County profile · official public datasets

Eau Claire County, WI

236 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.8% rated Good, 49.6% Fair, 7.6% Poor.

236
Public bridges: 42.8%
Good condition: 7.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

46th
of 72 on Poor share: 7.6%
Poor-condition share: 236
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Eau Claire County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Eau Claire County ranks #46 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.6%). Eau Claire County, Wisconsin contains 236 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.8% are rated “Good,” 49.6% “Fair,” and 7.6% “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

236

Public highway bridges in Eau Claire County

Good condition

42.8%

101 of 236 rated 7-9

Fair condition

49.6%

117 of 236 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.6%

18 of 236 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#46 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 236 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.8% (101)

Fair

49.6% (117)

Poor

7.6% (18)

Eau Claire County's Poor-condition bridges carry 45,242 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,513 crossings a day against 6,809 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 236 of 236 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39.4% of Eau Claire County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

93 of the 236 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 42.8% 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 46% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

USH 12 over OTTER CREEK, built 1988, carries 20,800 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 18-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 45,242 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

3
1920s

10
1930s

7
1940s

4
1950s

15
1960s

46
1970s

18
1980s

26
1990s

38
2000s

40
2010s

22
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 46 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the Wisconsin average (1984).

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Eau Claire County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.6% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 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 Eau Claire County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Dunn County	245	45.7%	45.3%	9%	1982
Green County	244	45.5%	45.9%	8.6%	1978
Sheboygan County	240	39.2%	55.4%	5.4%	1979
Wood County	239	62.3%	31.8%	5.9%	1986
Buffalo County	238	63%	28.6%	8.4%	1987
Eau Claire County (this page)	236	42.8%	49.6%	7.6%	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 Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire County, both outside Wisconsin so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (236 bridges here).

Etowah County, AL · 236 bridges
York County, ME · 236 bridges
Cabarrus County, NC · 236 bridges
Catawba County, NC · 236 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WI (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges
Broward County, FL · avg 1982 · 686 bridges

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

All 236 Good 101 Fair 117 Poor 18

All bridges (236)

Sort:

Eau Claire County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Eau Claire County's Poor-condition bridges carry 45,242 vehicle crossings a day

39.4% of Eau Claire County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 46% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Eau Claire 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 (236)

CTH B

IH 94 EB

IH 94 WB

IH 94 EB

IH 94 WB

USH 12-STH 27

STH 85

USH B12-MADISON ST

LRD OLD WELLS RD

IH 94 WB

IH 94 EB

STH 312

IH 94 WB

CTH A

IH 94 EB

IH 94 WB

USH 12

LRD LAKE ST

CTH Z

CTH DD

LRD RUSSELL RD

CTH KK

LRD MENOMONIE ST

LRD BARKA ROAD

CTH F

LRD WATER ST

IH 94 EB

LRD FARWELL ST

STH 93 NB

USH 53 N

CTH J

CTH V

LRD LINCOLN DRIVE

LRD BARSTOW ST

USH 12 EB-CLAIREMO

STH 312 WB

STH 312EB(OLD STH1

LRD STARR AVE

LRD WESTERN AVE

USH 12 WB-CLAIREMO

LRD LASALLE ST

LRD BEARS GRASS RO

LRD NB HASTINGS WA

LRD ABBE HILL RD

LRD HAY CREEK RD

CTH Z

USH 12-STH 27

STH 93

STH NORTH CROSSING

CTH V

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