Total bridges
151
Public highway bridges in Rusk County
County profile · official public datasets
Rusk County, WI
151 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 49.7% rated Good, 44.4% Fair, 6% Poor.
- 151
- Public bridges
- 49.7%
- Good condition
- 6%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Rusk County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 50%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 6%
- Poor-condition share
- 151
- public highway bridges
- 1989
- 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.
Rusk County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Rusk County ranks #36 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6%). Rusk County, Wisconsin contains 151 public highway bridges. Roughly 49.7% are rated “Good,” 44.4% “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
49.7%
75 of 151 rated 7-9
Fair condition
44.4%
67 of 151 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6%
9 of 151 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#36 of 72
Among Wisconsin counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 151 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 49.7% (75)
Fair 44.4% (67)
Poor 6% (9)
Rusk County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,193 vehicle crossings a day
That is 7.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 688 crossings a day against 494 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 151 of 151 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
20.5% of Rusk County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
31 of the 151 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 49.7% 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 54.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
USH 8 over LITTLE SOFT MAPLE CREEK, built 1938, carries 3,400 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 6,193 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Rusk County's bridges were built
151 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1910s 2
1910–1919
2 bridges
- 1930s 2
1930–1939
2 bridges
- 1940s 3
1940–1949
3 bridges
- 1950s 5
1950–1959
5 bridges
- 1960s 15
1960–1969
15 bridges
- 1970s 13
1970–1979
13 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
40 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
28 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
16 bridges
- 2010s 15
2010–2019
15 bridges
- 2020s 12
2020–2029
12 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1989, 5 years newer than the Wisconsin average of 1984.
How Rusk County compares with Wisconsin's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Rusk County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1989 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is 7 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 71 Wisconsin counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County | 162 | 46.9% | 44.4% | 8.6% | 1984 |
| Shawano County | 160 | 42.5% | 48.1% | 9.4% | 1976 |
| Lincoln County | 157 | 49% | 44.6% | 6.4% | 1982 |
| Rusk County (this page) | 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 |
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 Rusk 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 Rusk County, both outside Wisconsin so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside WI (151 bridges here).
- Randolph County, AR · 151 bridges
- Pasco County, FL · 151 bridges
- St. Lucie County, FL · 151 bridges
- Hall County, GA · 151 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside WI (1989 here).
- Harris County, TX · avg 1989 · 4,029 bridges
- Mecklenburg County, NC · avg 1989 · 746 bridges
- Buffalo County, NE · avg 1989 · 459 bridges
- Brazos County, TX · avg 1989 · 370 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Good-condition bridges (75)
CTH H
GoodOver: CLEAR CREEK
1.2M W JCT STH 40, Rusk, WI
Built 2004 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 200
LRD FIRE LANE RD
GoodOver: DEVILS CR
AT DEVILS CREEK, Rusk, WI
Built 2010 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 94
USH 8
GoodOver: SOFT MAPLE CREEK
4.2M E JCT CTH W TO S, Rusk, WI
Built 2018 Load: 37.3 t ADT: 4,100
LRD HORSESHOE LAKE
GoodOver: MCDERMOTT CREEK
APPROXIMATELY 0.5 MI W OF, Rusk, WI
Built 2023 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 50
LRD DZIEMELA RD.
GoodOver: POTATO CREEK
0.7M N JCT CTH D-54, Rusk, WI
Built 2016 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 50
USH 8-LAFOLLETTE A
GoodOver: S FK MAIN CREEK
0.5M E JCT CTH M, Rusk, WI
Built 1980 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 2,000
USH 8
GoodOver: N FK MAIN CREEK
1.2M E JCT CTH B TO N, Rusk, WI
Built 1980 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 1,700
LRD TOWN LINE ROAD
GoodOver: S. FK MAIN CREEK
0.6M E JCT STH 73-84, Rusk, WI
Built 1990 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 90
LRD BASS LAKE RD
GoodOver: LITTLE THORNAPPLE RIVER
1.2M E JCT CTH A #59, Rusk, WI
Built 1999 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 108
LRD SCHOOL RD
GoodOver: DEER TAIL CREEK
0.3M E JCT CTH B-106, Rusk, WI
Built 1999 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 54
CTH M
GoodOver: N FK SKINNER CREEK
7.9M N JCT USH 8--43, Rusk, WI
Built 2000 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 322
LRD LAWRENCE ST
GoodOver: MIDDLE FORK MAIN CR
0.3M W JCT STH 73-115, Rusk, WI
Built 2001 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 107
CTH M
GoodOver: SKINNER CREEK
5.3 MILES N JCT USH 8, Rusk, WI
Built 2022 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 340
CTH A
GoodOver: LITTLE THORNAPPLE RIVER
3.5M W JCT STH 27-45, Rusk, WI
Built 2014 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 723
CTH B
GoodOver: MIDDLE FORK OF MAIN CREE
1.2M N JCT CTH P-13, Rusk, WI
Built 2021 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 545
CTH H
GoodOver: BECKY CREEK
3.2M N JCT STH 40--46, Rusk, WI
Built 1970 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 607
CTH J
GoodOver: LITTLE THORNAPPLE RIVER
0.8M W JCT STH 27-44, Rusk, WI
Built 2017 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 170
LRD FIRELANE RD
GoodOver: DEVIL"S CREEK
0.5M N JCT CTH O, Rusk, WI
Built 2004 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 106
CTH V
GoodOver: LITTLE JUMP RIVER
3.0M W JCT CTH H-38, Rusk, WI
Built 2018 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 340
STH 73
GoodOver: ALDER CREEK
1.9M N JCT STH 194, Rusk, WI
Built 2020 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 460
LRD DEER TAIL CREE
GoodOver: DEER TAIL CREEK
1.6M W JCT CTH I-69, Rusk, WI
Built 1990 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 86
LRD TOWN LINE RD
GoodOver: N FK MAIN CREEK
0.5M W JCT CTH B-110, Rusk, WI
Built 1999 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 67
LRD FIRE LANE RD
GoodOver: DEVILS CREEK
0.9M N JCT CTH O-49, Rusk, WI
Built 2001 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 107
LRD SOUTH ST (DEAD
GoodOver: DEER TAIL CREEK
0.2M E JCT CTH I-116, Rusk, WI
Built 2000 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 100
LRD OAK GROVE RD
GoodOver: DEER TAIL CREEK
0.7M S JCT CTH P, Rusk, WI
Built 2008 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 104
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.