County profile · official public datasets

Hot Spring County, AR

222 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 22.1% rated Good, 73% Fair, 5% Poor.

222
Public bridges
22.1%
Good condition
5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Hot Spring 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.

39th
of 75 on Poor share
5%
Poor-condition share
222
public highway bridges
1972
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.

Hot Spring County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Hot Spring County ranks #39 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5%). Hot Spring County, Arkansas contains 222 public highway bridges. Roughly 22.1% are rated “Good,” 73% “Fair,” and 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

222

Public highway bridges in Hot Spring County

Good condition

22.1%

49 of 222 rated 7-9

Fair condition

73%

162 of 222 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5%

11 of 222 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#39 of 75

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

Condition distribution

Share of 222 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
22.1% (49)
Fair
73% (162)
Poor
5% (11)

Hot Spring County's Poor-condition bridges carry 59,399 vehicle crossings a day

That is 6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 5,400 crossings a day against 2,523 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 222 of 222 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

51.8% of Hot Spring County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

115 of the 222 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 22.1% 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 30.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 270B Log 2.23 over FRONT ST UPRR &1ST, built 1955, carries 18,000 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 11-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 59,399 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Hot Spring County's bridges were built

222 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 58 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1972, 8 years older than the Arkansas average of 1980.

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

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

The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Hot Spring County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 8 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Hot Spring County and the 5 Arkansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Saline County 231 3.9%
Yell County 227 1.3%
Hot Spring County (this page) 222 5%
Polk County 221 12.7%
Faulkner County 219 1.4%
Miller County 216 2.8%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AR (222 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1972 here).

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

All 222 Good 49 Fair 162 Poor 11

All bridges (222)

SH 84 -6 Log 1.97

Good

Over: DE ROCHE BAYOU

2.01 MI E OF SH 7, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1999 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,500

US 270-8 Log 0.93

Good

Over: I-30 Log 99.65

Log Mi. 99.65 I-30, Hot Spring, AR

Built 2004 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,800

US 67-7 Log 6.94

Good

Over: UPRR & Pine Street

Donaldson, Hot Spring, AR

Built 2017 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,500

CR 77 D Gordneck

Good

Over: BASIN CREEK

JCT CRDS 77 & 707, Hot Spring, AR

Built 2001 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 305

Grigsby Ford Road

Good

Over: Chatman Creek

0.6 Mile West US 67, Hot Spring, AR

Built 2003 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 355

I-30 EB Log 89.63

Good

Over: PRAIRIE BAYOU

8.35 MI SW OF SH 270, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1966 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 7,373

I-30 EB Log 91.77

Good

Over: Blakley Crk Acme Pit Rd

6.24 MI SO W OF US 270, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1967 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 15,500

SH 84 -5 Log 9.59

Good

Over: BIG HILL CREEK

9.3 MI E CLARK CO LINE, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1986 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,100

SH 171

Good

Over: DEE BAYOU

2.2 MI E GARLAND CO LINE, Hot Spring, AR

Built 2020 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,600

SH 84-6 Log 17.68

Good

Over: Branch

5.0 MI W I-30, Hot Spring, AR

Built 2020 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,312

Country Club Rd.

Good

Over: creek

M CR 60 & SH 9 JCT, Hot Spring, AR

Built 2023 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 410

CR 8 F (CREEK TR.)

Poor

Over: BIG HILL CREEK

1.5 MI N W BISMARCK, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1990 Load: 6.4 t ADT: 251

CR 71-D Military

Poor

Over: NINE MILE CREEK

.57 MI SW saline co line, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1996 Load: 14.5 t ADT: 1,183

CR 36/A HIXON LOOP

Poor

Over: BRANCH

0.95 Mi East US 67, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1985 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 509

SH 84-6 Log 19.68

Poor

Over: CREEK

.5 MI W I-30, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1968 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 1,312

US 270B Log 2.23

Poor

Over: FRONT ST UPRR &1ST

.38 M N OF US 67 & SH 9, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1955 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 18,000

CR 71-D Military

Poor

Over: RAYBURN CREEK

JCT CO RDS 70 & 71, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1987 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 254

US 67 Log 3.11

Poor

Over: UNION PACIFIC RR

.70 MI NE JCT OF US 270, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1931 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 4,500

SH 283-3 Log 0.25

Poor

Over: I-30 Log 82.59

1.14 MI N JCT US 67, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1967 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 890

US 270 WB

Poor

Over: I-30 Log 97.98

JCT I-30 & US 270, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1964 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 8,500

US 270 E.B.

Poor

Over: I-30 Log 97.98

JCT HWY 270 & I30, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1964 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 8,500

I-30 EB log 93.51

Poor

Over: CREEK

4.45 MI SW OF US 270, Hot Spring, AR

Built 1967 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 15,500

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

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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.