Total bridges
131
Public highway bridges in Columbia County
County profile · official public datasets
Columbia County, AR
131 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 54.2% rated Good, 43.5% Fair, 2.3% Poor.
- 131
- Public bridges
- 54.2%
- Good condition
- 2.3%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Columbia County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- Top 17%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 2.3%
- Poor-condition share
- 131
- public highway bridges
- 1983
- 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.
Columbia County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Columbia County ranks #13 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.3%). Columbia County, Arkansas contains 131 public highway bridges. Roughly 54.2% are rated “Good,” 43.5% “Fair,” and 2.3% “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.
Good condition
54.2%
71 of 131 rated 7-9
Fair condition
43.5%
57 of 131 rated 5-6
Poor condition
2.3%
3 of 131 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#13 of 75
Among Arkansas counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 131 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 54.2% (71)
Fair 43.5% (57)
Poor 2.3% (3)
Columbia County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,320 vehicle crossings a day
That is 1.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 773 crossings a day against 1,282 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 131 of 131 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
39.7% of Columbia County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
52 of the 131 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 54.2% 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 47.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
SH 98 S-1 LM 5.21 over BIG CREEK, built 1936, carries 1,100 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 2,320 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Columbia County's bridges were built
131 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 3
1920–1929
3 bridges
- 1930s
1930–1939
13 bridges
- 1940s 2
1940–1949
2 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
18 bridges
- 1960s 10
1960–1969
10 bridges
- 1970s 8
1970–1979
8 bridges
- 1980s 9
1980–1989
9 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
15 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
30 bridges
- 2010s 11
2010–2019
11 bridges
- 2020s
2020–2029
12 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the Arkansas average (1980).
How Columbia County compares with Arkansas's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Columbia County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.3% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 6 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 74 Arkansas counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson County | 136 | 49.3% | 42.6% | 8.1% | 1977 |
| Nevada County | 133 | 38.3% | 57.1% | 4.5% | 1974 |
| Columbia County (this page) | 131 | 54.2% | 43.5% | 2.3% | 1983 |
| Cross County | 129 | 38% | 50.4% | 11.6% | 1979 |
| Lawrence County | 126 | 55.6% | 35.7% | 8.7% | 1979 |
| Conway County | 122 | 53.3% | 46.7% | 0% | 1974 |
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 Columbia 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 Columbia County, both outside Arkansas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside AR (131 bridges here).
- Laurel County, KY · 131 bridges
- Franklin County, LA · 131 bridges
- Wright County, MO · 131 bridges
- Lincoln County, NM · 131 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1983 here).
- Dallas County, TX · avg 1983 · 3,230 bridges
- Bexar County, TX · avg 1983 · 2,342 bridges
- Sedgwick County, KS · avg 1983 · 1,333 bridges
- Will County, IL · avg 1983 · 649 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (131)
US 371 LM12.71 S-7
GoodOver: DORCHET CREEK
11 MI SW MAGNOLIA AR, Columbia, AR
Built 1986 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,900
US 371 LM12.34 S-7
GoodOver: DORCHET CREEK
10.9 MI SW MAGNOLIA, Columbia, AR
Built 1986 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,900
SH 344 S-1 LM3.20
GoodOver: LAKE COLUMBIA
3.2 MI SE JCT US 82, Columbia, AR
Built 1986 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 581
US 371 SEC 6 LM9.7
GoodOver: BIG CREEK
3 MILES NORTH MAGNOLIA, Columbia, AR
Built 1992 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,900
US 371 SEC 6 LM9.6
GoodOver: Big Creek Relief
3.25 MI NORTH MAGNOLIA, Columbia, AR
Built 1992 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,900
SH 19 S1 LM 7.58
GoodOver: HORSEHEAD CRK RELIEF
3.8 M S SH 160, Columbia, AR
Built 1995 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 790
SH 19 S-1 LM 7.67
GoodOver: HORSEHEAD CRK
3.6 M S SH 160, Columbia, AR
Built 1995 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 790
SH 19 S-1 LM 16.20
GoodOver: Nations Creek
2.0 M SW OF JCT US 79, Columbia, AR
Built 1997 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,000
SH 19 S-1 LM 16.36
GoodOver: Nations Crk Relief
137 M SW US 79, Columbia, AR
Built 1997 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,000
SH 19 S1 L 0.06
GoodOver: Cypress Creek
.06 MI N. LA. St Line, Columbia, AR
Built 2001 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 600
US HWY 79 S1 L0.97
GoodOver: LITTLE CYPRESS CK.
4.5 MI SO. EMERSON, Columbia, AR
Built 2001 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,700
SH 98 S-3 LM 8.54
GoodOver: Beech Creek
8.54 mi S jct.us82 & sh98, Columbia, AR
Built 2003 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 120
SH 98 S:1 LM 0.52
GoodOver: Beech Creek
0.9 mi E of US 82 & 98, Columbia, AR
Built 2003 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,200
US 82 S-4 LM 2.24
GoodOver: NATION CREEK
.10 MI E JCT OF US 79, Columbia, AR
Built 2019 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,338
US 82
GoodOver: BIG CREEK
1.5 MI W OF MAGNOLIA, Columbia, AR
Built 2021 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,000
Columbia CR 64 Z-D
GoodOver: Crooked Creek
1 mi. S Jct. Cr 64& 113, Columbia, AR
Built 2005 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4
Col.Co. Rd 69 Z:D
GoodOver: Beech Creek
0.4 mi. S jct. Cr 69 &60, Columbia, AR
Built 2005 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 63
Columbia CR78 Z-E
GoodOver: Big Creek Relief
0.5 mi E jct 29 & 78, Columbia, AR
Built 2007 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 264
Col. Cr. 15 F
GoodOver: Ditch / Creek relief
.4 Mi. S. Jct CR 15 & 200, Columbia, AR
Built 2010 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,661
Col. Co. Rd 15 F
GoodOver: Creek
.3 mi. S jct Cr 15 & 200, Columbia, AR
Built 2010 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,661
Columbia CR278 Z-G
GoodOver: Crooked Creek
.30mile E of La St Line, Columbia, AR
Built 2014 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
CR 64
GoodOver: Crooked Creek
0.7 MI S of JCT 113, Columbia, AR
Built 2022 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4
CR 58
GoodOver: Beech Creek
1.54 mi W Jct. 69 & 58, Columbia, AR
Built 2023 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 263
CR 61
GoodOver: Sloan Creek
0.7 MI N JCT SH 98, Columbia, AR
Built 2023 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 250
AR 98
GoodOver: Hollis Creek
1.62 MI # JCT US 79 &, Columbia, AR
Built 2021 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 260
US 82
GoodOver: Barlow Branch
0.4 MI W OF INT 82 & 19, Columbia, AR
Built 2021 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,000
US 371 SEC 6
GoodOver: creek
.50 MI NW OF MAGNOLIA, Columbia, AR
Built 2021 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,800
Ar Hwy 98
GoodOver: Cornie Bayou
3.9 MI S JCT US 82, Columbia, AR
Built 2023 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 120
SH 98 S-1 LM 5.21
PoorOver: BIG CREEK
2.76 MI W JCT OF US 79, Columbia, AR
Built 1936 Load: 20.9 t ADT: 1,100
Columbia CR-7 Z-H
PoorOver: CYPRESS CREEK
1 MI S JCT 9 & 7, Columbia, AR
Built 1956 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 120
SH 98 S-1 LM 7.11
PoorOver: OREAR CREEK
.90 MI W JCT OF US 79, Columbia, AR
Built 1936 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 1,100
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.