County profile · official public datasets

Macon County, AL

177 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.9% rated Good, 64.4% Fair, 10.7% Poor.

177
Public bridges: 24.9%
Good condition: 10.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

64th
of 67 on Poor share: 10.7%
Poor-condition share: 177
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Macon County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Macon County ranks #64 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.7%). Macon County, Alabama contains 177 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.9% are rated “Good,” 64.4% “Fair,” and 10.7% “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

177

Public highway bridges in Macon County

Good condition

24.9%

44 of 177 rated 7-9

Fair condition

64.4%

114 of 177 rated 5-6

Poor condition

10.7%

19 of 177 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#64 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 177 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

24.9% (44)

Fair

64.4% (114)

Poor

10.7% (19)

Macon County's Poor-condition bridges carry 39,397 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,074 crossings a day against 1,071 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 177 of 177 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

62.7% of Macon County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

111 of the 177 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 24.9% 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 79.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I85 over BRANCH, built 1963, carries 31,250 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 19-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 39,397 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

6
1930s

1
1940s

5
1950s

21
1960s

72
1970s

9
1980s

21
1990s

11
2000s

21
2010s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 72 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 40.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Macon County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Macon County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Lamar County	181	26%	71.8%	2.2%	1966
Blount County	180	12.8%	79.4%	7.8%	1968
Hale County	177	49.2%	45.8%	5.1%	1972
Washington County	177	32.8%	56.5%	10.7%	1981
Macon County (this page)	177	24.9%	64.4%	10.7%	1973
Colbert County	172	31.4%	66.9%	1.7%	1972

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (177 bridges here).

Seminole County, FL · 177 bridges
Dodge County, MN · 177 bridges
Pierce County, NE · 177 bridges
Marion County, TN · 177 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1973 here).

Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges
Sacramento County, CA · avg 1973 · 740 bridges

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

All 177 Good 44 Fair 114 Poor 19

All bridges (177)

Sort:

Macon County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Macon County's Poor-condition bridges carry 39,397 vehicle crossings a day

62.7% of Macon County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 79.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Macon 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 (177)

CO RD 67

FDR 706

CO RD 29

CO RD 9

CO RD 13

CO RD 13

CO RD 56

CO RD 53

CO RD 40

CO RD 4

CO RD 26

AL. 49

CO RD 79

I-85 S.B.L.

CO RD 54

AL 49

CO RD 2

CO RD 19

CO RD 26

I-85 N.B.L.

I-85 N.B.L.

CO RD 9

AL. 81

CO RD 22

CO RD 9

US 80

CO RD 0097

CO RD 9

I85 S.B.L.

I-85 SBL

I85 NBL

CO RD 10

AL. 186

CO RD 13

I-85 N.B.L.

I85 N.B.L.

I85 SBL

CO RD 2

CO RD 22

CO RD 24

SPRAXLIN RD

I85 SBL

I85 NBL

AL 138

CO.RD.36

CO RD 2

US 80

US 80

I-85 S.B.L.

I85 SBL

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