County profile · official public datasets

Tuscaloosa County, AL

482 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.6% rated Good, 54.8% Fair, 0.6% Poor.

482
Public bridges
44.6%
Good condition
0.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Tuscaloosa County pairs a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 10%
lowest Poor share in state
0.6%
Poor-condition share
482
public highway bridges
1981
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.

Tuscaloosa County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Tuscaloosa County ranks #7 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0.6%). Tuscaloosa County, Alabama contains 482 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.6% are rated “Good,” 54.8% “Fair,” and 0.6% “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

482

Public highway bridges in Tuscaloosa County

Good condition

44.6%

215 of 482 rated 7-9

Fair condition

54.8%

264 of 482 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0.6%

3 of 482 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#7 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 482 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
44.6% (215)
Fair
54.8% (264)
Poor
0.6% (3)

Tuscaloosa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 17,670 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 0.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 5,890 crossings a day against 3,469 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 482 of 482 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

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

220 of the 482 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 44.6% 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 52.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 11 over NORFOLK & SO. RR Active, built 1955, carries 9,300 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 17,670 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Tuscaloosa County's bridges were built

482 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 99 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1981, 7 years newer than the Alabama average of 1974.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Tuscaloosa County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0.6% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1979 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Tuscaloosa County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Mobile County 612 2.8%
Montgomery County 596 2.2%
Tuscaloosa County (this page) 482 0.6%
Calhoun County 386 3.9%
Baldwin County 381 1.3%
Shelby County 344 0.9%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (482 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1981 here).

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

All bridges (482)

FDR 706

Fair

Over: SOUTH SANDY CREEK

OAKMULGEE DISTRICT, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1966 ADT: 50

RD #2796

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK

TANNEHILL STATE PARK, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1970 Load: 6.5 t ADT: 40

HARPER ROAD

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK

3.1 MI NW OF JCT ALA N 43, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1959 Load: 12.3 t ADT: 132

NORTHSIDE ROAD

Fair

Over: NORTH RIVER

2.4 MI E OF JCT US NO 43, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1948 Load: 17.6 t ADT: 650

9TH STREET

Fair

Over: GM * O RAILROAD

9TH ST * 29TH AVE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1938 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 29,000

CO HIGHWAY NO 260

Fair

Over: LAKE NICOL SPILLWAY

ON DAM OF LAKE NICOL ROAD, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1950 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 250

LOCK 17 ROAD

Fair

Over: DAVIS CREEK

11.6 MI N OF JCT ALA 216, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1959 Load: 20.1 t ADT: 500

9TH AVENUE

Fair

Over: Northwood Lake Branch

0.2 MI N US#82 BYPASS, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1989 Load: 20.3 t ADT: 1,825

ROMULUS ROAD

Fair

Over: NUBBIN CREEK

14.0 MI NE GREEN CO LINE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1952 Load: 20.5 t ADT: 1,500

US 43

Fair

Over: RIVER RD MN AV WARRIOR R

HUGH THOMAS, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1973 Load: 20.7 t ADT: 33,968

GORGAS ROAD

Fair

Over: NORTH RIVER

8.5 MI N JCT US NO 43, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1954 Load: 20.8 t ADT: 300

AL 215

Fair

Over: CRIBBS MILL CREEK

JCT JUG FACTORY RD, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1952 Load: 21.5 t ADT: 20,557

AL 171

Fair

Over: SIPSEY RIVER

0.7 MI S OF MOORES BRIDGE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1956 Load: 21.7 t ADT: 2,582

I-59

Fair

Over: BLACK WARRIOR RIVER(-)

9.5 MI S OF TUSCALOOSA, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1971 Load: 21.9 t ADT: 13,235

ROMULUS ROAD

Fair

Over: JAYS CREEK

12.7 MI NE GREEN CO LINE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1952 Load: 22.2 t ADT: 1,500

UPPER COLUMBUS RD.

Fair

Over: Wards Mill Creek

6.7 MI NW OF JCT US NO 82, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1951 Load: 22.3 t ADT: 300

US 11

Fair

Over: BEAVER CREEK

2.0 MI N GREENE CO LINE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1954 Load: 22.5 t ADT: 1,080

UPPER COLUMBUS RD.

Fair

Over: TRIBUTARY OF BIG CREEK

7.1 MI NW OF JCT US NO 82, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1960 Load: 22.5 t ADT: 300

I-59

Fair

Over: WOODLAND LAKE RD (+)

2.0 MI S CAFFEE JCT, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1964 Load: 22.8 t ADT: 57,573

US 43

Fair

Over: ROCKY CREEK RELIEF

0.4 MI S FAYETTE CO LINE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1925 Load: 22.9 t ADT: 2,950

AL 69

Fair

Over: BIG YELLOW CREEK

2.0 MI S WALKER CO LINE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1950 Load: 23.1 t ADT: 1,352

TIERCE PATTON RD.

Fair

Over: NORTH RIVER

0.4 MI E OF JCT US NO 43, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1969 Load: 23.1 t ADT: 2,000

KAULOOSA AVE

Fair

Over: CYPRESS CREEK

0.4 MI S I-59, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1968 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 7,224

AL 69

Fair

Over: NORTH RIVER (LAKE TUSC)

8.5 MI N OF TUSCALOOSA, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1970 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 2,239

UPPER COLUMBUS RD.

Fair

Over: Trib. of Big Creek

2.2 MI NW OF JCT US NO 82, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1951 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 300

I-59

Fair

Over: CRIBBS MILL CREEK (+)

1.9 MI S JCT I-359, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1969 Load: 24.4 t ADT: 35,284

SHELLY HUGHES ROAD

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK

2.9 MI N OF JCT US NO 82, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1968 Load: 24.4 t ADT: 160

AL 171

Fair

Over: THORNTON CREEK

0.5 MI N OF BROWNVILLE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1956 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 2,582

US 11

Fair

Over: Cottondale Creek

0.5 MI N JCT SR 215, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1945 Load: 25.0 t ADT: 9,520

STREET

Fair

Over: EDDIN CREEK

K-MART PARKING LOT DRIVE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1929 Load: 25.2 t ADT: 2,808

ED STEPHENS RD

Fair

Over: I-59 (MP 84.6)

1.6 MI S BROOKWOOD RD, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1964 Load: 25.2 t ADT: 932

RALPH LOOP ROAD

Fair

Over: BUCK CREEK

0.7 MI NE OF JCT US NO 11, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1960 Load: 25.3 t ADT: 400

COUNTY ROAD 37

Fair

Over: Trib. to Cribbs Mill Ck.

0.3 MI W I-59, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1950 Load: 25.5 t ADT: 18,336

AL 69

Fair

Over: YELLOW CREEK

2.7 MI S WALKER CO LINE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1950 Load: 25.6 t ADT: 1,480

US 82

Fair

Over: JEMISON MILL CREEK

0.6 MI W US 43, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1956 Load: 25.7 t ADT: 31,380

BAMA ROCK GARDEN

Fair

Over: I-59 (MP 92.17)

5 MI S CAFFEE JCT, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1964 Load: 25.7 t ADT: 932

I-59

Fair

Over: WARRIOR RIVER RELIEF (+)

3.3 MI S JCT I-359, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1969 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 29,291

AL 69

Fair

Over: NS RR Active (-)

RR 0.5 MI S JCT SR 7, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1972 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 22,395

AL 69

Fair

Over: NS RR Active (+)

RR 0.5 MI S OF JCT SR 7, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1972 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 49,955

I-59

Fair

Over: WARRIOR RVR REL (+)

1.3 MI N FOSTER, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1974 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 25,944

AL 171

Fair

Over: UNKNOWN BRANCH

1.5 MI N MT OLIVE RD, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1979 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 3,360

SYLVAN LOOP ROAD

Fair

Over: GRANTS CREEK

0.2 MI SW OF JCT US NO 11, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1928 Load: 26.0 t ADT: 500

JOE MALISHAM PKWY

Fair

Over: CYPRESS CREEK TRIB

3.2 MI S JCT I359, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1998 Load: 26.0 t ADT: 8,227

US 82

Fair

Over: CAMPUS DR

0.5 MI W JCT SR 215, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1959 Load: 26.1 t ADT: 22,130

US 82

Fair

Over: CAMPUS DR

0.5 MI W JCT SR 215, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1959 Load: 26.1 t ADT: 48,953

RIVER ROAD

Fair

Over: L * N RAILROAD

0.2 MI E OF JCT US 82, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1963 Load: 26.1 t ADT: 20,550

US 82

Fair

Over: BIG CREEK (+)

0.2 MI W CO RD 140, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1957 Load: 26.2 t ADT: 9,445

US 82

Fair

Over: BIG SANDY CREEK

0.4 MI E DUNCANVILLE, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1942 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 9,033

OLD GREENSBORO RD

Fair

Over: WRIGHT BRANCH

5.6 MI NE OF JCT ALA 69, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1954 Load: 26.5 t ADT: 500

HARGROVE ROAD

Fair

Over: Forest Lake Branch

0.1 MI W JCT 2ND AVE EAST, Tuscaloosa, AL

Built 1962 Load: 26.5 t ADT: 15,483
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.