County profile · official public datasets

Lafayette County, AR

72 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 62.5% rated Good, 34.7% Fair, 2.8% Poor.

72
Public bridges
62.5%
Good condition
2.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Lafayette County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 24%
lowest Poor share in state
2.8%
Poor-condition share
72
public highway bridges
1987
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.

Lafayette County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lafayette County ranks #18 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.8%). Lafayette County, Arkansas contains 72 public highway bridges. Roughly 62.5% are rated “Good,” 34.7% “Fair,” and 2.8% “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

72

Public highway bridges in Lafayette County

Good condition

62.5%

45 of 72 rated 7-9

Fair condition

34.7%

25 of 72 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.8%

2 of 72 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#18 of 75

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

Condition distribution

Share of 72 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
62.5% (45)
Fair
34.7% (25)
Poor
2.8% (2)

Lafayette County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,375 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 688 crossings a day against 895 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 72 of 72 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

31.9% of Lafayette County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

23 of the 72 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 62.5% 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 94.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SH 160 SEC.02-9.00 over BODCAW CREEK, built 1964, carries 1,300 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,375 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Lafayette County's bridges were built

72 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 14 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1987, 7 years newer than the Arkansas average of 1980.

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

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

The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Lafayette County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.8% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1987 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is 15 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lafayette County and the 5 Arkansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Cleveland County 79 5.1%
Woodruff County 79 7.6%
Stone County 73 12.3%
Lafayette County (this page) 72 2.8%
Marion County 65 4.6%
Newton County 65 3.1%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AR (72 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1987 here).

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

All 72 Good 45 Fair 25 Poor 2

Fair-condition bridges (25)

CO RD 47 - F- 5.54

Fair

Over: DITCH

1.3 M.E.. OF JCT 1&47, Lafayette, AR

Built 1996 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 90

SH 53 SEC. 04-4.70

Fair

Over: CLEAR CREEK RELIEF

2.1 MI N OF BUCKNER, Lafayette, AR

Built 1964 Load: 19.1 t ADT: 620

US 82 SEC.02-7.49

Fair

Over: BATTLE CREEK

0.2 MI E JCT SH 29 & 82, Lafayette, AR

Built 1969 Load: 19.1 t ADT: 5,400

US 82 SEC.02-8.97

Fair

Over: WATERWAY

1.5 MI E JCT SH 29 & 82, Lafayette, AR

Built 1969 Load: 19.1 t ADT: 5,400

SH 53 SEC.04- 4.55

Fair

Over: CLEAR CREEK

2.0 MI N BUCKNER, Lafayette, AR

Built 1964 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 620

SH 53 - 04 - 5.77

Fair

Over: BRANCH OF CLEAR CREEK

0.5 MI N OF BUCKNER, Lafayette, AR

Built 1964 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 620

SH 29 SEC. 02-0.51

Fair

Over: WATERWAY

.5 M N OF US 82, Lafayette, AR

Built 1946 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 2,900

US 82 SEC.02-16.77

Fair

Over: DORTCHEAT RLF

1.25 MI E OF STAMPS ARK, Lafayette, AR

Built 1970 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 5,100

SH 360 SEC.00-4.87

Fair

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH

4.87 MI. N. OF GIN CITY, Lafayette, AR

Built 1989 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 160

SH 360-SEC 0-6.97

Fair

Over: BR. OF MANIECE BAYOU

5.1 MI W CANFIELD, Lafayette, AR

Built 1991 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 160

U.S.82SEC.02-11.86

Fair

Over: TATUM BRANCH

12.00 MI. E. OF MILLER CO, Lafayette, AR

Built 2005 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 5,700

SH 29 - 01- 7.98

Fair

Over: DOOLEY CREEK

2.0 MI N OF BRADLEY, Lafayette, AR

Built 1952 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 1,300

SH 29 SEC. 02-8.69

Fair

Over: WATERWAY

8.7 M N of Jct US 82, Lafayette, AR

Built 1928 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 2,200

SH 53 - 05 -2.16

Fair

Over: BRANCH

1.65 MI S JCT US 82 & 53, Lafayette, AR

Built 1949 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 498

US 82 SEC.02-13.64

Fair

Over: DITCH

1.0 MI E OF STAMPS, Lafayette, AR

Built 1970 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 5,000

SH 29 SEC.01-1.76

Fair

Over: WATERWAY

1.75 M N OF LOUISIANA SL, Lafayette, AR

Built 1952 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 990

US 82 SEC.02-3.76

Fair

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH

3.76 MI E MILLER CO L, Lafayette, AR

Built 1966 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,000

US 82 SEC.02-4.01

Fair

Over: FIELD BAYOU

4.32 M E OF CO LINE, Lafayette, AR

Built 1966 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,000

C.R 37 ZONE-B-2.44

Fair

Over: DORCHEAT BAYOU

2.43 MS JCT US HWY 82, Lafayette, AR

Built 1995 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 519

US 82 - 02 - 16.95

Fair

Over: DORCHEAT BAYOU

HWY-82@COLUMBIA CO LINE, Lafayette, AR

Built 1970 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,100

SH 313 - 01- 1.04

Fair

Over: BODCAW CREEK

1 MI W OF MARS HILL, Lafayette, AR

Built 1971 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 440

SH 160 SEC.1- 0.00

Fair

Over: RED RIVER

MILLER-LAFAYETTE CO LINE, Lafayette, AR

Built 1995 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 669

SH 313-SEC 1- 4.42

Fair

Over: CREEK

4.42 MI NW JCT SH 53, Lafayette, AR

Built 1991 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 440

S.H. 160 -01- 4.76

Fair

Over: Side Road Ditch

3.25 MI. W. OF GIN CITY, Lafayette, AR

Built 2005 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 10

S.H. 160 -01-5.35

Fair

Over: Side Rd Ditch

2.66 MI. WEST OF GIN CITY, Lafayette, AR

Built 2006 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 10

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.