County profile · official public datasets

Sebastian County, AR

331 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.4% rated Good, 59.8% Fair, 5.7% Poor.

331
Public bridges: 34.4%
Good condition: 5.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

46th
of 75 on Poor share: 5.7%
Poor-condition share: 331
public highway bridges: 1979
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.

Sebastian County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Sebastian County ranks #46 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.7%). Sebastian County, Arkansas contains 331 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.4% are rated “Good,” 59.8% “Fair,” and 5.7% “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

331

Public highway bridges in Sebastian County

Good condition

34.4%

114 of 331 rated 7-9

Fair condition

59.8%

198 of 331 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.7%

19 of 331 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#46 of 75

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

Condition distribution

Share of 331 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

34.4% (114)

Fair

59.8% (198)

Poor

5.7% (19)

Sebastian County's Poor-condition bridges carry 37,435 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,970 crossings a day against 4,458 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 331 of 331 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

40.5% of Sebastian County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

134 of the 331 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 34.4% 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 22.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 71 - Seb. Co. over Prairie Creek, built 1944, carries 8,291 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 19-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 37,435 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

15
1930s

13
1940s

45
1950s

16
1960s

30
1970s

39
1980s

25
1990s

56
2000s

40
2010s

42
2020s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 56 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1979) matches the Arkansas average (1980).

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

The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Sebastian County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1979 against a peer-group mean of 1983 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Sebastian County and the 5 Arkansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Jefferson County	336	68.8%	26.2%	5.1%	1987
Sebastian County (this page)	331	34.4%	59.8%	5.7%	1979
White County	322	44.1%	50.6%	5.3%	1978
Garland County	319	43.3%	55.8%	0.9%	1977
Mississippi County	309	56.3%	34.3%	9.4%	1982
Union County	289	73%	26%	1%	1992

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AR (331 bridges here).

Pike County, KY · 331 bridges
Franklin County, MO · 331 bridges
Harrison County, MO · 331 bridges
Hickman County, TN · 331 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1979 here).

Pima County, AZ · avg 1979 · 1,150 bridges
Jefferson County, KY · avg 1979 · 662 bridges
Spartanburg County, SC · avg 1979 · 638 bridges
McPherson County, KS · avg 1979 · 586 bridges

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

All 331 Good 114 Fair 198 Poor 19

All bridges (331)

Sort:

Sebastian County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Sebastian County's Poor-condition bridges carry 37,435 vehicle crossings a day

40.5% of Sebastian County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 22.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Sebastian 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 (331)

State Highway 252

Taylor Ave

County Road 8-D

Phoenix Ave Ext

Massard Rd

Co. Rd. 10 Seb. Co

SH 252 - Sec 4

State Highway 252

State Highway 10

State Highway 96

I-540 NB & SB Lane

State Highway 255

State Highway 22-1

Howard Hill - Seb

Massard Road

County Road 94E

County Road 53E

CR 1 - ZONE G

County Road 182

West Harmony Road

CO.RD.243

County Road 5

CR 39 A

County Road 46

County Road 56

County Road 63

County Road 47

S. 28th St.

Co Rd 218 - A

County Road 19

Fort Smith Blvd.

Slaytonville Rd/23

Cavanaugh Road

County Road 23

Ingersoll Ave.

CR42/Vinyrd Crk Rd

Chad Colley Blvd

County Road 12

Roberts Blvd

Ward Ave

Chaffee Blvd

Ft. Smith Blvd.

Vineyard Creek Rd

Jenny Lind Road

CR38/Nickletown Rd

I 540-SEC 1 WB LN

I-540 SB Lanes-Seb

I-540 SB Lanes

I-540 SB Lanes

SH 549 SB Lns

Related