County profile · official public datasets

Racine County, WI

133 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 58.6% rated Good, 31.6% Fair, 9.8% Poor.

133
Public bridges: 58.6%
Good condition: 9.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Racine County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

58th
of 72 on Poor share: 9.8%
Poor-condition share: 133
public highway bridges: 1991
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.

Racine County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Racine County ranks #58 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.8%). Racine County, Wisconsin contains 133 public highway bridges. Roughly 58.6% are rated “Good,” 31.6% “Fair,” and 9.8% “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

133

Public highway bridges in Racine County

Good condition

58.6%

78 of 133 rated 7-9

Fair condition

31.6%

42 of 133 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.8%

13 of 133 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#58 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 133 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

58.6% (78)

Fair

31.6% (42)

Poor

9.8% (13)

Racine County's Poor-condition bridges carry 19,729 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,518 crossings a day against 13,202 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 133 of 133 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

30.1% of Racine County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

40 of the 133 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 58.6% 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 29.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CTH W over FOX RIVER, built 1955, carries 5,900 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 19,729 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1930s

3
1940s

2
1950s

7
1960s

20
1970s

12
1980s

8
1990s

17
2000s

32
2010s

24
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 32 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1991, 7 years newer than the Wisconsin average of 1984.

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Racine County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.8% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1991 against a peer-group mean of 1985 is 6 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Racine 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
Douglas County	135	51.1%	36.3%	12.6%	1984
Marinette County	135	57.8%	36.3%	5.9%	1986
Racine County (this page)	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 Racine 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 Racine County, both outside Wisconsin so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (133 bridges here).

Henry County, AL · 133 bridges
Nevada County, AR · 133 bridges
Gordon County, GA · 133 bridges
East Feliciana County, LA · 133 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WI (1991 here).

Denver County, CO · avg 1991 · 458 bridges
Baldwin County, AL · avg 1991 · 381 bridges
Union County, NC · avg 1991 · 353 bridges
Rock County, MN · avg 1991 · 265 bridges

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

All 133 Good 78 Fair 42 Poor 13

Fair-condition bridges (42)

Sort:

Racine County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Racine County's Poor-condition bridges carry 19,729 vehicle crossings a day

30.1% of Racine County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 29.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Racine 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

Fair-condition bridges (42)

LRD 43RD ST

STH 20-WASHINGTON

LRD MILWAUKEE AVE

LRD SEVEN MILE RD

LRD FIVE MILE RD

STH 36/STH 83 SB

LRD THREE MILE RD

LRD BRAUN RD

LRD SEVEN MILE RD

CTH KR

LRD S WIND LAKE RD

STH 20 WB

STH 38-NORTHWESTER

LRD BRIDGE DR

STH 36/STH 83 SB

CTH K

STH 20 WB

STH 38

LRD HANSON RD

STH 20 EB

STH 142

LRD BRIDGE ST

LRD BIENEMAN RD

CTH A

LRD 6TH ST

STH 38-STATE ST

LRD THREE MILE RD

STH 20 EB

LRD SPRING ST

LRD 6TH ST VIADUCT

STH 32-N MAIN ST

LRD FIVE MILE RD

STH 38

CTH K

CTH C

LRD BRIDGE STREET

LRD MEMORIAL DR

CTH G

STH 36 EB/STH 83 N

LRD JACOBS RD

STH 11

STH 36 WB/STH 83 S

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