Structure 8704 · Ottawa County, MI

Taft RD over Us-31

Carries Taft RD over Us-31, 2.0 Mi N Of M-104.

Overall conditionFair

Set by its lowest-rated component: Superstructure at 6 of 9.

How ratings work
Deck7/9 · Good
Superstructuresets the rating6/9 · Satisfactory
Substructure7/9 · Good
0 failed4 poor6 fair9 excellent

Elevation

Side view, colored by inspection rating
SEMI-TRUCK · 72 FT180 FT OVERALL25 FT0ELEVATION · LENGTHS TO SCALE
Deck 7/9Superstructure 6/9 · sets the ratingSubstructure 7/9

180 ft end to end, longest span 53 ft: about 3 semi-trucks nose to tail. Lengths and the semi-truck on the deck are drawn to the same scale. Each part is colored by its latest inspection rating. The inventory records lengths but not heights or the layout of the shorter spans, so those are drawn as typical for a tee-beam bridge.

Built195868 years old
Length180.1 ft54.9 m
Daily traffic—reported figure implausible
Last inspectedApril 2024every 24 months

Location

StateMichigan
CountyOttawa
Location2.0 Mi N Of M-104
CarriesTaft RD
CrossesUs-31
Coordinates43.10317, -86.20989

Physical Characteristics

MaterialConcrete Continuous
DesignTee Beam
Total Length180.1 ft (54.9 m)
Max Span53.5 ft (16.3 m)
Deck Width33.1 ft (10.1 m)
Deck Area554.5 sq m
Main Spans4
Year Built1958

Traffic

Avg Daily Traffic281,500 (2013)
That is about 140,750 vehicles per lane per day — beyond what any U.S. road carries (the busiest freeways run about 25,000–30,000). It is almost certainly a data-entry error in the National Bridge Inventory, so we leave this bridge out of traffic rankings.
Truck Traffic1%
Lanes On Bridge2
Lanes Under Bridge4

Inspection & Ownership

Last InspectionApril 2024
Inspection FrequencyEvery 24 months
OwnerState Highway Agency
Historical SignificanceBridge is not eligible for the National Register
Scour CriticalNot applicable
Structure Number000000000008704

How Bridge Ratings Work

Inspectors rate each major part of a bridge (the deck you drive on, the superstructure of beams that holds it up, and the substructure of piers and abutments beneath) on a 0–9 scale. A bridge's overall condition is its lowest of those ratings, so one deteriorated component makes the whole bridge "poor."

0Failed
1Imminent failure
2Critical
3Serious
4Poor
5Fair
6Satisfactory
7Good
8Very good
9Excellent
Good · lowest component 7–9
Fair · lowest component 5–6
Poor · lowest component 0–4

A poor rating is not a closure. It means the bridge is flagged for priority repair or replacement; bridges judged unsafe are closed or posted with weight limits. The waterway (channel) rating is reported, but it does not count toward the overall classification.

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