BELL AVE
Carrying BELL AVE over BR WAPSIPINICON RIV
097140502, Howard, Iowa
Inventory: FHWA NBI 2024 · last ETL August 2026
FHWA NBI record, refreshed with each annual release.
BELL AVE in Howard, Iowa sits above 84% of rated Iowa bridges on inventory load rating (41 t), while its 2005 build year is earlier than 24% of Howard's recorded-year cohort (210 bridges).
BELL AVE in Howard, Iowa is rated Good in the FHWA's 2024 National Bridge Inventory. Built in 2005, it carries 1 rated component on the inspecting agency's 0-9 scale, and its weakest reported component scores 7. The lowest applicable rating sets the federal condition category, so this Good 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 IA:000000000181911
POST-2000 · STEEL · MULTI-SPAN · CULVERT-LED · TRACE-ADT · HEAVY-LOAD · CAT-GOOD
- POST-2000 2000+
- STEEL Steel
- MULTI-SPAN 3 spans
- CULVERT-LED Culvert-led
- TRACE-ADT Trace ADT
- HEAVY-LOAD Heavy load
- CAT-GOOD Good
Inspection-sheet codes from this record’s year, material family, spans, controlling component, ADT, inventory load, and NBI category, not a live closure verdict.
Structural health score
A composite of the deck, superstructure, and substructure NBI condition ratings plus the inventory load rating, benchmarked against the full national bridge corpus, distinct from the Good/Fair/Poor category above.
Bridge Snapshot: BELL AVE
The BELL AVE bridge in Howard, Iowa carries BELL AVE over BR WAPSIPINICON RIV. It was built in 2005, making it 21 years old today. The structure is built primarily of steel and spans 3 sections, stretching 9.8 meters (32 feet) end to end. Daily traffic averages 21 vehicles, placing it in the lower-traffic tier of Iowa bridges. It is owned and maintained by County Highway Agency.
The latest FHWA inspection places the weakest component in good condition (see the full component ratings below). None of this bridge's reported major components fall into the Poor condition range.
How BELL AVE compares
Age against the county: built in 2005, earlier than 50 of Howard's 210 bridges with a recorded construction year (24%), against a county median build year of 1987. This is one of the newer structures in its county.
Live comparison across Iowa bridges with a recorded inventory load rating (23,718 of 23,719 rated).
BELL AVE vs every rated Iowa bridge
Inventory load rating (metric tons), FHWA NBI, this state
41 Top 16% higher than 84% of 23,718 bridges
rated Iowa 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.
Howard inventory by recorded NBI category
Exclusive Good/Fair/Poor bands across all 210 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
- 2005
- Material
- Steel
- Number of Spans
- 3
- Structure Length
- 9.8 m (32 ft) 0
- Owner
- County Highway Agency
- Avg Daily Traffic
- 21 vehicles/day
- Structure Number
- 000000000181911
Location
Data Source
FHWA National Bridge Inventory (NBI).
FHWA NBI Program ↗How to read this record
This page shows what the last federal inspection recorded, not whether BELL AVE is safe to cross today. Here is how to use it.
- NBI condition ratings reflect the latest record in this annual dataset, not a live status. Current routine inspection intervals are risk-based.
- Learn how the 0–9 condition scale and Good/Fair/Poor categories are defined. How condition ratings work
- Compare BELL AVE against other structures in Howard and across Iowa. Iowa 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 BELL AVE?
BELL AVE in Howard, Iowa on the FHWA's 0–9 scale.
How often is BELL AVE inspected?
BELL AVE'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 21 vehicles per day.
What does “structurally deficient” mean in older bridge reports?
FHWA retired that reported status beginning with the 2018 archive. BELL AVE is currently shown as Good condition from its component ratings; that category is not a live closure or safety decision.
What is the inventory load rating for BELL AVE?
BELL AVE has an NBI inventory load rating of 40.5 metric tons.
Who is responsible for maintaining BELL AVE?
BELL AVE is owned and maintained by County Highway Agency.
How old is BELL AVE and does age affect safety?
BELL AVE was built in 2005, making it 21 years old.
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.