County profile · official public datasets

Manitowoc County, WI

269 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.6% rated Good, 51.7% Fair, 3.7% Poor.

269
Public bridges
44.6%
Good condition
3.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Manitowoc County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 24%
lowest Poor share in state
3.7%
Poor-condition share
269
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.

Manitowoc County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Manitowoc County ranks #17 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.7%). Manitowoc County, Wisconsin contains 269 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.6% are rated “Good,” 51.7% “Fair,” and 3.7% “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

269

Public highway bridges in Manitowoc County

Good condition

44.6%

120 of 269 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.7%

139 of 269 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.7%

10 of 269 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#17 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 269 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
44.6% (120)
Fair
51.7% (139)
Poor
3.7% (10)

Manitowoc County's Poor-condition bridges carry 13,785 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,379 crossings a day against 2,358 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 269 of 269 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

26.4% of Manitowoc County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

71 of the 269 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 44.6% 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 23.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STH 32-STH 57 over SHEBOYGAN RIVER, built 1958, carries 3,200 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 10-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 13,785 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Manitowoc County's bridges were built

269 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 100 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 37.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the Wisconsin average (1984).

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

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Manitowoc County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.7% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1986 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Manitowoc County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Sauk County 271 8.9%
Manitowoc County (this page) 269 3.7%
Winnebago County 263 3.4%
Trempealeau County 260 11.5%
Fond du Lac County 251 10.4%
La Crosse County 249 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 Manitowoc 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 Manitowoc County, both outside Wisconsin so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (269 bridges here).

Similar average build year

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

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

All 269 Good 120 Fair 139 Poor 10

Good-condition bridges (120)

LRD MINERAL SPRING

Good

Over: PIGEON RIVER

2.1M S JCT CTH XX, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2017 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 70

LRD 4TH ST

Good

Over: MUD CREEK

0.5M E JCT CTH "W" & STH, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2018 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 500

LRD HILLCREST ROAD

Good

Over: EAST TWIN RIVER

0.16 MI E JCT STH 147, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2022 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 155

CTH BB

Good

Over: NESHOTA RIVER

AT NESHOTA RIVER, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2015 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 840

USH 10

Good

Over: BRANCH R

1.9 MI E OF CTH T, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2013 Load: 43.1 t ADT: 4,700

CTH CR

Good

Over: SILVER CREEK

3.8M N JCT CTH C, Manitowoc, WI

Built 1994 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 3,700

LRD NACHTWEY RD

Good

Over: NESHOTA RIVER

1.1M W JCT CTH R, Manitowoc, WI

Built 1996 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 54

LRD QUARRY RD

Good

Over: MANITOWOC R

1.0M N USH 151, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2004 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 105

LRD POINT CREEK RD

Good

Over: POINT CREEK

1.0M W JCT CTH LS, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2006 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 263

STH 42

Good

Over: TRIB TO MEEME CR

1.17 MI N OF CTH XX LT, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2011 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 2,600

STH 42

Good

Over: TRIB TO POINT CR

1.70 MI N OF CTH F, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2011 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 3,200

IH 43 SB

Good

Over: LRD NEWTON RD

5.8M S JCT USH 151, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2017 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 11,250

LRD PINE RIVER RD

Good

Over: POINT CREEK

0.4M N JCT STH 42, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2007 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 117

LRD HILLCREST ROAD

Good

Over: BRANCH RIVER

LOCATION UNKNOWN PLEASE, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2016 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 590

LRD REIFS MILLS RD

Good

Over: BRANCH RIVER

0.6M W JCT CTH "J", Manitowoc, WI

Built 1993 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 234

STH 32 SB-STH 57 S

Good

Over: SHEBOYGAN RIVER

2.5M S JCT STH 67, Manitowoc, WI

Built 1997 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 4,050

LRD HILLCREST RD

Good

Over: BRANCH RIVER

1.6M E JCT CTH G, Manitowoc, WI

Built 1990 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 112

LRD MELNIK RD

Good

Over: W TWIN RIVER

0.8M S JCT STH 147, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2005 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 71

LRD ZANDER RD

Good

Over: NESHOTA RIVER

2.9M N JCT STH 147, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2004 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 611

STH 42

Good

Over: S TWO CREEKS

2.1M N JCT CTH V, Manitowoc, WI

Built 2007 Load: 74.5 t ADT: 2,100

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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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.