County profile · official public datasets

Pulaski County, AR

721 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 49.2% rated Good, 48.4% Fair, 2.4% Poor.

721
Public bridges: 49.2%
Good condition: 2.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Pulaski County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across large county bridge inventory.

Top 19%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.4%
Poor-condition share: 721
public highway bridges: 1980
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.

Pulaski County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Pulaski County ranks #14 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.4%). Pulaski County, Arkansas contains 721 public highway bridges. Roughly 49.2% are rated “Good,” 48.4% “Fair,” and 2.4% “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

721

Public highway bridges in Pulaski County

Good condition

49.2%

355 of 721 rated 7-9

Fair condition

48.4%

349 of 721 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.4%

17 of 721 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#14 of 75

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

Condition distribution

Share of 721 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

49.2% (355)

Fair

48.4% (349)

Poor

2.4% (17)

Pulaski County's Poor-condition bridges carry 556,194 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 32,717 crossings a day against 13,292 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 721 of 721 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

42.3% of Pulaski County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

305 of the 721 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 49.2% 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 21.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-30 Log 141.70 over UNION PACIFIC RR, built 1961, carries 119,000 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 556,194 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

4
1920s

10
1930s

34
1940s

16
1950s

52
1960s

120
1970s

140
1980s

70
1990s

89
2000s

93
2010s

73
2020s

20

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 140 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 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1980) matches the Arkansas average (1980).

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

The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Pulaski County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.4% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1980 against a peer-group mean of 1987 is 7 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Pulaski County and the 5 Arkansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Pulaski County (this page)	721	49.2%	48.4%	2.4%	1980
Washington County	449	22.3%	70.8%	6.9%	1982
Craighead County	442	65.8%	31%	3.2%	1995
Benton County	410	49%	47.1%	3.9%	1992
Jefferson County	336	68.8%	26.2%	5.1%	1987
Sebastian County	331	34.4%	59.8%	5.7%	1979

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AR (721 bridges here).

Pinal County, AZ · 716 bridges
Champaign County, IL · 727 bridges
McLennan County, TX · 714 bridges
Madison County, AL · 710 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1980 here).

Tulsa County, OK · avg 1980 · 1,135 bridges
Miami-Dade County, FL · avg 1980 · 1,057 bridges
Hinds County, MS · avg 1980 · 663 bridges

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

All 721 Good 355 Fair 349 Poor 17

Fair-condition bridges (349)

Sort:

Pulaski County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Pulaski County's Poor-condition bridges carry 556,194 vehicle crossings a day

42.3% of Pulaski County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 21.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Pulaski 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

Fair-condition bridges (349)

I 30-SEC 23 EB & W

I 630 WB Log 4.48

I 430 NB Log 0.65

I-430 NB Log 0.88

I 430-Log 8.54 NB

SH 10 EB Log 7.97

67 SB SR Log 12.83

I-440 Log 5.16 WB

I 440 WB Log 7.11

I 440 WB Log 8.06

I-440 WB Log 9.87

I 530 NB Log 0.51

I-40 EB Log 156.02

I-40 EB log 143.70

I-40 EB Log 145.08

I 530 NB Log 2.85

I 30-EB log 138.90

I 630 EB Log 4.48

I 430 SB Log 0.65

I-430 SB log 0.88

SH 10 WB Log 7.97

I-440 Log 5.16 EB

I 440 EB log 7.11

I-440 EB Log 8.06

I-440 EB Log 8.44

I-30 Log 141.44

I 30-SEC 23 RAMP B

I 440 NE RAMP

I-440 WB Log 9.96

I-30 Log 141.58

I-530 NB T0 I-440

I-440 EB Log 9.96

I-440 RAMP E-N

I-30 Log 141.86

I-30 Log 142.00

EB I440 OFF RAMP

I-30 Log 142.28

I-440 EB ON RAMP

IR 440 WB OFF RAMP

WB I440 Ramp

I-30 EB to I-40WB

SH 176 (KIEHL AVE.

UNNAMED ROAD

I 430 SB Log 7.32

I-430 NB Log 4.15

I 430 SB Log 4.15

I 430 NB Log 3.56

I-430 SB Log 3.56

I-430 NB Log 11.92

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