Frequently Asked Questions

PlainBridges covers public highway bridges across all 50 states and territories, sourced from the FHWA National Bridge Inventory, the federal database that has tracked bridge conditions since 1968.

It is a retired federal reporting term. FHWA eliminated Structurally Deficient as a status beginning with the 2018 archive and now reports Good, Fair, or Poor condition. Poor means the lowest applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rating is 4 or below. It is a condition category, not a live safety or closure decision.

FHWA inspectors rate each major component (deck, superstructure, substructure) on a 0–9 scale. 9 = Excellent condition. 7–8 = Good. 5–6 = Fair. 4 = Poor, with advanced deterioration. 3 = Serious deterioration. 2 = Critical condition. 1–0 = Failed or completely failed condition. Bridges rated 4 or below in any major component are classified as 'Poor' by FHWA.

Current National Bridge Inspection Standards use risk-based intervals. A 24-month routine interval is common, while qualifying bridges may have shorter or approved extended intervals. The responsible agency can provide the current schedule for a specific bridge.

FHWA releases updated NBI data annually, typically in spring, covering the prior calendar year. Bridge inspections may have occurred up to 24 months before the NBI dataset was published. We update PlainBridges when new annual NBI data is released.

Yes. Use the search to find bridges by name, county, or state. Each bridge page shows its structural ID, location, condition ratings, inventory load rating, a PlainBridges-computed sufficiency rating, year built, and average daily traffic count.

No. PlainBridges is an independent data portal presenting publicly available FHWA NBI data. We are not affiliated with FHWA, the U.S. Department of Transportation, or any state DOT.