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.

When Walker County's bridges were built

275 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

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).

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

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 Poor
DeKalb County 300 6.7%
Walker County (this page) 275 5.5%
Morgan County 271 1.5%
Lauderdale County 266 4.5%
Marion County 255 0.8%
Houston County 247 0.4%

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).

Similar average build year

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

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

All bridges (275)

20 TH STREET

Good

Over: TANYHARD CREEK

20 TH STREET * 8TH AVE, Walker, AL

Built 1985 Load: 63.2 t ADT: 8,000

__CR 27

Good

Over: _STRIP PIT CREEK

_, Walker, AL

Built 1990 Load: 64.0 t ADT: 1,490

NIX RD

Good

Over: UNNAMED CREEK

CO RD 11 NO. OF CORR X, Walker, AL

Built 2004 Load: 68.2 t ADT: 1,000

PLEASANT GROVE RD

Good

Over: PUMPKIN CREEK

1 MILE W HWY 69, Walker, AL

Built 1960 Load: 80.3 t ADT: 250

COUNTY HWY 27

Good

Over: SPRING CREEK

2 MILE EAST HWY 195, Walker, AL

Built 1991 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 550

I-22

Good

Over: Paul Creek

.6 MI W Blackwell Rd, Walker, AL

Built 2000 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 20,698

I-22

Good

Over: Burton Creek

.8 MI E Blackwell Rd, Walker, AL

Built 2000 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 20,698

AL-269

Good

Over: Baker Creek

AL-269 @ Baker Creek, Walker, AL

Built 2017 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 2,195

TRIB OF WATTS CRK

Good

Over: OLD KIRKPATRICK RD

1.9 MILES SOUTH OF OLD 78, Walker, AL

Built 2003 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 110

ERIE CREEK

Good

Over: PENDLEY CREEK ROAD

2.6 MILES NORTH HWY 18, Walker, AL

Built 2005 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 120

COUNTRY CLUB ROAD

Poor

Over: BLACKWATER CREEK

1 MILE EAST HWY 195, Walker, AL

Built 1898 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 400

KINGS MILL ROAD

Poor

Over: LOST CREEK

1 MILE N OAKMAN HWY, Walker, AL

Built 1900 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 150

SMITH CHAPEL RD

Poor

Over: MILL CREEK

1 MILE N HWY 78, Walker, AL

Built 1915 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 125

OAKMAN PARRISH RD

Poor

Over: LOST CREEK

1 MILE W PARRISH, Walker, AL

Built 1920 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 1,000

AL -5

Poor

Over: US-78

US 78 * AL 5, Walker, AL

Built 1962 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 10,932

BROWNS BRIDGE RD

Poor

Over: LOST CREEK

2 MILES W PARRISH, Walker, AL

Built 1974 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 210

COUNTY ROAD

Poor

Over: BURTON CREEK

500 FT N HWY 78, Walker, AL

Built 1978 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 30

MAYO ROAD

Poor

Over: LOST CREEK

1/4 MILE S HWY 78, Walker, AL

Built 1955 Load: 1.8 t ADT: 110

LOCKHART HILL RD

Poor

Over: WOLF CREEK

2 MILE N HWY 18, Walker, AL

Built 1960 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 55

3RD AVE

Poor

Over: TANYARD CREEK

3RD AVE * 25TH ST, Walker, AL

Built 1936 Load: 5.4 t ADT: 1,100

DAY HILL ROAD

Poor

Over: CANE CREEK

1/2 MILE S OAKMAN, Walker, AL

Built 1960 Load: 5.4 t ADT: 30

WILLIAMS ST

Poor

Over: TANYARD CREEK

WILLIAMS ST * 14TH ST, Walker, AL

Built 1930 Load: 13.1 t ADT: 460

BANK STREET

Poor

Over: INDIAN CREEK

CITY OF PARRISH, Walker, AL

Built 1940 Load: 18.0 t ADT: 1

AL-5

Poor

Over: Mulberry Fork Warrior

6 MI E Jasper, Walker, AL

Built 1978 Load: 21.9 t ADT: 11,113

AL-13

Poor

Over: BNSF Railroad

.5 MI S AL-118, Walker, AL

Built 1957 Load: 27.9 t ADT: 2,141

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.