County profile · official public datasets

Clark County, WI

296 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 54.4% rated Good, 33.4% Fair, 12.2% Poor.

296
Public bridges: 54.4%
Good condition: 12.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

65th
of 72 on Poor share: 12.2%
Poor-condition share: 296
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.

Clark County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clark County ranks #65 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.2%). Clark County, Wisconsin contains 296 public highway bridges. Roughly 54.4% are rated “Good,” 33.4% “Fair,” and 12.2% “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

296

Public highway bridges in Clark County

Good condition

54.4%

161 of 296 rated 7-9

Fair condition

33.4%

99 of 296 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.2%

36 of 296 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#65 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 296 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

54.4% (161)

Fair

33.4% (99)

Poor

12.2% (36)

Clark County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,385 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 594 crossings a day against 708 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 296 of 296 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

30.1% of Clark County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

89 of the 296 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 54.4% 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 31.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STH 13 over PORKY CREEK, built 1981, carries 6,800 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 36-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 21,385 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

11
1930s

7
1940s

7
1950s

17
1960s

36
1970s

31
1980s

53
1990s

67
2000s

34
2010s

21
2020s

11

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 67 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.6% 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).

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Clark County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.2% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1985 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Clark County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Barron County	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 (this page)	296	54.4%	33.4%	12.2%	1983
Outagamie County	290	49.7%	46.2%	4.1%	1982

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (296 bridges here).

Marion County, IL · 296 bridges
Vigo County, IN · 296 bridges
Story County, IA · 296 bridges
Guadalupe County, TX · 296 bridges

Similar average build year

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

Dallas County, TX · avg 1983 · 3,230 bridges
Bexar County, TX · avg 1983 · 2,342 bridges
Sedgwick County, KS · avg 1983 · 1,333 bridges
Will County, IL · avg 1983 · 649 bridges

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

All 296 Good 161 Fair 99 Poor 36

All bridges (296)

Sort:

Clark County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Clark County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,385 vehicle crossings a day

30.1% of Clark County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 31.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Clark 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 (296)

LRD REESEWOOD AVE

LRD HEATH RD

CTH I

LRD CATLIN AVE

LRD SAND HILL AVE

LRD CAWLEY AVE

LRD MILLER AVE

LRD SHERWOOD RD

CTH N

LRD HEINTOWN RD

LRD PRAY AVE

LRD SANDHILL AVE

LRD BRIDGE RD

LRD CENTER ROAD

LRD BROEK RD

LRD POPPLE RIVER R

LRD W SPENCER RD

LRD TWENTY SIX RD

LRD TREE RD

LRD GRANTON RD

LRD MAPLE RD

CTH N

CTH N

LRD TIEMAN AVE

LRD HILINE AVE

LRD SOUTH MOUND RD

LRD FAIRGROUND AVE

CTH X 3RD ST

LRD GRAND AVE (DEA

CTH D

STH 73-HEWETT ST

LRD WILLOW RD

LRD BRIDGE RD

LRD ROCK CK RD

LRD COLLIER AVE

LRD CENTER RD

LRD ROCK CREEK RD

LRD FISHER AVE

STH 29

LRD BROEK RD

STH 29 EB -STH 73

LRD TN-YORK / FREM

LRD PANTHER CREEK

LRD PELSDORF AVE

CTH N

STH 73 SB

LRD BADGER AVE

LRD MAPLE RD

LRD CARDINAL AVE

CTH G

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