County profile · official public datasets

Morgan County, AL

271 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 39.1% rated Good, 59.4% Fair, 1.5% Poor.

271
Public bridges: 39.1%
Good condition: 1.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 30%
lowest Poor share in state: 1.5%
Poor-condition share: 271
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Morgan County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Morgan County ranks #20 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.5%). Morgan County, Alabama contains 271 public highway bridges. Roughly 39.1% are rated “Good,” 59.4% “Fair,” and 1.5% “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

271

Public highway bridges in Morgan County

Good condition

39.1%

106 of 271 rated 7-9

Fair condition

59.4%

161 of 271 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.5%

4 of 271 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#20 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 271 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

39.1% (106)

Fair

59.4% (161)

Poor

1.5% (4)

Morgan County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,268 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 567 crossings a day against 3,354 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 271 of 271 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

51.3% of Morgan County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

139 of the 271 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 39.1% 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 93.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SPARKMAN ST over SHOAL CREEK, built 1915, carries 2,123 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 4-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,268 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

1
1920s

8
1930s

11
1940s

4
1950s

44
1960s

60
1970s

18
1980s

34
1990s

15
2000s

41
2010s

26
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 60 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Morgan County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.5% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Morgan County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Walker County	275	36.4%	58.2%	5.5%	1974
Morgan County (this page)	271	39.1%	59.4%	1.5%	1977
Lauderdale County	266	45.9%	49.6%	4.5%	1976
Marion County	255	38.4%	60.8%	0.8%	1974
Houston County	247	47.4%	52.2%	0.4%	1978
Cullman County	246	29.3%	64.6%	6.1%	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 Morgan 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 Morgan County, both outside Alabama so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (271 bridges here).

Yolo County, CA · 271 bridges
Yazoo County, MS · 271 bridges
Hall County, NE · 271 bridges
Ottawa County, OK · 271 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges

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

All 271 Good 106 Fair 161 Poor 4

All bridges (271)

Sort:

Morgan County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Morgan County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,268 vehicle crossings a day

51.3% of Morgan County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 93.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Morgan 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 (271)

CHILDERS ROAD

ROBINSON CRK RD

TRUCK TRAIL ROAD

TRUCK TRAIL ROAD

MARTIN ROAD

CEDAR CREEK ROAD

PINES ROAD

NANCEFORD ROAD

SAMPLE ROAD

COUNTY ROUTE 333

COUNTY HWY 55E

TIMBER GAP CIRCLE

SR 67

ANTIOCH ROAD

JOHNSON CHAPEL RD

CRAWFORD BOTTOM RD

COUNTY HWY 55W

4TH AVE SW

STRATFORD RD

APPLEGROVE ROAD

CHURCH ST

FOREST CHAPEL ROAD

SR 157

BARKLEY BRIDGE RD

SR 3

FINLEY DR NW

HWY 41S

PINES ROAD

PINES ROAD

SR 24

I 65

I 65

SR 36

THOMPSON ROAD

SR 20

SR 67

SR 3

SR 36

COUNTY HWY 55W

HWY 41S

CENTRAL PARKWAY

SR 67

SR 67

2ND AVE SW

LACON ROAD

LEMOND ROAD

SR 3

THOMPSON ROAD

BETHEL RD

SR 36

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