County profile · official public datasets

Crawford County, AR

248 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 22.2% rated Good, 70.2% Fair, 7.7% Poor.

248
Public bridges: 22.2%
Good condition: 7.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Crawford County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

57th
of 75 on Poor share: 7.7%
Poor-condition share: 248
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.

Crawford County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Crawford County ranks #57 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.7%). Crawford County, Arkansas contains 248 public highway bridges. Roughly 22.2% are rated “Good,” 70.2% “Fair,” and 7.7% “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

248

Public highway bridges in Crawford County

Good condition

22.2%

55 of 248 rated 7-9

Fair condition

70.2%

174 of 248 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.7%

19 of 248 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#57 of 75

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

Condition distribution

Share of 248 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

22.2% (55)

Fair

70.2% (174)

Poor

7.7% (19)

Crawford County's Poor-condition bridges carry 69,788 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,673 crossings a day against 4,366 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 248 of 248 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.4% of Crawford County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

130 of the 248 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 22.2% 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 21.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-40 EB-Crawford over Little Frog Bayou, built 1965, carries 15,000 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 19-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 69,788 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

15
1930s

12
1940s

16
1950s

8
1960s

69
1970s

19
1980s

36
1990s

43
2000s

9
2010s

16
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 69 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1974, 6 years older than the Arkansas average of 1980.

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

The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Crawford County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1981 is 7 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Crawford County and the 5 Arkansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Greene County	251	51%	45.8%	3.2%	1992
Crawford County (this page)	248	22.2%	70.2%	7.7%	1974
Crittenden County	235	40.4%	51.9%	7.7%	1980
Saline County	231	56.7%	39.4%	3.9%	1990
Yell County	227	54.6%	44.1%	1.3%	1971
Hot Spring County	222	22.1%	73%	5%	1972

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AR (248 bridges here).

Cherokee County, IA · 248 bridges
Poweshiek County, IA · 248 bridges
Lowndes County, MS · 248 bridges
Herkimer County, NY · 248 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AR (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 248 Good 55 Fair 174 Poor 19

All bridges (248)

Sort:

Crawford County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Crawford County's Poor-condition bridges carry 69,788 vehicle crossings a day

52.4% of Crawford County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 21.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Crawford 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 (248)

US 64B

I-40-Crawford Co.

I-40-Crawford Co.

I-40-11 Main Lanes

I-40 -11 Main Lane

I-40 Crawford Co.

I-540 SEC 2

State Highway 282

US 64-Crawford Co.

Zion Road

Old 12 Crossroads

Collum Lane

State Highway 162

Lost BeachCrossing

State Highway 282

Spradley Road

Old 12 Crossroads

West Rena Road

State Highway 215

I-40 - 11 MainLane

SH 162-Crawford Co

I 49 SW FRNTG RD

US Highway 64

State Highway 60

Edwards Road

Ridge Road

State Highway 162

Old Rudy Way

CR 40-Crawford Co.

N. Hills Blvd.

US Highway 64

US71-Crawford Co.

US Highway 64

N 16th St.

US 64 West Bound

Lake Fort Smith Rd

US 64 WB LNS

Industrial Park Rd

CR 156-Crawford Co

Old 88 Road

CR 44-Crawford Co.

SH 59-Crawford Co.

I-40 WB On Ramp

Old 12 Crossroads

Westville Rd

US 71-Crawford Co

Red Hill -Crawford

Old Graphic-Craw.

I-40E/I-49N RAMP

EAST SCOTT STREET

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