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.

When Chippewa County's bridges were built

359 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

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).

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

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 Poor
Grant County 383 4.4%
Monroe County 374 3.5%
Waukesha County 369 6.5%
Chippewa County (this page) 359 9.2%
Vernon County 333 7.5%
Barron County 319 5.6%

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).

Similar average build year

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

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

Poor-condition bridges (33)

CTH M

Poor

Over: CHIPPEWA RIVER 19

0.5 M W STH 27, Chippewa, WI

Built 1950 Load: 11.3 t ADT: 1,070

CTH G

Poor

Over: YELLOW RIVER

0.8 M N S & G INT, Chippewa, WI

Built 1939 Load: 11.3 t ADT: 320

LRD 225TH AVENUE

Poor

Over: DUNCAN CREEK

0.1 M E 83RD STREET, Chippewa, WI

Built 1981 Load: 13.0 t ADT: 155

LRD 20TH AVENUE PI

Poor

Over: HAY CREEK

0.4 M E OF 295TH ST, Chippewa, WI

Built 1938 Load: 13.0 t ADT: 175

LRD 370TH STREET

Poor

Over: BRANCH WOLF RIVER

0.4 M N 25TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1928 Load: 13.0 t ADT: 100

CTH S

Poor

Over: YELLOW RIVER

0.8 M W CTH H, Chippewa, WI

Built 1955 Load: 16.2 t ADT: 220

LRD PARK RD (DNR)

Poor

Over: FISCHER RIVER

1.5M N JCT STH 64, Chippewa, WI

Built 1962 Load: 16.2 t ADT: 710

CTH MM

Poor

Over: HAY CREEK

0.2 M E CTH D, Chippewa, WI

Built 1945 Load: 16.2 t ADT: 410

CTH N

Poor

Over: SOO LINE

0.6 M W CTH F, Chippewa, WI

Built 1960 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 815

LRD 83RD STREET/OL

Poor

Over: DUNCAN CREEK

0.3 M N CTH SS, Chippewa, WI

Built 2000 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 200

LRD 25TH AVENUE

Poor

Over: SWAN CREEK

0.35 M E 350TH STREET, Chippewa, WI

Built 2002 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 65

LRD 205TH AVENUE

Poor

Over: MCCANN CREEK

0.3 M E STH 40, Chippewa, WI

Built 1925 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 75

LRD 290TH STREET

Poor

Over: LOTZ CREEK

0.7 M N 70TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1970 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 115

LRD 240TH STREET

Poor

Over: PAINT CREEK

0.7 M N 30TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1948 Load: 21.1 t ADT: 200

CTH M

Poor

Over: SPRING BROOK

0.2 M N 225TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1935 Load: 21.1 t ADT: 290

CTH M

Poor

Over: BIG ELK CREEK

0.1 M E 10TH STREET, Chippewa, WI

Built 1940 Load: 21.1 t ADT: 330

CTH X 37TH AVE

Poor

Over: STH 29

0.2M E JCT STH 29 TO E, Chippewa, WI

Built 1966 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 5,300

LRD 160 TH ST.

Poor

Over: STH 29

0.7M S JCT CTH J, Chippewa, WI

Built 1966 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 340

CTH H

Poor

Over: LITTLE OTTER CREEK

0.6 M N 10TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1935 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 975

LRD CENTRAL STREET

Poor

Over: DUNCAN CREEK

0.1 M E STH 124, Chippewa, WI

Built 1934 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 3,310

CTH O

Poor

Over: YELLOW RIVER

0.7 M E CTH EE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1959 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 540

CTH K

Poor

Over: YELLOW RIVER

0.5 M NW 72ND AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1942 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 1,985

CTH H

Poor

Over: WOLF RIVER

0.2 M N 130TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1913 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 1,215

LRD 190TH AVENUE

Poor

Over: BRANCH DUNCAN CREEK

0.1 M W STH 64, Chippewa, WI

Built 1934 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 200

CTH XX

Poor

Over: PAINT CREEK

0.9 M N 30TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1979 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 685

LRD 360TH STREET

Poor

Over: WOLF RIVER

0.2 M N 120TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1968 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 190

LRD 240TH STREET

Poor

Over: BIRCH CREEK

0.7 M N CTH M, Chippewa, WI

Built 1947 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 165

CTH S

Poor

Over: DUNCAN CREEK

0.5 M E CTH Q, Chippewa, WI

Built 1978 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 5,515

LRD BRIDGEWATER AV

Poor

Over: DUNCAN CREEK

0.3 M W STH 124, Chippewa, WI

Built 1934 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 2,855

CTH T

Poor

Over: ELK CREEK

0.2 M N CTH N, Chippewa, WI

Built 1994 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 420

CTH S

Poor

Over: LITTLE DRYWOOD CREEK

0.3 M E 245TH STREET, Chippewa, WI

Built 1947 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 840

CTH R

Poor

Over: S FK BOB CREEK

0.7 M W STH 178, Chippewa, WI

Built 1954 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 830

CTH XX

Poor

Over: BIG DRYWOOD CREEK

0.4 M N 80TH AVENUE, Chippewa, WI

Built 1932 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 550

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.