County profile · official public datasets

Etowah County, AL

236 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 50.4% rated Good, 47.5% Fair, 2.1% Poor.

236
Public bridges: 50.4%
Good condition: 2.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 37%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.1%
Poor-condition share: 236
public highway bridges: 1976
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.

Etowah County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Etowah County ranks #25 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.1%). Etowah County, Alabama contains 236 public highway bridges. Roughly 50.4% are rated “Good,” 47.5% “Fair,” and 2.1% “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

236

Public highway bridges in Etowah County

Good condition

50.4%

119 of 236 rated 7-9

Fair condition

47.5%

112 of 236 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.1%

5 of 236 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#25 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 236 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

50.4% (119)

Fair

47.5% (112)

Poor

2.1% (5)

Etowah County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,244 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,449 crossings a day against 4,407 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 233 of 236 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

50.4% of Etowah County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

119 of the 236 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 50.4% 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 85.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SUTTON BRIDGE RD. over BIG WILLS CREEK, built 1956, carries 10,500 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 12,244 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

8
1930s

17
1940s

7
1950s

43
1960s

40
1970s

5
1980s

32
1990s

26
2000s

23
2010s

34
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 43 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Etowah County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.1% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Etowah County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Houston County	247	47.4%	52.2%	0.4%	1978
Cullman County	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 (this page)	236	50.4%	47.5%	2.1%	1976
Pickens County	233	41.6%	50.2%	8.2%	1970

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (236 bridges here).

York County, ME · 236 bridges
Cabarrus County, NC · 236 bridges
Catawba County, NC · 236 bridges
Wyandot County, OH · 236 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1976 here).

Marion County, IN · avg 1976 · 958 bridges
Mohave County, AZ · avg 1976 · 641 bridges
Comanche County, OK · avg 1976 · 593 bridges
Prince George's County, MD · avg 1976 · 576 bridges

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

All 236 Good 119 Fair 112 Poor 5

Good-condition bridges (119)

Sort:

Etowah County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Etowah County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,244 vehicle crossings a day

50.4% of Etowah County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 85.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Etowah 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 (119)

I 759

I 759

I-759

I-759

CHESTNUT ST

US 278

COX GAP RD.

I-59

I 59

S 11TH STREET

CANOE CREEK ROAD

CLANTON ST.

BUD UMPHREY

TIDMORE BEND ROAD

AL 132

MILL HILL RD.

SAND VALLEY RD.

Jackson Trail Road

MAYO ROAD

AL 205

GOWENS RD.

RABBITTOWN ROAD

COVE SPRINGS RD.

STEELE STATION

Fairview Cove Road

DELMONT DR.

SAND VALLEY RD

TABOR CUT-OFF RD.

LAKE RHEA RD.

6TH STREET

BLACK CREEK PKWY

I-59 S.B.

Caddell Circle

Cox Gap Rd CR-224

US 278 WEST BOUND

US 278 EAST

I 759

COATS BEND RD.

BLACK CREEK PKY

AL 77

Coates Bend Circle

CITY STREET

COUNTY ROAD 71

NICHOLS ROAD

SR1/US 431

ROCKLEDGE RD.

STYLES BRIDGE RD

BLACK CREEK PKWY

US 431

US 278

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