County profile · official public datasets

Polk County, WI

73 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 30.1% rated Good, 52.1% Fair, 17.8% Poor.

73
Public bridges
30.1%
Good condition
17.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

72nd
of 72 on Poor share
17.8%
Poor-condition share
73
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.

Polk County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Polk County ranks #72 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 17.8%). Polk County, Wisconsin contains 73 public highway bridges. Roughly 30.1% are rated “Good,” 52.1% “Fair,” and 17.8% “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

73

Public highway bridges in Polk County

Good condition

30.1%

22 of 73 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.1%

38 of 73 rated 5-6

Poor condition

17.8%

13 of 73 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#72 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 73 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
30.1% (22)
Fair
52.1% (38)
Poor
17.8% (13)

Polk County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,879 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 17.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 760 crossings a day against 1,744 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 73 of 73 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

34.2% of Polk County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

25 of the 73 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 30.1% 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 57.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STH 243 over ST CROIX RIVER 06, built 1953, carries 5,686 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 9,879 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Polk County's bridges were built

73 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 14 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.2% 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).

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

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Polk County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 17.8% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1983 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Polk County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Ashland County 84 7.1%
Marquette County 81 3.7%
Langlade County 78 14.1%
Polk County (this page) 73 17.8%
Burnett County 67 6%
Calumet County 62 17.7%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (73 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 73 Good 22 Fair 38 Poor 13

All bridges (73)

CTH E

Good

Over: APPLE RIVER

3.6M N JCT USH 8, Polk, WI

Built 2003 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 802

CTH K

Good

Over: WAPOGASSET BRANCH

2.3M E JCT STH 65, Polk, WI

Built 2023 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 1,250

LRD 30TH ST

Good

Over: WILLOW RIVER

1.7 MILES S OF JUNCTION W, Polk, WI

Built 2021 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 100

LRD 165TH AVE

Good

Over: FOX CREEK

0.6M E JCT CTH H, Polk, WI

Built 2021 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 10

LRD RIVER RD

Good

Over: WOLF CREEK

0.1M S JCT CTH G, Polk, WI

Built 1994 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 423

LRD 30TH STREET (D

Good

Over: APPLE RIVER

0.9 MI N OF JCT WITH 160T, Polk, WI

Built 2022 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 100

STH 65

Good

Over: APPLE RIVER

2.5M N JCT CTH C, Polk, WI

Built 1985 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 1,300

LRD 85TH STREET

Good

Over: BEAVER BROOK

0.7M W JCT CTH JJ, Polk, WI

Built 1992 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 954

LRD 280TH AVE (DEA

Good

Over: TRADE RIVER

0.3M W JCT CTH B, Polk, WI

Built 1996 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 10

LRD 200TH STREET

Good

Over: TRADE RIVER

0.4M N JCT CTH B, Polk, WI

Built 2012 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 192

LRD 357TH AVE

Poor

Over: INDIAN CREEK

1.6M N JCT CTH E, Polk, WI

Built 1964 Load: 4.9 t ADT: 43

CTH I

Poor

Over: CLAM RIVER

1.8M W JCT CTH O, Polk, WI

Built 1948 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 857

STH 243

Poor

Over: ST CROIX RIVER 06

AT MINNESOTA STATE LINE, Polk, WI

Built 1953 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 5,686

LRD 350TH AVE

Poor

Over: WOOD RIVER

1.5M W JCT STH 35, Polk, WI

Built 1970 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 173

LRD 60TH AVE

Poor

Over: BULL CREEK

0.3M E JCT CTH E, Polk, WI

Built 1974 Load: 21.1 t ADT: 86

LRD 30TH ST

Poor

Over: WILLOW RIVER

1.9M S JCT CTH A, Polk, WI

Built 1960 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 802

LRD 170TH ST

Poor

Over: TRADE RIVER

1.4M N JCT CTH B, Polk, WI

Built 1985 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 43

CTH H

Poor

Over: APPLE RIVER

3.2M N JCT USH 8, Polk, WI

Built 1952 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,600

LRD 75TH ST

Poor

Over: BEAVER BROOK

0.2M N JCT CTH J, Polk, WI

Built 1966 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 205

LRD TENDROP RD 153

Poor

Over: APPLE RIVER

0.6M W JCT CTH H, Polk, WI

Built 1961 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 10

CTH W

Poor

Over: MCKENZIE CREEK

0.7M W JCT CTH O, Polk, WI

Built 1956 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 288

LRD 5TH STREET

Poor

Over: APPLE RIVER

0.7M E JCT CTH T, Polk, WI

Built 1977 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 43

LRD 50TH AVE

Poor

Over: BULL BROOK

0.1M W JCT CTH F, Polk, WI

Built 1963 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 43

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

Related

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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.