Prairie Grove Lake
Carrying Prairie Grove Lake over Sulphur Fork
0.3 W CO.RD 28, Washington, Arkansas
Inventory: FHWA NBI 2024 · last ETL August 2026
FHWA NBI record, refreshed with each annual release.
Prairie Grove Lake in Washington, Arkansas sits above 28% of rated Arkansas bridges on inventory load rating (23 t), while its 1965 build year is earlier than 80% of Washington's recorded-year cohort (449 bridges).
Prairie Grove Lake in Washington, Arkansas is rated Poor in the FHWA's 2024 National Bridge Inventory. Built in 1965, it carries 1 rated component on the inspecting agency's 0-9 scale, and its weakest reported component scores 4. The lowest applicable rating sets the federal condition category, so this Poor result describes the weakest reported component rather than the structure as a whole. No NBI category is a closure decision or a live crossing-safety verdict.
NBI record plate
Structure AR:000000000017370
INTERSTATE-ERA · STEEL · MULTI-SPAN · CULVERT-LED · LOCAL-ADT · STANDARD-LOAD · CAT-POOR
- INTERSTATE-ERA 1950–1979
- STEEL Steel
- MULTI-SPAN 2 spans
- CULVERT-LED Culvert-led
- LOCAL-ADT Local ADT
- STANDARD-LOAD Standard load
- CAT-POOR Poor
Inspection-sheet codes from this record’s year, material family, spans, controlling component, ADT, inventory load, and NBI category, not a live closure verdict.
Bridge Snapshot: Prairie Grove Lake
The Prairie Grove Lake bridge in Washington, Arkansas carries Prairie Grove Lake over Sulphur Fork. It was built in 1965, making it 61 years old today. The structure is built primarily of steel and spans 2 sections, stretching 9.4 meters (31 feet) end to end. Daily traffic averages 644 vehicles, placing it in the lower-traffic tier of Arkansas bridges. It is owned and maintained by County Highway Agency.
The latest FHWA inspection records show culvert at 4/9. The weakest component sits in poor condition. A component scored 4 or below, placing this bridge in the federal Poor condition category rather than declaring it unsafe or closed.
How Prairie Grove Lake compares
Age against the county: built in 1965, earlier than 361 of Washington's 449 bridges with a recorded construction year (80%), against a county median build year of 1986. Age is not a defect on its own, but it is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn.
Live comparison across Arkansas bridges with a recorded inventory load rating (12,914 of 12,974 rated).
Prairie Grove Lake vs every rated Arkansas bridge
Inventory load rating (metric tons), FHWA NBI, this state
23 Top 72% higher than 28% of 12,914 bridges
rated Arkansas bridges, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more bridges. 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 · August 2026
Condition Ratings
Full 0–9 scale + sufficiency-rating breakdown: how condition ratings work.
Washington inventory by recorded NBI category
Exclusive Good/Fair/Poor bands across all 449 bridges in this county. Orthogonal to this structure's component profile above: a county catalog share, not a live crossing-safety verdict.
Structural Details
- Year Built
- 1965
- Material
- Steel
- Number of Spans
- 2
- Structure Length
- 9.4 m (31 ft) 0
- Owner
- County Highway Agency
- Avg Daily Traffic
- 644 vehicles/day
- Structure Number
- 000000000017370
Location
Data Source
FHWA National Bridge Inventory (NBI).
FHWA NBI Program ↗How to read this record
Prairie Grove Lake is in the federal Poor condition category. That is a component-based result, not a closure order.
- NBI condition ratings reflect the latest record in this annual dataset, not a live status. Current routine inspection intervals are risk-based.
- Understand what Poor condition does and does not mean before drawing conclusions. Poor condition explained
- Compare Prairie Grove Lake against other structures in Washington and across Arkansas. Arkansas bridges
- Noticed visible damage or a safety concern? Report it to the agency that owns the bridge, or call 911 in an emergency. How to report a bridge
Condition codes come straight from the FHWA National Bridge Inventory and are not a real-time safety judgment. Only the owning agency, a state DOT, county, or other owner, can post, restrict, or close a bridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the condition ratings mean for Prairie Grove Lake?
Prairie Grove Lake in Washington, Arkansas on the FHWA's 0–9 scale.
How often is Prairie Grove Lake inspected?
Prairie Grove Lake's responsible agency sets its routine interval under FHWA's risk-based inspection rules; this page does not expose the scheduled interval. It carries about 644 vehicles per day.
What does “structurally deficient” mean in older bridge reports?
FHWA retired that reported status beginning with the 2018 archive. Prairie Grove Lake is currently shown as Poor condition from its component ratings; that category is not a live closure or safety decision.
What is the inventory load rating for Prairie Grove Lake?
Prairie Grove Lake has an NBI inventory load rating of 22.7 metric tons.
Who is responsible for maintaining Prairie Grove Lake?
Prairie Grove Lake is owned and maintained by County Highway Agency.
How old is Prairie Grove Lake and does age affect safety?
Prairie Grove Lake was built in 1965, making it 61 years old.
Disclaimer: Bridge condition data is from the FHWA NBI and reflects the last reported inspection. A Poor condition rating is not a live declaration that a bridge is closed or unsafe for travel. For current closure, posting, or safety information, contact the responsible transportation agency.
Share this inspection record
Send this source-bounded record or download its data card. An NBI condition category is not a closure or live crossing-safety verdict.
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Component ratings, ADT, and condition category on this page are copied from the NBI record for this structure; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2024 NBI release. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.