Total bridges
246
Public highway bridges in Cullman County
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.
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.
When Cullman County's bridges were built
246 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1910s 3
1910–1919
3 bridges
- 1920s 4
1920–1929
4 bridges
- 1930s 10
1930–1939
10 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
26 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
48 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
62 bridges
- 1970s 21
1970–1979
21 bridges
- 1980s 10
1980–1989
10 bridges
- 1990s 17
1990–1999
17 bridges
- 2000s 23
2000–2009
23 bridges
- 2010s 15
2010–2019
15 bridges
- 2020s 7
2020–2029
7 bridges
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.
| 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.
Poor-condition bridges (15)
UNPAVED ROAD
PoorOver: L*N RAILROAD
0.5 MI. W JCT. CO. RT. 43, Cullman, AL
Built 1952 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 30
30
PoorOver: DORSEY CREEK
Cr 30, Cullman, AL
Built 1957 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 125
Cr 1389
PoorOver: FLINT CREEK
CR 1389, Cullman, AL
Built 1957 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 40
OLD 3RD AVE SE
PoorOver: L*N RAIL ROAD
Old 3rd ave se, Cullman, AL
Built 1912 Load: 1.8 t ADT: 1,128
Cr 1755 gravel
PoorOver: BRANCH
CR 1755, Cullman, AL
Built 1960 Load: 1.8 t ADT: 35
cr 1427
PoorOver: EIGHTMILE CREEK
CR 1427, Cullman, AL
Built 1947 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 170
Cr 1856
PoorOver: MULBERRY CREEK
CR 1856, Cullman, AL
Built 1952 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 45
C0. RT. 52
PoorOver: PAN CREEK
1.0 MI E JCT CO RT 54, Cullman, AL
Built 1952 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 200
WALNUT ST
PoorOver: RAILROAD @ WALNUT STREET
0.5 MI E JCT US 31, Cullman, AL
Built 1915 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 1,000
CR 538
PoorOver: MUD CREEK
CR 538, Cullman, AL
Built 1973 Load: 9.5 t ADT: 110
CO. RT. 1763
PoorOver: TIBB CREEK
CR 1763, Cullman, AL
Built 1958 Load: 11.2 t ADT: 80
CR 1059
PoorOver: BLEVENS CREEK
CR 1059, Cullman, AL
Built 1974 Load: 13.2 t ADT: 30
CR 1579
PoorOver: DUCK CREEK
CR 1579, Cullman, AL
Built 1974 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 35
cr 1447
PoorOver: BRANCH
CR 1447, Cullman, AL
Built 1976 Load: 13.7 t ADT: 70
SR 91
PoorOver: DORSEY CREEK
7 MI N JCT SR 69, Cullman, AL
Built 1972 Load: 28.3 t ADT: 665
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
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.