County profile · official public datasets

Covington County, AL

332 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.9% rated Good, 63% Fair, 5.1% Poor.

332
Public bridges: 31.9%
Good condition: 5.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Covington County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

48th
of 67 on Poor share: 5.1%
Poor-condition share: 332
public highway bridges: 1970
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.

Covington County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Covington County ranks #48 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.1%). Covington County, Alabama contains 332 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.9% are rated “Good,” 63% “Fair,” and 5.1% “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

332

Public highway bridges in Covington County

Good condition

31.9%

106 of 332 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63%

209 of 332 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.1%

17 of 332 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#48 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 332 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

31.9% (106)

Fair

63% (209)

Poor

5.1% (17)

Covington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,590 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 152 crossings a day against 1,391 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 332 of 332 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

53.9% of Covington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

179 of the 332 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 31.9% 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 17% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

COUNTY RD 38 over POLEY CREEK, built 1963, carries 440 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,590 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

8
1920s

13
1930s

36
1940s

18
1950s

47
1960s

47
1970s

23
1980s

18
1990s

53
2000s

53
2010s

12
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 53 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1970) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Covington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.1% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 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 Covington County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Baldwin County	381	48.3%	50.4%	1.3%	1991
Shelby County	344	41%	58.1%	0.9%	1981
Covington County (this page)	332	31.9%	63%	5.1%	1970
Limestone County	324	45.1%	52.8%	2.2%	1972
Jackson County	314	29%	67.2%	3.8%	1961
DeKalb County	300	31.3%	62%	6.7%	1967

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 Covington 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 Covington County, both outside Alabama so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (332 bridges here).

Franklin County, KS · 332 bridges
Dutchess County, NY · 332 bridges
Goodhue County, MN · 333 bridges
Passaic County, NJ · 333 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1970 here).

Hamilton County, OH · avg 1970 · 783 bridges
Yavapai County, AZ · avg 1970 · 543 bridges
Garfield County, OK · avg 1970 · 504 bridges
San Luis Obispo County, CA · avg 1970 · 401 bridges

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

All 332 Good 106 Fair 209 Poor 17

All bridges (332)

Sort:

Covington County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Covington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,590 vehicle crossings a day

53.9% of Covington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 17% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Covington 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

All bridges (332)

PANTHER CREEK

CO. RD. 45

Bass Bridge Road

SR-12 MP 142.481

COUNTY ROAD 4

COUNTY ROAD 89

US 84 MP 144.577

COUNTY ROAD 70

CO RD # 89

US 331 MP 6.321

US 84 MP 136.923

COUNTY ROAD 43

COUNTY DIRT RD.

CO. RD. 51

CO. DIRT RD.

COUNTY RD 46

COUNTY DIRT ROAD

ANN RABREN ROAD

Mitchell Road

CO. RD. 59

SR. 55 MP 2.102

CO. RD. NO 70

COUNTY RD 25

U.S.84 MP 144.447

COUNTY ROAD 59

COUNTY DIRT RD

SR-12 MP 142.286

US 331 MP 8.740

SR 55 MP 20.356

COUNTY RD 59

CO ROAD 27

U.S. 84 MP 142.286

COUNTY DIRTROAD

US 331 MP 25.426

COUNTY ROAD 24

CO. RD. 70

US 29 MP 57.721

SR-55 MP10.184

COUNTY ROAD 25

COUNTY ROAD 8

Davis Road

CR 89

SR 137 MP 11.770

COUNTY ROAD 23

CO. RD. 77

COUNTY RD 57

CO. RD. 17

COUNTY RD 30

_US 331

CO. RD. 32

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