County profile · official public datasets

Benton County, AR

410 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 49% rated Good, 47.1% Fair, 3.9% Poor.

410
Public bridges: 49%
Good condition: 3.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Benton County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 43%
lowest Poor share in state: 3.9%
Poor-condition share: 410
public highway bridges: 1992
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.

Benton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Benton County ranks #32 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.9%). Benton County, Arkansas contains 410 public highway bridges. Roughly 49% are rated “Good,” 47.1% “Fair,” and 3.9% “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

410

Public highway bridges in Benton County

Good condition

49%

201 of 410 rated 7-9

Fair condition

47.1%

193 of 410 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.9%

16 of 410 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#32 of 75

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

Condition distribution

Share of 410 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

49% (201)

Fair

47.1% (193)

Poor

3.9% (16)

Benton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 52,614 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,288 crossings a day against 8,644 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 410 of 410 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

18.5% of Benton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

76 of the 410 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 49% 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 22.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SH 340 Benton 1 over LITTLE SUGAR CREEK, built 1967, carries 12,000 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 16-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 52,614 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

4
1930s

11
1940s

10
1950s

17
1960s

22
1970s

34
1980s

79
1990s

46
2000s

74
2010s

87
2020s

25

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 87 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1992, 12 years newer than the Arkansas average of 1980.

How Benton County compares with Arkansas's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Benton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.9% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1992 against a peer-group mean of 1984 is 8 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 74 Arkansas counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Benton County and the 5 Arkansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Washington County	449	22.3%	70.8%	6.9%	1982
Craighead County	442	65.8%	31%	3.2%	1995
Benton County (this page)	410	49%	47.1%	3.9%	1992
Jefferson County	336	68.8%	26.2%	5.1%	1987
Sebastian County	331	34.4%	59.8%	5.7%	1979
White County	322	44.1%	50.6%	5.3%	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 Benton 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 Benton County, both outside Arkansas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AR (410 bridges here).

Jefferson County, MO · 411 bridges
Pittsburg County, OK · 411 bridges
Union County, NJ · 409 bridges
Pottawatomie County, OK · 408 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1992 here).

Johnson County, KS · avg 1992 · 781 bridges
Wake County, NC · avg 1992 · 760 bridges
Nodaway County, MO · avg 1992 · 396 bridges
Cameron County, TX · avg 1992 · 355 bridges

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

All 410 Good 201 Fair 193 Poor 16

All bridges (410)

Sort:

Benton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Benton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 52,614 vehicle crossings a day

18.5% of Benton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 22.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Benton County compares with Arkansas'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 (410)

CR 505 Benton

Main St. Siloam Sp

SH 72 Benton 2

CR 405 Benton Co.

CR 18 Benton Co.

Bntville A Street

W OLIVE ST.

CR 831-Benton Co.

SW I ST Bentnvile

SH 72 Benton 2

I-49 Benton 2

SE Walton Blvd

SH 59 Benton 2

SH 12 Benton 2

Slm SpE TLEQUAH ST

Benton CR 36

I 49 Benton 1

SH 279 Benton 2

SH 43 Benton 2

SH 102 Benton 2

CR 23 Benton Co.

CR 621 Benton Co.

CR 80 Benton Co.

CR 488 Benton

Bntville Tiger Blv

Progress Ave.

SH 43 Benton 2

SH 59 Benton 2

I-49 Benton 1

S 6th Plac Benton2

I 49 Benton 1

MOBRLY LN/ Bentnvl

RogersTRTLE CRK DR

W Walnut St

SH 59 Benton 2

SH 12 Benton 1

N Dogwood St

CR 483 Benton Co.

CR 813 Benton

CR 37 Benton Co.

I-49 Benton 2

Mt Olive St SilSp

CR 7/ FAIRMOUNT RD

CR 67 Benton

Rocky Comfort Rd

GLASGOW RD B Vist

CR 67 Benton Co.

I 49 SB Benton 1

US 71- Benton 1

SH 264 Benton 2

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