About BridgeHealth
BridgeHealth makes the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inventory (NBI) searchable for everyone — not just engineers and agencies.
Where the data comes from
Every public highway bridge in the United States is inspected on a regular cycle (usually every 24 months) and reported to the FHWA's National Bridge Inventory. The inventory covers more than 600,000 bridges and is released once a year, typically in mid-June. BridgeHealth loads each annual release and keeps the history so you can see how a bridge's condition changes over time. The data is public domain.
How conditions are rated
Inspectors score a bridge's deck, superstructure, substructure, and (for culverts) the culvert on a 0–9 scale. We summarise the lowest of those into a plain-English label:
- Good — all key components scored 7 or above.
- Fair — some wear noted; no immediate structural concern.
- Poor — flagged for repair attention.
“Poor” does not mean “unsafe”
This is the most important thing to understand. A Poor rating means a bridge needs repair attention and is monitored more closely — it does not mean the bridge is unsafe to cross. Bridges that are genuinely unsafe are closed or have posted weight limits. Condition ratings describe maintenance needs, not safety status.