LOCAL
Carrying LOCAL over E BRANCH W. NISH. RIVER
801337, Shelby, Iowa
Inventory: FHWA NBI 2024 · last ETL August 2026
FHWA NBI record, refreshed with each annual release.
LOCAL in Shelby, Iowa sits above 3% of rated Iowa bridges on inventory load rating (5 t), while its 1920 build year is earlier than 98% of Shelby's recorded-year cohort (207 bridges).
LOCAL in Shelby, Iowa is rated Poor in the FHWA's 2024 National Bridge Inventory. Built in 1920, it carries 3 rated components on the inspecting agency's 0-9 scale, and its weakest reported component scores 3. 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 IA:000000000305990
PRE-1950 · STEEL · SINGLE-SPAN · SUB-LED · TRACE-ADT · LIGHT-LOAD · CAT-POOR
- PRE-1950 Pre-1950
- STEEL Steel
- SINGLE-SPAN Single span
- SUB-LED Substructure-led
- TRACE-ADT Trace ADT
- LIGHT-LOAD Light 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.
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: LOCAL
The LOCAL bridge in Shelby, Iowa carries LOCAL over E BRANCH W. NISH. RIVER. It was built in 1920, making it 106 years old today. The structure is built primarily of steel and spans 1 section, stretching 44.5 meters (146 feet) end to end. Daily traffic averages 26 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 poor condition (see the full component ratings below). At least one major component here scores 4 or below, which produces a Poor condition classification under FHWA's current reporting rules.
How LOCAL compares
Age against the county: built in 1920, earlier than 202 of Shelby's 207 bridges with a recorded construction year (98%), against a county median build year of 1978. Age is not a defect on its own, but it is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn.
Live comparison across Iowa bridges with a recorded inventory load rating (23,718 of 23,719 rated).
LOCAL vs every rated Iowa bridge
Inventory load rating (metric tons), FHWA NBI, this state
5 Top 97% higher than 3% 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.
Reported 0–9 component ratings from the FHWA NBI. The highlighted component is the lowest reported input to this record’s current condition category; it is not a closure or live crossing-safety decision.
Shelby inventory by recorded NBI category
Exclusive Good/Fair/Poor bands across all 207 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
- 1920
- Material
- Steel
- Number of Spans
- 1
- Structure Length
- 44.5 m (146 ft)
- Deck Width
- 5.0 m (16 ft)
- Owner
- County Highway Agency
- Avg Daily Traffic
- 26 vehicles/day
- Structure Number
- 000000000305990
Condition Analysis
- • At 5/9, the deck (driving surface) shows fair condition, with minor wear flagged for upkeep.
- • The superstructure (beams and supports above the deck) is in fair condition (5/9), with minor deterioration that may require routine maintenance.
- • At 3/9, the substructure (piers and abutments) is in poor shape, with advanced wear on file for this vintage.
Location
Data Source
FHWA National Bridge Inventory (NBI).
FHWA NBI Program ↗How to read this record
LOCAL 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 LOCAL against other structures in Shelby 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 LOCAL?
LOCAL in Shelby, Iowa has a deck rating of 5/9, superstructure rating of 5/9, and substructure rating of 3/9 on the FHWA's 0–9 scale.
How often is LOCAL inspected?
LOCAL'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 26 vehicles per day.
What does “structurally deficient” mean in older bridge reports?
FHWA retired that reported status beginning with the 2018 archive. LOCAL 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 LOCAL?
LOCAL has an NBI inventory load rating of 4.5 metric tons.
Who is responsible for maintaining LOCAL?
LOCAL is owned and maintained by County Highway Agency.
How old is LOCAL and does age affect safety?
LOCAL was built in 1920, making it 106 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.