County profile · official public datasets

Walker County, AL

275 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 36.4% rated Good, 58.2% Fair, 5.5% Poor.

275
Public bridges: 36.4%
Good condition: 5.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

52nd
of 67 on Poor share: 5.5%
Poor-condition share: 275
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Walker County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Walker County ranks #52 of 67 Alabama counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.5%). Walker County, Alabama contains 275 public highway bridges. Roughly 36.4% are rated “Good,” 58.2% “Fair,” and 5.5% “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

275

Public highway bridges in Walker County

Good condition

36.4%

100 of 275 rated 7-9

Fair condition

58.2%

160 of 275 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.5%

15 of 275 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#52 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 275 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

36.4% (100)

Fair

58.2% (160)

Poor

5.5% (15)

Walker County's Poor-condition bridges carry 27,857 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,857 crossings a day against 8,576 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 275 of 275 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

49.5% of Walker County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

136 of the 275 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 36.4% 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 39.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

AL-5 over Mulberry Fork Warrior, built 1978, carries 11,113 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 27,857 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1900s

1
1910s

1
1920s

10
1930s

11
1940s

40
1950s

15
1960s

41
1970s

23
1980s

10
1990s

45
2000s

72
2010s

4
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 72 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Alabama average (1974).

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

The 5 Alabama counties nearest Walker County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 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 Walker County and the 5 Alabama counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
DeKalb County	300	31.3%	62%	6.7%	1967
Walker County (this page)	275	36.4%	58.2%	5.5%	1974
Morgan County	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

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AL (275 bridges here).

Ellis County, KS · 275 bridges
Harford County, MD · 275 bridges
Seneca County, OH · 275 bridges
Lyon County, IA · 276 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AL (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 275 Good 100 Fair 160 Poor 15

Fair-condition bridges (160)

Sort:

Walker County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Walker County's Poor-condition bridges carry 27,857 vehicle crossings a day

49.5% of Walker County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 39.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Walker 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 (160)

KILGORE BRANCH

KING MANASCO RD

CO. RD. 29

GIBSON HILL ROAD

CO. RD. 11

PLEASANT GROVE RD

8 TH AVE

CALUMET ROAD

HUNTERS CHAPEL RD

TUTWILER RD

WRIGHT ROAD

ARMORY RD.

DUNCAN ROAD

ATKINS ROAD

SIPSEY ROAD

GARDNERS GIN RD

ROSE HILL ROAD

HULL ROAD

HOLLY GROVE RD

DUNCAN ROAD

OLD PINEYWOODS RD

POPLAR SPRINGS RD

PLEASANTFIELD RD

WIRE ROAD

OLD PARRISH CDV RD

HOLLY GROVE RD

PLEASANTFIELD RD

NAUVOO GALLOWAY RD

SIPSEY ROAD

AL-269

AL-118 East

AL-269

AL-195

17 TH ST

YELLOWJACKET RD

MILL CREEK ROAD

DEE GUESS ROAD

MCDADE ROAD

COAL VALLEY ROAD

COAL VALLEY ROAD

PROVIDENCE LOOP

HAY VALLEY ROAD

OLD PARRISH/CORODV

AMERICA JUNCTION R

BUTTERMILK ROAD

EAST LAKE ROAD

WHITEHOUSE RD

WHITEHOUSE RD

STELLA LOCKHART RD

HILL ROAD

Related