County profile · official public datasets

Douglas County, WI

135 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 51.1% rated Good, 36.3% Fair, 12.6% Poor.

135
Public bridges: 51.1%
Good condition: 12.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

67th
of 72 on Poor share: 12.6%
Poor-condition share: 135
public highway bridges: 1984
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.

Douglas County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Douglas County ranks #67 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.6%). Douglas County, Wisconsin contains 135 public highway bridges. Roughly 51.1% are rated “Good,” 36.3% “Fair,” and 12.6% “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

135

Public highway bridges in Douglas County

Good condition

51.1%

69 of 135 rated 7-9

Fair condition

36.3%

49 of 135 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.6%

17 of 135 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#67 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 135 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

51.1% (69)

Fair

36.3% (49)

Poor

12.6% (17)

Douglas County's Poor-condition bridges carry 35,776 vehicle crossings a day

That is 10.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,104 crossings a day against 1,999 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 135 of 135 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

27.4% of Douglas County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

37 of the 135 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 51.1% 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 92.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I 535 over ST LOUIS R; RR STREET, built 1961, carries 33,021 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 35,776 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

4
1920s

4
1930s

7
1940s

1
1950s

2
1960s

16
1970s

9
1980s

26
1990s

24
2000s

22
2010s

16
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 26 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1984) matches the Wisconsin average (1984).

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Douglas County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.6% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1984 against a peer-group mean of 1987 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Douglas County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Lincoln County	157	49%	44.6%	6.4%	1982
Rusk County	151	49.7%	44.4%	6%	1989
Oconto County	149	55.7%	40.9%	3.4%	1986
Marinette County	135	57.8%	36.3%	5.9%	1986
Douglas County (this page)	135	51.1%	36.3%	12.6%	1984
Racine County	133	58.6%	31.6%	9.8%	1991

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (135 bridges here).

Nevada County, CA · 135 bridges
Meriwether County, GA · 135 bridges
Steuben County, IN · 135 bridges
Warren County, IN · 135 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WI (1984 here).

Hennepin County, MN · avg 1984 · 936 bridges
Duval County, FL · avg 1984 · 831 bridges
El Paso County, CO · avg 1984 · 686 bridges
Bell County, TX · avg 1984 · 660 bridges

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

All 135 Good 69 Fair 49 Poor 17

All bridges (135)

Sort:

Douglas County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Douglas County's Poor-condition bridges carry 35,776 vehicle crossings a day

27.4% of Douglas County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 92.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Douglas 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 (135)

CTH C

STH 13

STH 13

LRD MILCHESKY RD

LRD TOWN RD TT

STH 13

CTH L

USH 2

LRD SAM ANDERSON R

LRD OLD HWY 53

LRD BAUMGARTNER RD

USH 53-E 2ND ST

USH 53 SB

USH 2

STH 13

CTH T

USH 53 NB

USH 53-E 2ND ST

USH 53-E 2ND ST

USH 2

STH 13

CTH G

USH 2-USH 53-E 2ND

CTH S

LRD RICE FARM RD

STH 105-UNION ST

USH 2-BELKNAP ST

CTH P

USH 53 NB

CTH T

LRD N 21ST ST

CTH C

LRD MCCUMBER RD

CTH U

LRD HALKETT RD

USH 53 SB

USH 53 NB

CTH FF

LRD MIDDLE RIVER R

STH 13

LRD BARDON AVE

LRD BAYFIELD RD

STH 13

CTH W

STH 35

LRD MOONSHINE RD

LRD HILPIPER RD

STH 35

STH 13

LRD PARK RD (DEAD

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