County profile · official public datasets

Barron County, WI

319 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.6% rated Good, 45.8% Fair, 5.6% Poor.

319
Public bridges: 48.6%
Good condition: 5.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Barron County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

Top 43%
lowest Poor share in state: 5.6%
Poor-condition share: 319
public highway bridges: 1978
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.

Barron County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Barron County ranks #31 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.6%). Barron County, Wisconsin contains 319 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.6% are rated “Good,” 45.8% “Fair,” and 5.6% “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

319

Public highway bridges in Barron County

Good condition

48.6%

155 of 319 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.8%

146 of 319 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.6%

18 of 319 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#31 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 319 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

48.6% (155)

Fair

45.8% (146)

Poor

5.6% (18)

Barron County's Poor-condition bridges carry 19,457 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,081 crossings a day against 1,254 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 319 of 319 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

40.4% of Barron County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

129 of the 319 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 48.6% 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 31.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

USH 53 SB over CTH I, built 1972, carries 6,200 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 18-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 19,457 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

3
1920s

6
1930s

11
1940s

11
1950s

20
1960s

28
1970s

94
1980s

60
1990s

39
2000s

27
2010s

10
2020s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 94 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1978, 6 years older than the Wisconsin average of 1984.

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Barron County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.6% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1986 is 8 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Barron County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Vernon County	333	44.1%	48.3%	7.5%	1983
Barron County (this page)	319	48.6%	45.8%	5.6%	1978
Rock County	304	61.2%	35.2%	3.6%	1994
Richland County	298	54%	41.9%	4%	1986
St. Croix County	298	68.1%	28.9%	3%	1986
Clark County	296	54.4%	33.4%	12.2%	1983

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (319 bridges here).

Garland County, AR · 319 bridges
Mesa County, CO · 319 bridges
Adams County, IL · 319 bridges
Bates County, MO · 319 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WI (1978 here).

Orange County, CA · avg 1978 · 1,164 bridges
Sumner County, KS · avg 1978 · 659 bridges
Allen County, IN · avg 1978 · 613 bridges
Livingston County, IL · avg 1978 · 579 bridges

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

All 319 Good 155 Fair 146 Poor 18

All bridges (319)

Sort:

Barron County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Barron County's Poor-condition bridges carry 19,457 vehicle crossings a day

40.4% of Barron County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 31.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Barron County compares with Wisconsin'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 (319)

USH 53 SB

CTH V BRACKLIN S

LRD 27 1/2 AVE

LRD 9TH AVE

LRD 2 1/2 AVENUE

LRD 11 1/2 AVE

LRD 9 1/2 STREET

LRD 16TH AVE

LRD 4TH AVENUE

CTH SS

STH 25

USH 53 NB

USH 53 SB

USH 53 SB

USH 53 NB

STH 48

CTH M

LRD 26 1/2 STREET

LRD 13TH AVE

LRD 11TH ST

LRD 3RD ST

LRD 7TH AVE

LRD 21ST ST

CTH SS S/B

USH 53 SB

LRD ALLEN ST

USH 53 SB

USH 8

CTH M

STH 48

LRD 29TH ST

USH 53 NB

USH 53 NB

USH 53 NB

LRD 27TH ST (DEAD

LRD 30TH ST

LRD 26TH AV

CTH D SUMNER ST

CTH V

LRD 18 1/2 STREET

LRD 5TH ST

LRD 28 3/4 STREET

LRD 8TH AVE

USH 8

LRD 18TH AVE

USH 53 NB

LRD 29TH ST

LRD 21ST ST

LRD 24 1/8 STREET

LRD 11 1/2 AVE

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