County profile · official public datasets

Madison County, AL

710 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.8% rated Good, 56.9% Fair, 1.3% Poor.

710
Public bridges: 41.8%
Good condition: 1.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Madison County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across large county bridge inventory.

Top 22%
lowest Poor share in state: 1.3%
Poor-condition share: 710
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.

Madison County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Madison County ranks #15 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.3%). Madison County, Alabama contains 710 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.8% are rated “Good,” 56.9% “Fair,” and 1.3% “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

710

Public highway bridges in Madison County

Good condition

41.8%

297 of 710 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56.9%

404 of 710 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.3%

9 of 710 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#15 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 710 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

41.8% (297)

Fair

56.9% (404)

Poor

1.3% (9)

Madison County's Poor-condition bridges carry 35,312 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,924 crossings a day against 10,801 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 709 of 710 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

55.5% of Madison County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

394 of the 710 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 41.8% 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 54.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SPARKMAN DR over PINHOOK CREEK, built 1968, carries 19,100 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 35,312 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

4
1920s

12
1930s

97
1940s

63
1950s

73
1960s

93
1970s

64
1980s

79
1990s

99
2000s

66
2010s

46
2020s

13

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 99 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 13.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Madison County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.3% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1979 is 7 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Madison County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Madison County (this page)	710	41.8%	56.9%	1.3%	1972
Mobile County	612	21.1%	76.1%	2.8%	1980
Montgomery County	596	37.9%	59.9%	2.2%	1975
Tuscaloosa County	482	44.6%	54.8%	0.6%	1981
Calhoun County	386	32.9%	63.2%	3.9%	1969
Baldwin County	381	48.3%	50.4%	1.3%	1991

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (710 bridges here).

Montgomery County, TX · 710 bridges
McLennan County, TX · 714 bridges
Pinal County, AZ · 716 bridges
Pulaski County, AR · 721 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 710 Good 297 Fair 404 Poor 9

Good-condition bridges (297)

Sort:

Madison County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Madison County's Poor-condition bridges carry 35,312 vehicle crossings a day

55.5% of Madison County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 54.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Madison 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 (297)

SR53;GOVERNORS DR

14TH ST.

GILLESPIE RD.

I-565

PAT DEAN DR.

_BRIARWOOD DR

MARTIN ROAD

US 72; SR 2

I-565

US231; US431; SR1

BALCH RD.

UNIVERSITY DRIVE

R6 (I565E-US231N)

JOHN HICKS ROAD

AL 255

AL 255

US 431/231

BLUE SPRING RD

GILLESPIE RD

R1-0 E TO OAKWOOD

MERIDIAN STREET

ELTON ST

US 72; SR2

US 72; SR 2

RAMP * I565 W.B.

US 431; SR 1

OLD U.S. 431

FRANKLIN ST

MILLER BLVD.

DRIVEWAY

R14W(I565-WASHST)

BROWNS FERRY RD

WINCHESTER ROAD

NATURES WAY

RUSHING WOOD DRIVE

WALL * TRIANA HWY.

_Balch Rd

MARTIN ROAD

MORRIS ROAD

MARTIN RD

TONEY DRIVE

BAILEY CREEK CIR.

US 72; SR 2

AL1 US231 US431

AL1 US231 US431

US 231/SR 53

US 431; SR 1

MONROE AVE

MERIDIAN ST

US 431; SR 1

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