County profile · official public datasets

Washington County, WI

162 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 46.9% rated Good, 44.4% Fair, 8.6% Poor.

162
Public bridges
46.9%
Good condition
8.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

53rd
of 72 on Poor share
8.6%
Poor-condition share
162
public highway bridges
1984
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.

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Washington County ranks #53 of 72 Wisconsin counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.6%). Washington County, Wisconsin contains 162 public highway bridges. Roughly 46.9% are rated “Good,” 44.4% “Fair,” and 8.6% “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

162

Public highway bridges in Washington County

Good condition

46.9%

76 of 162 rated 7-9

Fair condition

44.4%

72 of 162 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.6%

14 of 162 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#53 of 72

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

Condition distribution

Share of 162 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
46.9% (76)
Fair
44.4% (72)
Poor
8.6% (14)

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 18,047 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,388 crossings a day against 6,452 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 161 of 162 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

24.7% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

40 of the 162 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 46.9% 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 67.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STH 167 over IH 41-USH 45, built 1969, carries 12,200 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 18,047 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Washington County's bridges were built

162 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 34 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1984) matches the Wisconsin average (1984).

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

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

The 5 Wisconsin counties nearest Washington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1984 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Washington County and the 5 Wisconsin counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Juneau County 172 2.9%
Waupaca County 169 3%
Washington County (this page) 162 8.6%
Shawano County 160 9.4%
Lincoln County 157 6.4%
Rusk County 151 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 Washington 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 Washington County, both outside Wisconsin so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WI (162 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WI (1984 here).

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

All 162 Good 76 Fair 72 Poor 14

Good-condition bridges (76)

USH 45 SB

Good

Over: LRD SHERMAN RD

1.0M S JCT STH 60, Washington, WI

Built 1989 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 14,600

STH 28-MAIN ST

Good

Over: MILWAUKEE RIVER

0.3 M E JCT USH 45, Washington, WI

Built 2014 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 8,200

STH 60

Good

Over: CEDAR CR

0.2 MI W JCT USH 45, Washington, WI

Built 2014 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 11,800

IH 41 SB

Good

Over: KOHLSVILLE RIVER

2.3 MI S JCT CTH H, Washington, WI

Built 2017 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 16,650

LRD KETTLE VIEW DR

Good

Over: KEWASKUM CREEK

TOWN OF KEWASKUM, Washington, WI

Built 2019 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 610

STH 60 EB

Good

Over: WISCONSIN CENTRAL LTD RR

0.3 MI E JCT STH 144, Washington, WI

Built 1991 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 10,850

STH 60 WB

Good

Over: WISCONSIN CENTRAL LTD RR

0.5 MI W JCT STH 175, Washington, WI

Built 1991 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 10,850

CTH D

Good

Over: IH 41

3.5 MI E JCT STH 175, Washington, WI

Built 1994 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 3,000

CTH D

Good

Over: E BR ROCK RIVER

0.9M W JCT USH 41, Washington, WI

Built 2010 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 2,500

LRD BADGER RD

Good

Over: KEWASKUM CREEK

APPROX 0.9 MI W OF USH 45, Washington, WI

Built 2023 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 600

IH 41/USH 45 NB

Good

Over: MENOMONEE RIVER

3.3 MI N JCT STH 100, Washington, WI

Built 2015 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 40,900

IH 41/USH 45 SB

Good

Over: MENOMONEE RIVER

4.1M S JCT STH 167 TO W, Washington, WI

Built 2015 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 40,900

CTH P

Good

Over: CEDAR CREEK

2.6M N JCT STH 145, Washington, WI

Built 1986 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 2,700

CTH DW

Good

Over: IH 41

1.9 MI E JCT STH 175, Washington, WI

Built 1994 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 320

CTH XX

Good

Over: N BR MILWAUKEE RIVER

1.2M N JCT CTH H, Washington, WI

Built 1995 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 330

LRD BARK LAKE DRIV

Good

Over: BARK RIVER

0.3 MI S JCT BARK LAKE DR, Washington, WI

Built 1995 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 165

LRD BOLTON DRIVE

Good

Over: STONEY CREEK

AT STONEY CREEK, Washington, WI

Built 2003 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 256

CTH A

Good

Over: WALLACE CREEK

0.1 M EAST INDIAN LORE RO, Washington, WI

Built 2006 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 2,100

IH 41 SB

Good

Over: LRD CTH K

4.1M S JCT STH 33, Washington, WI

Built 1994 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 16,500

CTH P

Good

Over: BR CEDAR CREEK

1.2 M SOUTH CTH PV, Washington, WI

Built 2006 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 4,100

LRD LILAC LANE

Good

Over: MENOMONEE RIVER

2.4M W JCT STH 145, Washington, WI

Built 2008 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 1,476

LRD TOWNLINE RD

Good

Over: TRIB. TO MILWAUKEE R.

TOWN OF KEWASKUM, Washington, WI

Built 2008 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 109

CTH W

Good

Over: E BR ROCK RIVER

0.4M S JCT STH 33, Washington, WI

Built 2009 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 2,900

CTH M

Good

Over: TRIB CEDAR CR

0.1M N JCT STH 60, Washington, WI

Built 2009 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 1,000

CTH H - MOHAWK RD

Good

Over: IH 41

2.7 MI W JCT CTH W, Washington, WI

Built 1994 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 1,300

STH 145

Good

Over: KUHN CREEK

2.0M N JCT STH 167, Washington, WI

Built 1985 Load: 68.0 t ADT: 3,100

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.