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.

Total bridges

151

Public highway bridges in Rusk County

Good condition

49.7%

75 of 151 rated 7-9

Fair condition

44.4%

67 of 151 rated 5-6

Poor condition

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.

1910s

2
1930s

2
1940s

3
1950s

5
1960s

15
1970s

13
1980s

40
1990s

28
2000s

16
2010s

15
2020s

12

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Rusk County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
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.

All 151 Good 75 Fair 67 Poor 9

All bridges (151)

Sort:

Rusk County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Rusk County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,193 vehicle crossings a day

20.5% of Rusk County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 54.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Rusk 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

All bridges (151)

CTH B

CTH B

CTH D

CTH B

LRD BROKEN ARROW R

LRD BEAM RD

LRD PIONEER RD

LRD MEADOW DAM RD

LRD POLGAR RD

CTH O

STH 40

LRD SKINNER CREEK

LRD MEADOW DAM ROA

LRD S HUTCHINSON R

LRD WILDERNESS RD

LRD MAPLE RD

LRD KRAMER ROAD

CTH H

LRD FIRE LANE RD

USH 8

LRD HORSESHOE LAKE

LRD DZIEMELA RD.

USH 8-LAFOLLETTE A

USH 8

LRD TOWN LINE ROAD

LRD BASS LAKE RD

LRD SCHOOL RD

CTH M

LRD LAWRENCE ST

CTH M

CTH A

CTH B

CTH H

CTH J

LRD FIRELANE RD

CTH V

STH 73

LRD DEER TAIL CREE

LRD TOWN LINE RD

LRD FIRE LANE RD

LRD SOUTH ST (DEAD

LRD OAK GROVE RD

LRD JOSIE CRK. RD.

LRD E TOWN LINE RD

USH 8

STH 73

CTH G

LRD RIGHT OF WAY R

LRD SENTINAL ASH R

CTH A

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