How many bridges are in Alaska?

Alaska has 1,685 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory. View detailed condition data for each bridge on PlainBridges.

What percentage of bridges in Alaska are in Poor condition?

7.9% of bridge records in Alaska are in Poor condition, meaning the lowest applicable major-component rating is 4 or below, compared with 7.5% across state inventories.

State profile · Near median Poor share

Alaska bridge safety

Name: Alaska public highway bridge inventory (FHWA NBI)
Creator: PlainBridges
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, condition ratings, load ratings, and Poor-condition shares for every public highway bridge in Alaska.

Compiled by PlainBridges

1,685
Public bridges: 45.6%
Good condition: 7.9%
Poor condition

Alaska holds 1,685 public highway bridges (#48 of 52 by inventory) with a 7.89% Poor share (#16 of 52 by Poor share).

That is 7.9% of the state's inventory, against an average of 7.5% across the 54 states and territories with Poor-rated bridges on file, which places it 37 of 54 ordered from the lowest Poor share upward. A bridge is rated Poor when its weakest applicable component scores 4 or below on the inspecting agency's 0-9 scale, so the category is a maintenance and funding signal rather than a closure order or a live crossing-safety verdict.

Inventory: FHWA NBI 2024 · last ETL August 2026

Total Bridges

1,685

Public highway bridges in Alaska

Good Condition

45.6%

768 bridges rated 7-9

-4.4pp vs 50% benchmark

Poor Condition

7.9%

133 bridges whose lowest applicable component is rated 0-4

0.4pp vs national avg 7.5%

Alaska vs national bridge condition

Alaska - Good condition share 45.6%

National avg

Share of bridges rated 7-9 on the FHWA 0-9 scale (deck, superstructure, substructure all good).

Alaska - Poor-condition share 26.3%

National avg

Lower is better. Bar maxes at 30% (worst-state ceiling). National average sits at 7.5%.

Inventory size and Poor-condition share are different measures: Alaska has 1,685 bridges and a 7.9% Poor-condition share in the 2024 NBI, rank #37 of 54 jurisdictions ordered from the lowest share upward. The dashed comparisons mark the national average state rate and the midpoint of the plotted inventory range; neither is a live safety or closure threshold.

Alaska vs all states by public bridge inventory

Where this state's FHWA NBI public-highway bridge count sits among every state and territory on PlainBridges

1,685 48th of 54 higher than 6 of 54 states

States and territories, banded by public bridge inventory size

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory · 2024

Read the rank neighborhood for Alaska

The highlighted point is Alaska: 1,685 bridges and 7.89% in Poor condition, rank #37 of 54 jurisdictions ordered from the lowest share upward. The five jurisdictions immediately above and below Alaska on that same Poor-share ordering:

New Hampshire: 2,542 bridges · 7.51% Poor
Oklahoma: 22,917 bridges · 7.70% Poor
Alaska: 1,685 bridges · 7.89% Poor
Nebraska: 15,398 bridges · 7.90% Poor
Massachusetts: 5,295 bridges · 8.88% Poor

The full national sortable table lives on the rankings page.

Material families in Alaska

Exclusive FHWA material families across all 1,685 bridges in this state; continuous variants fold into the parent family. Orthogonal to the Poor-share scatter above.

Concrete 36 bridges (2%) Prestressed concrete 483 bridges (29%) Steel 854 bridges (51%) Wood or timber 295 bridges (18%) Other 17 bridges (1%)

Who maintains Alaska’s inventory

State agency holds 53.2% of the 1,685 public highway bridges filed under Alaska in the 2024 NBI, the agency-of-record split for this state, not a condition verdict.

State agency 897 bridges (53%) County agency 62 bridges (4%) Local agency 117 bridges (7%) Federal agency 537 bridges (32%) Other 72 bridges (4%)

When Alaska’s bridges were built

Pre-1950 construction accounts for 1.8% of the 1,685 bridges with a recorded original year in Alaska. Era bands are orthogonal to the Poor-share ranking above.

Pre-1950 31 bridges (2%) 1950–1979 448 bridges (27%) 1980–1999 683 bridges (41%) 2000+ 523 bridges (31%)

Condition Distribution

Bridge inventory deck-condition mix - Alaska (FHWA NBI)

Alaska vs nearby ranks

Adjacent states by Poor-condition share (lower share = better)

States are ranked by the share of bridges whose lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below. This describes recorded condition; it does not measure funding effectiveness or live crossing safety. States here sit immediately above and below Alaska on the same metric.

New Hampshire

7.51% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $2,542

Oklahoma

7.70% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $22,917

Selected

Alaska

7.89% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $1,685

Nebraska

7.90% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $15,398

Massachusetts

8.88% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $5,295

Bridges Needing Most Attention in Alaska

Six lowest-condition bridges in Alaska, ranked by the portal's composite display score. Inspection intervals are risk-based under current NBIS rules.

Alaska vs national bridge condition

Material families in Alaska

Who maintains Alaska’s inventory

When Alaska’s bridges were built

Condition Distribution

Counties (30)

Bridges Needing Most Attention in Alaska

IRR BIA RTE 1026

IRR BIA RTE 1026

IRR BIA RTE 8PGH

IRR BIA RTE 8PGH

IRR BIA RTE 1045

IRR BIA RTE 002

All Bridges in Alaska

IRR:NOME-TELLER RD

KAKE ACCESS - USFS

WILLOW/FISHHOOK RD

43500

NORTH TONGASS HWY

IRR:NOME-TELLER RD

COPPER RIVER HWY

FOURTH AVENUE

NO DATA ENTERED

NO DATA ENTERED

PETERSVILLE ROAD

ROAD

IRR BIA RTE 26

OIL WELL ROAD

GUSTAVUS AIRPORT R

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY

43506

AURORA DRIVE

STANDARD CREEK RD

TAYLOR HIGHWAY

REZANOF DRIVE

REZANOF DRIVE

IRR BIA RTE 461

TAYLOR HIGHWAY

IRR:NORTHWAY ROAD

IRR BIA RTE 461

THORNE BAY ROAD

3015100-0.60

DALTON HIGHWAY

43506

NO DATA ENTERED

IRR BIA RTE 27

LOGGING ROAD

CRAIG/KLAWOCK/HOLL

PARKS HIGHWAY

Related