County profile · official public datasets

Cullman County, AL

246 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 29.3% rated Good, 64.6% Fair, 6.1% Poor.

246
Public bridges: 29.3%
Good condition: 6.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

55th
of 67 on Poor share: 6.1%
Poor-condition share: 246
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.

Cullman County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cullman County ranks #55 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.1%). Cullman County, Alabama contains 246 public highway bridges. Roughly 29.3% are rated “Good,” 64.6% “Fair,” and 6.1% “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

246

Public highway bridges in Cullman County

Good condition

29.3%

72 of 246 rated 7-9

Fair condition

64.6%

159 of 246 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.1%

15 of 246 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#55 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 246 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

29.3% (72)

Fair

64.6% (159)

Poor

6.1% (15)

Cullman County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,763 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 251 crossings a day against 1,557 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 246 of 246 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

67.1% of Cullman County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

165 of the 246 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 29.3% 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 30% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

OLD 3RD AVE SE over L*N RAIL ROAD, built 1912, carries 1,128 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 3,763 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

3
1920s

4
1930s

10
1940s

26
1950s

48
1960s

62
1970s

21
1980s

10
1990s

17
2000s

23
2010s

15
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 62 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 25.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1970) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Cullman County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.1% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cullman County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Marion County	255	38.4%	60.8%	0.8%	1974
Houston County	247	47.4%	52.2%	0.4%	1978
Cullman County (this page)	246	29.3%	64.6%	6.1%	1970
Talladega County	243	44.9%	51.9%	3.3%	1967
Sumter County	241	48.5%	46.1%	5.4%	1969
Etowah County	236	50.4%	47.5%	2.1%	1976

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (246 bridges here).

Piatt County, IL · 246 bridges
Jackson County, IA · 246 bridges
Jackson County, KS · 246 bridges
Buchanan County, MO · 246 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 246 Good 72 Fair 159 Poor 15

All bridges (246)

Sort:

Cullman County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Cullman County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,763 vehicle crossings a day

67.1% of Cullman County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 30% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Cullman 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 (246)

BRIARWOOD LANE

CR 820

2ND ST SW

5TH ST SE

cr 986

CO. RT. 1162

CR 616

CR 702

cr 1196

cr 1748

CR 616

1225

CR 1670

CR 771

Cr 1508

CO. RT. 747

COUNTY ROAD 1043

Commercial Street

CR 599

CO. RT. 222

CR 1652

CR 436

CR 532

CO. RT. 1807

PRIVATE DRIVE

CO. RT. 541

CO. RT 1763

US278; SR74; SR69

cr 1352

AL 157

CO.RT 1669

CO. RT. 940

CO. RT. 35

CO. RT. 946

CO. RT. 781

CO. RT. 438

cr 1559

US 278; SR 74

I65

CO. RT. 436

County Road 5

CO. RT. 703

I-65

I-65

CR 1674

CR 437 T beam

CO. RT. 813

CR 1273

CO RD 504 MP 294.2

3RD ST

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