County profile · official public datasets

Chippewa County, WI

359 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.8% rated Good, 56% Fair, 9.2% Poor.

359
Public bridges: 34.8%
Good condition: 9.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

56th
of 72 on Poor share: 9.2%
Poor-condition share: 359
public highway bridges: 1985
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.

Chippewa County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chippewa County ranks #56 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.2%). Chippewa County, Wisconsin contains 359 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.8% are rated “Good,” 56% “Fair,” and 9.2% “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

359

Public highway bridges in Chippewa County

Good condition

34.8%

125 of 359 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56%

201 of 359 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.2%

33 of 359 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#56 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 359 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

34.8% (125)

Fair

56% (201)

Poor

9.2% (33)

Chippewa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 31,165 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 944 crossings a day against 2,565 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 359 of 359 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

32% of Chippewa County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

115 of the 359 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 34.8% 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 17.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CTH S over DUNCAN CREEK, built 1978, carries 5,515 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 33-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 31,165 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

5
1930s

16
1940s

9
1950s

8
1960s

32
1970s

58
1980s

38
1990s

71
2000s

89
2010s

19
2020s

12

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 89 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1985) matches the Wisconsin average (1984).

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Chippewa County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.2% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chippewa County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Grant County	383	66.1%	29.5%	4.4%	1984
Monroe County	374	50.5%	46%	3.5%	1981
Waukesha County	369	53.1%	40.4%	6.5%	1984
Chippewa County (this page)	359	34.8%	56%	9.2%	1985
Vernon County	333	44.1%	48.3%	7.5%	1983
Barron County	319	48.6%	45.8%	5.6%	1978

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (359 bridges here).

Nemaha County, KS · 359 bridges
Otoe County, NE · 359 bridges
Polk County, FL · 360 bridges
St. Tammany County, LA · 360 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WI (1985 here).

Hillsborough County, FL · avg 1985 · 840 bridges
Lancaster County, NE · avg 1985 · 661 bridges
Nueces County, TX · avg 1985 · 528 bridges
Grayson County, TX · avg 1985 · 513 bridges

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

All 359 Good 125 Fair 201 Poor 33

Good-condition bridges (125)

Sort:

Chippewa County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Chippewa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 31,165 vehicle crossings a day

32% of Chippewa County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 17.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Chippewa 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

Good-condition bridges (125)

STH 124

LRD 70TH AVENUE

LRD 35TH STREET

LRD 30TH AVENUE

LRD 110TH STREET

CTH E

STH 29 EB

STH 29 EB

LRD WILLOW LANE (2

CTH K

CTH X

CTH M

CTH XX

CTH T

LRD PRIDDY STREET

CTH SS

STH 29 WB

STH 29 EB

STH 64

LRD 250TH STREET

LRD BEAR DEN DRIVE

STH 27

CTH F

LRD WEST 8TH AVENU

LRD 50TH AVENUE

CTH X

CTH X

CTH TT

CTH DD

STH 27

CTH HH

STH 27

STH 29 EB

STH 29 WB

CTH "F"

LRD 90TH STREET

STH 29 - OFF RAMP

LRD 250TH STREET

LRD 253RD STREET

LRD 210TH STREET

CTH M

LRD 65TH AVENUE

CTH SS

LRD 155TH AVENUE

CTH X

STH 29 EB

LRD 125TH STREET

LRD 118TH AVENUE

CTH V

LRD MAIN STREET

Related