County profile · official public datasets

Franklin County, AR

143 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 25.2% rated Good, 65.7% Fair, 9.1% Poor.

143
Public bridges: 25.2%
Good condition: 9.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Franklin 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.

62nd
of 75 on Poor share: 9.1%
Poor-condition share: 143
public highway bridges: 1965
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.

Franklin County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Franklin County ranks #62 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.1%). Franklin County, Arkansas contains 143 public highway bridges. Roughly 25.2% are rated “Good,” 65.7% “Fair,” and 9.1% “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

143

Public highway bridges in Franklin County

Good condition

25.2%

36 of 143 rated 7-9

Fair condition

65.7%

94 of 143 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.1%

13 of 143 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#62 of 75

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

Condition distribution

Share of 143 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

25.2% (36)

Fair

65.7% (94)

Poor

9.1% (13)

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 16,087 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,237 crossings a day against 1,884 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 143 of 143 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

74.8% of Franklin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

107 of the 143 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 25.2% 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 43% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

State Highway 23 over Arkansas River & Uprr, built 1930, carries 6,925 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 16,087 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

3
1930s

18
1940s

18
1950s

8
1960s

33
1970s

38
1980s

5
1990s

6
2000s

6
2010s

3
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1965, 15 years older than the Arkansas average of 1980.

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

The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Franklin County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.1% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1965 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is 11 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Franklin County and the 5 Arkansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Logan County	152	19.1%	72.4%	8.6%	1961
Randolph County	151	39.1%	57.6%	3.3%	1976
Drew County	149	54.4%	41.6%	4%	1986
Madison County	149	22.1%	62.4%	15.4%	1978
Franklin County (this page)	143	25.2%	65.7%	9.1%	1965
Jackson County	136	49.3%	42.6%	8.1%	1977

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AR (143 bridges here).

San Francisco County, CA · 143 bridges
Woodson County, KS · 143 bridges
Adair County, KY · 143 bridges
Casey County, KY · 143 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1965 here).

Windsor County, VT · avg 1965 · 483 bridges
Bedford County, PA · avg 1965 · 417 bridges
Crawford County, PA · avg 1965 · 399 bridges
Harper County, KS · avg 1965 · 372 bridges

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

All 143 Good 36 Fair 94 Poor 13

All bridges (143)

Sort:

Franklin County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 16,087 vehicle crossings a day

74.8% of Franklin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 43% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Franklin 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 (143)

SH 96-SEC 4

SH 41-Franklin Co.

SH 217 - Franklin

East Spring Street

Barcliff Drive

James Road

Adams Road

Oak Bend Road

Shores Lake Road

E. Philpot Road

North 2nd Street

SH 352-Franklin Co

SH 352-Franklin Co

SH 60-Franklin Co

State Highway 215

State Highway 215

State Highway 41

State Highway 309

James Road

State Highway 215

Potts Road

Holland Rd

Watalula Rd.

Interstate 40 West

I 40-SEC 12 WB LNS

Interstate 40 East

Intertate 40 West

NFSR 1520

CO.RD.#FR75

Sandy Branch Road

West Creek Road

County Road 10

North School St.

Lone Oak Road

Stagecoach Rd

Wire Road

SH 23-Franklin Co

Pond Creek Road

SH 23-Franklin Co.

State Highway 23

Low Bridge Road

US Highway 64

Wire Road

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