Total bridges
249
Public highway bridges in La Crosse County
County profile · official public datasets
La Crosse County, WI
249 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41% rated Good, 53% Fair, 6% Poor.
- 249
- Public bridges
- 41%
- Good condition
- 6%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
La Crosse County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- 39th
- of 72 on Poor share
- 6%
- Poor-condition share
- 249
- 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.
La Crosse County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, La Crosse County ranks #39 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6%). La Crosse County, Wisconsin contains 249 public highway bridges. Roughly 41% are rated “Good,” 53% “Fair,” and 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.
Good condition
41%
102 of 249 rated 7-9
Fair condition
53%
132 of 249 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6%
15 of 249 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#39 of 72
Among Wisconsin counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 249 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 41% (102)
Fair 53% (132)
Poor 6% (15)
La Crosse County's Poor-condition bridges carry 19,736 vehicle crossings a day
That is 1.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,316 crossings a day against 5,423 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 249 of 249 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
30.5% of La Crosse County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
76 of the 249 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 41% 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 66.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
IH 90 WB over CTH M, built 1968, carries 13,200 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 19,736 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When La Crosse County's bridges were built
249 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 1
1920–1929
1 bridges
- 1930s 6
1930–1939
6 bridges
- 1940s 5
1940–1949
5 bridges
- 1950s 16
1950–1959
16 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
39 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
27 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
53 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
62 bridges
- 2000s 19
2000–2009
19 bridges
- 2010s 17
2010–2019
17 bridges
- 2020s 4
2020–2029
4 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 62 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.9% 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 La Crosse County compares with Wisconsin's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest La Crosse County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 71 Wisconsin counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fond du Lac County | 251 | 53% | 36.7% | 10.4% | 1986 |
| La Crosse County (this page) | 249 | 41% | 53% | 6% | 1983 |
| Pierce County | 248 | 64.5% | 31.9% | 3.6% | 1984 |
| 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 |
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 La Crosse 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 La Crosse County, both outside Wisconsin so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside WI (249 bridges here).
- Brevard County, FL · 249 bridges
- Carroll County, IA · 249 bridges
- Phillips County, KS · 249 bridges
- Lawrence County, OH · 249 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.
Fair-condition bridges (132)
USH 53 NB-ROSE ST
FairOver: CMSTPP RR-ST ANDREW ST
1.4M N JCT USH 14 (A), La Crosse, WI
Built 1980 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 11,500
LRD GILLS COULEE R
FairOver: GILLS COULEE CREEK
2.0M W JCT CTH M, La Crosse, WI
Built 1987 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 88
LRD PLEASANT VALLE
FairOver: PLEASANT VALLEY CREEK
1.0M E JCT CTH M, La Crosse, WI
Built 1983 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 50
LRD SMITH VALLEY R
FairOver: SMITH VALLEY CREEK
0.3M S JCT CTH B, La Crosse, WI
Built 1987 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 300
LRD BLOOMER MILL R
FairOver: MORMON CREEK
0.1M S JCT USH 14, La Crosse, WI
Built 1987 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 550
CTH MM
FairOver: MORMON CREEK
0.6M E JCT USH 14, La Crosse, WI
Built 1988 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 979
CTH B
FairOver: SMITH VALLEY CREEK
1.1M E JCT STH 16, La Crosse, WI
Built 1990 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 3,400
USH 14W/USH 61N-ST
FairOver: MISSISSIPPI RIVER 06
1.3M W JCT USH 53 TO N, La Crosse, WI
Built 1992 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 7,550
CTH D
FairOver: GAVIN COULEE
2.1M W JCT STH 108, La Crosse, WI
Built 1980 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 850
CTH HD
FairOver: HALFWAY CREEK
1.1M N JCT STH 35 TO N, La Crosse, WI
Built 1990 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 11,200
LRD MARCOU ROAD (D
FairOver: BR LACROSSE RIVER
0.6M N JCT CTH OS, La Crosse, WI
Built 1989 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 65
CTH JB
FairOver: DUTCH CREEK TRIBUTARY
1.0M N JCT STH 33, La Crosse, WI
Built 1998 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 98
CTH C
FairOver: BURR OAK CREEK
0.8M N JCT CTH A, La Crosse, WI
Built 1932 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 2,000
CTH V
FairOver: SOUR CREEK
1.7M E JCT CTH TT, La Crosse, WI
Built 1974 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 383
CTH II
FairOver: DUTCH CREEK
0.6M S JCT STH 162, La Crosse, WI
Built 1978 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 214
USH 14-USH 61-STH
FairOver: PAMMEL CREEK/BNSF RR
2.5M E JCT STH 35 TO N, La Crosse, WI
Built 1981 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 19,200
CTH M
FairOver: PLEASANT VALLEY CREEK
0.4M N JCT CTH B TO E, La Crosse, WI
Built 1990 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 5,100
USH 53 SB
FairOver: CTH S/SAND LAKE RD
1.9M S JCT CTH OT, La Crosse, WI
Built 1990 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 19,200
STH 162
FairOver: DUTCH CREEK
0.8M N JCT STH 33 TO E, La Crosse, WI
Built 1990 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 1,600
STH 162
FairOver: LA CROSSE RIVER
1.5M N JCT IH 90 TO E, La Crosse, WI
Built 1938 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 1,900
CTH I
FairOver: BR BOSTWICK CREEK
0.1M E JCT CTH M, La Crosse, WI
Built 1973 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 448
CTH T
FairOver: FLEMING CREEK
0.2M E JCT CTH DD, La Crosse, WI
Built 1976 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 400
CTH YY
FairOver: BR BOSTWICK CREEK
1.3M S JCT CTH M, La Crosse, WI
Built 1971 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 913
LRD SMITH VALLEY R
FairOver: BR SMITH VALLEY CREEK
1.3M S JCT CTH B, La Crosse, WI
Built 1981 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 250
USH 53 SB
FairOver: LRD RIDERS CLUB ROAD
2.3M S JCT STH 35 TO S, La Crosse, WI
Built 1990 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 16,100
LRD ASMUS RD
FairOver: LARSON COULEE CREEK
0.5M E JCT CTH M, La Crosse, WI
Built 1992 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 423
LRD GARVIS COULEE
FairOver: BURNS CREEK
0.1M E JCT STH 162, La Crosse, WI
Built 1975 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 47
CTH J
FairOver: FISH CREEK
0.1M N JCT CTH B, La Crosse, WI
Built 1989 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 789
USH 53 SB
FairOver: STH 35 NB/S. HOLMEN DRIV
2.6M S JCT CTH MH, La Crosse, WI
Built 1990 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 13,700
CTH DE
FairOver: BELL COULEE CREEK
1.9M E JCT CTH C, La Crosse, WI
Built 1990 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 316
CTH X
FairOver: BERGE COULEE CREEK
0.1M N JCT CTH P, La Crosse, WI
Built 1995 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 295
LRD KNUDSON RD (DE
FairOver: HALFWAY CREEK
0.3M N JCT CTH D, La Crosse, WI
Built 1972 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 20
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.