Total bridges
129
Public highway bridges in Clay County
County profile · official public datasets
129 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 25.6% rated Good, 67.4% Fair, 7% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Clay County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clay County ranks #58 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7%). Clay County, Alabama contains 129 public highway bridges. Roughly 25.6% are rated “Good,” 67.4% “Fair,” and 7% “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
129
Public highway bridges in Clay County
Good condition
25.6%
33 of 129 rated 7-9
Fair condition
67.4%
87 of 129 rated 5-6
Poor condition
7%
9 of 129 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#58 of 67
Among Alabama counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 129 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 1.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 209 crossings a day against 378 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 129 of 129 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
79 of the 129 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 25.6% 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.
SR 77 over WESOBULGA CREEK, built 1950, carries 1,181 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 1,882 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
129 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1900–1909
1 bridges
1910–1919
4 bridges
1920–1929
12 bridges
1930–1939
3 bridges
1940–1949
7 bridges
1950–1959
12 bridges
1960–1969
38 bridges
1970–1979
18 bridges
1980–1989
12 bridges
1990–1999
5 bridges
2000–2009
14 bridges
2010–2019
3 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1966, 8 years older than the Alabama average of 1974.
The 5 Alabama counties nearest Clay County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1966 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 5 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 66 Alabama counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullock County | 136 | 20.6% | 77.9% | 1.5% | 1970 |
| Henry County | 133 | 41.4% | 58.6% | 0% | 1975 |
| Clay County (this page) | 129 | 25.6% | 67.4% | 7% | 1966 |
| Bibb County | 126 | 45.2% | 54% | 0.8% | 1965 |
| Coosa County | 126 | 20.6% | 75.4% | 4% | 1970 |
| Autauga County | 118 | 39% | 58.5% | 2.5% | 1977 |
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 Clay County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Clay County, both outside Alabama so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside AL (129 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1966 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: HORSE CREEK
NATIONAL FOREST, Clay, AL
Over: FAYNE CREEK
NATIONAL FOREST, Clay, AL
Over: TALLADEGA CREEK
0.7 MI S OF ERIN, Clay, AL
Over: TALLADEGA CREEK
.5 M SW CAMPBELLS X RDS, Clay, AL
Over: WHITE OAK CREEK
0.5 MI E PROVIDENCECHURCH, Clay, AL
Over: TALLASEEHATCHEE CREEK
TALLADEGA DISTRICT, Clay, AL
Over: METCALF CREEK
0.2 E CO ROUTE 31, Clay, AL
Over: FOX CREEK
6 MI E LINEVILLE N ALA 48, Clay, AL
Over: LYNCH CREEK
1.5 MI. S OF HARKINS XRD., Clay, AL
Over: EMUCKFAW CREEK
2.2 MISE SIKESVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: WESOBULGA CREEK
1 MI W CORINTH CH, Clay, AL
Over: LITTLE KETCHEPEDRAKEE CR
3.5 MI EAST OF DELTA, Clay, AL
Over: LITTLE HILLABEE
1.0 MI S MILLERVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: CROOKED CREEK
2.5 M N OF CRAGFORD, Clay, AL
Over: HATCHET CREEK
1.8 MI N JCT CO NO 6, Clay, AL
Over: MAD INDIAN CREEK
.5 MI SW BLACKS CHAPEL, Clay, AL
Over: DRAKE CREEK
0.5 MI NE MILLER VILLE, Clay, AL
Over: HATCHET CREEK
0.1 MI E JCT CO 7, Clay, AL
Over: HORSE CREEK
1.0 M SW UNION, Clay, AL
Over: ENITACHOPCO CREEK
5.8 MI E ALA NO 9, Clay, AL
Over: CROOKED CREEK
2 MI SO LINEVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: CHEAHA CREEK
TALLADEGA DISTRICT, Clay, AL
Over: TALLADEGA CREEK
AT WEATHERS STATION, Clay, AL
Over: DENNIS CREEK
1.0 MI. NW CARRS MILL, Clay, AL
Over: CSX RAILROAD
CITY OF LINEVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: KETCHEPEDRAKEE CREEK
9 MI N CSX RAILROAD, Clay, AL
Over: WESOBULGA CREEK
3.0 MI S CRAGFORD, Clay, AL
Over: ACL RAILROAD
0.3 M N HIGHLAND, Clay, AL
Over: LITTLE HILLABEE CREEK
1 MI WEST OF MILLERVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: SCL RAILROAD
EAST COLLEGE STREET, Clay, AL
Over: TRIBUTARY TO LYNCH CREEK
3 MI N MILLERVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: FOX CREEK
1.5 MI SE BARFIELD, Clay, AL
Over: KETCHEPEDRAKEE CREEK
4.5 MI N BARFIELD, Clay, AL
Over: PARTRIDGE CREEK
0.5 MI W JCT ALA NO 9, Clay, AL
Over: LITTLE HILLABEE CREEK
1.5M NW MILLERVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: CROOKED CREEK
3 MI N ASHLAND, Clay, AL
Over: PARTRIDGE CREEK
0.7 MI W JCT ALA NO 9, Clay, AL
Over: KETCHEPEDRAKEE CREEK
2 MILES EAST OF DELTA, Clay, AL
Over: BRANCH
1.0 M N SKEGGS X ROADS, Clay, AL
Over: PARTRIDGE CREEK
0.5MI N COOSA CO LINE, Clay, AL
Over: WEOGUFKA CREEK
1.5 MI. SE HOLLINS, Clay, AL
Over: FOX CREEK
1.5 MI N CSX RAILROAD, Clay, AL
Over: HATCHET CRK RELIEF
2.4 MI S JCT ALA NO 148, Clay, AL
Over: CSX RAILROAD
CITY OF LINEVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: STREET CREEK
2.5 M SE GUTHERIES CHAPEL, Clay, AL
Over: BRANCH
1.5 M NE RAYS CROSSROADS, Clay, AL
Over: KETCHEPEDRAKEE CREEK
9.5 MI N LINEVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: ARMSTRONG CREEK
10.5 MI N LINEVILLE, Clay, AL
Over: HORSE TROUGH CREEK
CITY OF ASHLAND, Clay, AL
Over: FOX CREEK
N CITY LIMITS LINEVILLE, Clay, AL
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.