County profile · official public datasets

Limestone County, AL

324 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 45.1% rated Good, 52.8% Fair, 2.2% Poor.

324
Public bridges: 45.1%
Good condition: 2.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 39%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.2%
Poor-condition share: 324
public highway bridges: 1972
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.

Limestone County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Limestone County ranks #26 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.2%). Limestone County, Alabama contains 324 public highway bridges. Roughly 45.1% are rated “Good,” 52.8% “Fair,” and 2.2% “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

324

Public highway bridges in Limestone County

Good condition

45.1%

146 of 324 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.8%

171 of 324 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.2%

7 of 324 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#26 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 324 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

45.1% (146)

Fair

52.8% (171)

Poor

2.2% (7)

Limestone County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,045 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 149 crossings a day against 2,633 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 324 of 324 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

60.5% of Limestone County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

196 of the 324 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 45.1% 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 28.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

PETTUSVILLE RD over BRANCH, built 1952, carries 300 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 7-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,045 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

12
1930s

11
1940s

32
1950s

61
1960s

64
1970s

24
1980s

28
1990s

34
2000s

21
2010s

16
2020s

20

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 64 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Limestone County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.2% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Limestone County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Shelby County	344	41%	58.1%	0.9%	1981
Covington County	332	31.9%	63%	5.1%	1970
Limestone County (this page)	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
Walker County	275	36.4%	58.2%	5.5%	1974

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (324 bridges here).

Marion County, KS · 324 bridges
Miami County, KS · 326 bridges
Montgomery County, KS · 326 bridges
Merrimack County, NH · 326 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1972 here).

Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
York County, PA · avg 1972 · 569 bridges
Middlesex County, NJ · avg 1972 · 563 bridges

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

All 324 Good 146 Fair 171 Poor 7

Fair-condition bridges (171)

Sort:

Limestone County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Limestone County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,045 vehicle crossings a day

60.5% of Limestone County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 28.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Limestone 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

Fair-condition bridges (171)

SUGAR CR EST RD

BLACK RD

BLACK RD

WOOLEY SPRINGS RD

SHIPLEY HOLLOW RD

UP FT HAMPTON RD

SR 3

HARRIS STATION RD

GARRETT RD

WOOLEY SPRINGS RD

I 565

I 565

WEST MARKET ST.

I 565

STRAIN RD

HUNTS-BRFERRY RD

I 65

SR 53

SR 2

I 65

I 65

EASTER FERRY RD

UPPER FT. HAMPTON

SR 3

SR 2

NUCLEAR PLANT RD

SR 99

SR 2

NICK DAVIS RD

SEVEN MILE POST R

NUCLEAR PLANT RD

PINEDALE RD

SR 2

I 565

I 565

I 565

SR 2

SR 2

SR 99

SR 3

LOVE BRANCH RD

SR 20

SR 3

SR 2

BLACKBURN RD

I 565

I 565

I 565

I 565

I 565

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