County profile · official public datasets

Lawrence County, AL

215 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 52.1% rated Good, 45.1% Fair, 2.8% Poor.

215
Public bridges: 52.1%
Good condition: 2.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 48%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.8%
Poor-condition share: 215
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.

Lawrence County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lawrence County ranks #32 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.8%). Lawrence County, Alabama contains 215 public highway bridges. Roughly 52.1% are rated “Good,” 45.1% “Fair,” and 2.8% “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

215

Public highway bridges in Lawrence County

Good condition

52.1%

112 of 215 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.1%

97 of 215 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.8%

6 of 215 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#32 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 215 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

52.1% (112)

Fair

45.1% (97)

Poor

2.8% (6)

Lawrence County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,075 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 679 crossings a day against 1,770 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 215 of 215 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

45.6% of Lawrence County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

98 of the 215 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 52.1% 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 27% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

JEFFERSON STREET over BIG NANCE CREEK, built 1926, carries 1,100 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 4,075 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

18
1930s

9
1940s

11
1950s

29
1960s

26
1970s

8
1980s

17
1990s

51
2000s

29
2010s

15
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 51 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Lawrence County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.8% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lawrence County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Dallas County	225	26.2%	70.7%	3.1%	1971
Conecuh County	224	24.1%	69.6%	6.3%	1977
Coffee County	216	58.3%	41.2%	0.5%	1974
Lawrence County (this page)	215	52.1%	45.1%	2.8%	1976
Lee County	214	40.7%	57.9%	1.4%	1980
Dale County	206	42.7%	57.3%	0%	1973

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (215 bridges here).

Idaho County, ID · 215 bridges
Terrebonne County, LA · 215 bridges
Marshall County, MN · 215 bridges
Washington County, OK · 215 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 215 Good 112 Fair 97 Poor 6

All bridges (215)

Sort:

Lawrence County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Lawrence County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,075 vehicle crossings a day

45.6% of Lawrence County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 27% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Lawrence 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 (215)

CO RT 27

CO RT 305

CO RT 184

SR 20

CO RT 23

SR 157

SR 157

SR 20

CO RT 143

CR 32

MAIN STREET

SR 20

SR 33

CO RT 234

CO RT 222

SR 20

SR 24

SR 24

BORDEN CREEK-Bridg

CO RT 23

SR 20

CR 460

FLANNIGAN CREEK-Br

SR 157

SR 20

SR 157

FLINT CREEK-Bridge

CO RT 212

CO. RD. 460

SR 36

SR 101

SR 24

CO RT 143

CO RT 32

CO. 460

CO RT 176

CO RT 87

CO RT 217

CO.460

SR 20

CO RT 387

CO RT 28

CO. 460

SR 157

SR 157

SR 24

SR 24

CO RT 211

CO RT 136

SR 36

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