: MARENGO RIVER

1.6M N JCT CTH C, Ashland, WI

Built 1971 Load: 21.1 t ADT: 2,800

FR183

Fair

Over: IRON RIVER

4.0 M. S. JCT CTH GG, Ashland, WI

Built 1988 Load: 21.4 t ADT: 20

CTH GG

Fair

Over: E FK CHIPPEWA RIVER

8.0M N JCT STH 70, Ashland, WI

Built 1948 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 289

FR164

Fair

Over: HUNGRY RUN CREEK

4.0 M. E. JCT CTH GG, Ashland, WI

Built 1953 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 20

CTH F ILLINOIS S

Fair

Over: BUTTERNUT CREEK

0.5M E OF JCT STH 13, Ashland, WI

Built 1977 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 634

STH 13

Fair

Over: DRYDEN CREEK

1.7M N JCT CTH D, Ashland, WI

Built 1997 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 1,700

USH 2

Fair

Over: KAKAGON SLOUGH

0.1M E JCT OLD ODANAH RD, Ashland, WI

Built 1961 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 4,600

STH 77-LAKE DR

Fair

Over: DEVILS CREEK

0.5M E JCT STH 13 TO N, Ashland, WI

Built 1964 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 1,700

IRR BIA RTE 9

Fair

Over: DENOMIE CREEK

3 KM EAST OF ODANAH, Ashland, WI

Built 1977 Load: 29.7 t ADT: 300

STH 13

Fair

Over: BRUNSWEILER RIVER

0.5M N JCT CTH C, Ashland, WI

Built 1971 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 2,800

CTH C

Fair

Over: BRUNSWEILER RIVER

0.5M W JCT STH 13, Ashland, WI

Built 1976 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 258

LRD IRR (GOVERNMEN

Fair

Over: BAD RIVER

0.9M S JCT USH 2, Ashland, WI

Built 1983 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 81

USH IRR (USH 2)

Fair

Over: BAD RIVER

0.5M E JCT OLD ODANAH RD, Ashland, WI

Built 1960 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 4,800

USH IRR (USH 2)

Fair

Over: DENOMIE CREEK

2.5M E JCT CTH A TO S, Ashland, WI

Built 1980 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 5,000

STH 112

Fair

Over: WHITE RIVER

3.7M N JCT CTH E, Ashland, WI

Built 1926 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 2,100

LRD E MAIN ST

Fair

Over: BUTTERNUT CREEK

0.2M S JCT CTH F, Ashland, WI

Built 1976 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 1,569

LRD GEORGE BAY ROA

Fair

Over: E FK CHIPPEWA RIVER

2.8M S JCT CTH D, Ashland, WI

Built 1990 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 56

LRD MAIN ST

Fair

Over: BAY CITY CREEK

0.6M E JCT STH 13, Ashland, WI

Built 1968 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 3,907

IRR BIA RTE 52

Fair

Over: KAKAGON RIVER

2 KM NW OF ODANAH, Ashland, WI

Built 1980 Load: 35.8 t ADT: 30

USH IRR (USH 2)

Fair

Over: BEARTRAP CREEK

6.3M E JCT STH 13 TO S, Ashland, WI

Built 1976 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 4,800

LRD MARENGO RIVER

Fair

Over: MARENGO RIVER

1.5M W JCT STH 13, Ashland, WI

Built 1988 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 91

STH 169

Fair

Over: TYLER FORKS RIVER

8.1M N JCT STH 13, Ashland, WI

Built 1993 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 270

STH 13

Fair

Over: BUTTERNUT CREEK

6.0M N JCT STH 182, Ashland, WI

Built 2000 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 3,400

CTH F

Fair

Over: BUTTERNUT CREEK

1.7 M E JCT STH 13, Ashland, WI

Built 2004 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 738

LRD MORSE RD

Fair

Over: SPILLERBERG CREEK

SPILLERBERG CR, Ashland, WI

Built 1998 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 108

LRD BAY RD

Fair

Over: E FK CHIPPEWA RIVER

0.5M S JCT CTH D, Ashland, WI

Built 1964 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 47

CTH GG

Fair

Over: MOOSE RIVER

6.5M S JCT STH 77, Ashland, WI

Built 1956 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 279

CTH F

Fair

Over: SWAMP CREEK

11.6M E JCT STH 13, Ashland, WI

Built 1992 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 643

IRR BIA RTE 33

Fair

Over: POTATO RIVER

5.3 KM NORTH OF HWY 169, Ashland, WI

Built 1999 Load: 42.5 t ADT: 50

CTH GG

Fair

Over: TORCH RIVER

3.5M S JCT STH 77, Ashland, WI

Built 1949 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 279

STH 77-LAKE DR

Fair

Over: BAD RIVER

0.2M E JCT STH 13 TO N, Ashland, WI

Built 1975 Load: 79.4 t ADT: 2,100

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.