County profile · official public datasets

Chilton County, AL

189 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 50.3% rated Good, 48.7% Fair, 1.1% Poor.

189
Public bridges: 50.3%
Good condition: 1.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.

Chilton County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 18%
lowest Poor share in state: 1.1%
Poor-condition share: 189
public highway bridges: 1972
avg year built

Poor is an FHWA condition category from the lowest applicable component rating (4 or below), not a live crossing-safety or closure decision. Rankings cover counties with at least five public highway bridges.

Chilton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chilton County ranks #12 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.1%). Chilton County, Alabama contains 189 public highway bridges. Roughly 50.3% are rated “Good,” 48.7% “Fair,” and 1.1% “Poor.” Poor means the lowest applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rating is 4 or below on the 0–9 NBI scale. It is a condition category, not a live safety or closure decision.

Responsible agencies inspect covered bridges on risk-based intervals under current NBIS rules and submit inventory data to FHWA annually. The list below shows every NBI-tracked bridge in the county. Use the “Sort by” controls to change the ordering, and click any row for its reported inspection date, traffic count, and condition fields.

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory. See methodology for full definitions.

Total bridges

189

Public highway bridges in Chilton County

Good condition

50.3%

95 of 189 rated 7-9

Fair condition

48.7%

92 of 189 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.1%

2 of 189 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#12 of 67

Among Alabama counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 189 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

50.3% (95)

Fair

48.7% (92)

Poor

1.1% (2)

Chilton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,480 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,240 crossings a day against 1,084 for a Good-condition one. A Poor rating is a condition category, not a closure or a live safety judgement; it means the lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below.

Computed over the 189 of 189 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

61.9% of Chilton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

117 of the 189 bridges with a recorded construction year were built in 1974 or earlier. Age alone is not a defect: a well-maintained older bridge can rate Good, and 50.3% of this county's inventory does. Even so, this older cohort is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn, which is why the age profile below matters alongside the condition split above.

Cutoff derives from the 2024 release year minus a 50-year design life. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

One structure carries 59.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CR33 OLD HWY 31 over BRIDGE WATSON CREEK, built 1925, carries 1,480 vehicles a day, the most of any Poor-rated structure here. The county's Poor-condition exposure is concentrated rather than evenly spread, so the 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,480 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

11
1930s

2
1940s

8
1950s

32
1960s

54
1970s

16
1980s

26
1990s

8
2000s

11
2010s

18
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 54 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 28.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Alabama average (1974).

How Chilton County compares with Alabama's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Chilton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.1% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 66 Alabama counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chilton County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Franklin County	194	44.3%	50.5%	5.2%	1975
Barbour County	192	55.7%	41.1%	3.1%	1976
Butler County	189	27%	72%	1.1%	1976
Chilton County (this page)	189	50.3%	48.7%	1.1%	1972
Fayette County	186	30.6%	68.3%	1.1%	1969
Chambers County	185	51.9%	40%	8.1%	1973

Each share is of that county's own total tracked bridges; peers are the counties with 5 or more bridges whose inventory size is closest to Chilton County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Two NBI-derived peer sets for Chilton County, both outside Alabama so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (189 bridges here).

Jasper County, IN · 189 bridges
Chase County, KS · 189 bridges
Carter County, KY · 189 bridges
Howell County, MO · 189 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1972 here).

Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
York County, PA · avg 1972 · 569 bridges
Middlesex County, NJ · avg 1972 · 563 bridges

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.

All 189 Good 95 Fair 92 Poor 2

Good-condition bridges (95)

Sort:

Chilton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Chilton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,480 vehicle crossings a day

61.9% of Chilton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 59.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Chilton County compares with Alabama's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Good-condition bridges (95)

CR24 COOPER-ENTERP

CR24 EAS RT 11

CR29NEW SALEMCH RD

CR 500

CR 447

CO RD 13

CR 24 COOPER ENT

COUNTY ROAD 50 E.

CR45 STANTONSCHORD

CR 59

COUNTY ROAD 55

MEDICAL CENTER DR.

CR313 OLD HWY 22

CR7 HUMPBACK RD.

AL 22

CR 51

8TH STREET

Co. Rd. 42

COUNTY ROAD 341

CR74 EXPERIMENT ST

COUNTY ROAD 43

COUNTY ROAD 455

COUNTY ROAD 486

CR456

COUNTY ROAD 15

CR16CHARLIEMITCHEL

CR16 ANTIOCH-POOLS

I-65

CR16 KINCHEON ROAD

CR18W HAROLD CULP

AL 22

COUNTY ROAD 359

CR38 ED LEACH

CR21 EZRA MOORE RD

CR7 GRADY FRIDAYRD

COUNTY ROAD 503

CR800GILBERTLAKERD

CR230WINSTONCULPRD

US 82

CR16 JOHN PIERCERD

CR50PLEASANT GRV R

COUNTY ROAD 97

CR54 CP 1-20

COUNTY ROAD 48

CR47 MAPLE SPRG RD

COUNTY ROAD 15

CR53 LITTLEJOHN RD

CR89 GENE WYATT RD

CO RD 91

CR431 BH WELLS RD

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