County profile · official public datasets

Poinsett County, AR

194 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.8% rated Good, 42.3% Fair, 16% Poor.

194
Public bridges: 41.8%
Good condition: 16%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Poinsett County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

73rd
of 75 on Poor share: 16%
Poor-condition share: 194
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Poinsett County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Poinsett County ranks #73 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 16%). Poinsett County, Arkansas contains 194 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.8% are rated “Good,” 42.3% “Fair,” and 16% “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

194

Public highway bridges in Poinsett County

Good condition

41.8%

81 of 194 rated 7-9

Fair condition

42.3%

82 of 194 rated 5-6

Poor condition

16%

31 of 194 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#73 of 75

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

Condition distribution

Share of 194 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

41.8% (81)

Fair

42.3% (82)

Poor

16% (31)

Poinsett County's Poor-condition bridges carry 23,851 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 16% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 769 crossings a day against 2,947 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 194 of 194 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

36.1% of Poinsett County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

70 of the 194 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 41.8% 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 14.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SH 140-01- LM 9.93 over LITTLE RIVER, built 1948, carries 3,500 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 31-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 23,851 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

2
1930s

4
1940s

5
1950s

24
1960s

17
1970s

42
1980s

20
1990s

34
2000s

22
2010s

21
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 42 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the Arkansas average (1980).

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

The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Poinsett County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 16% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Poinsett County and the 5 Arkansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Clay County	200	43.5%	47%	9.5%	1987
Montgomery County	199	40.2%	57.8%	2%	1975
Scott County	198	26.8%	66.7%	6.6%	1971
Poinsett County (this page)	194	41.8%	42.3%	16%	1982
Pope County	188	39.4%	59.6%	1.1%	1975
Lonoke County	187	55.6%	39.6%	4.8%	1981

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AR (194 bridges here).

Franklin County, AL · 194 bridges
Trinity County, CA · 194 bridges
Colquitt County, GA · 194 bridges
Adams County, IN · 194 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges

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

All 194 Good 81 Fair 82 Poor 31

Poor-condition bridges (31)

Sort:

Poinsett County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Poinsett County's Poor-condition bridges carry 23,851 vehicle crossings a day

36.1% of Poinsett County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 14.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Poinsett 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

Poor-condition bridges (31)

CR 870-H OLD US 63

CR 210-C-TERRY RD

CR 24-D-Evans Ln

CR 95-B CollegeFrm

SH 118- Pvt Ent.

CR 50-C-Parrish Rd

CR 299-H-HOOPER LN

SH 135-01-LM 15.09

CR 23-GWD Thompson

CR 624-D-SENTENEY

SH 69-06- LM 1.51

SH 135-01-LM 6.03

SH 140-01- LM 9.11

SH 214-01-LM 11.01

SH 214-01-LM 11.11

SH 135-01-LM 15.60

CR 22-D-WEINER CUT

CR 15-G/Wildwood

SH 118-02- LM 1.24

SH 214-01-LM 3.14

SH 140-01- LM 9.93

CR 21-E

SH 135-01- LM 2.67

SH 135-01- LM 0.99

CR 86-B- ALTO RD

SH 118-02-LM 4.23

SH 69-06- LM 4.20

Co. Rd 852

SH 214-00- LM 1.19

SH 322-02- LM 1.16

CR 808-Reddman Rd

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