Total bridges
289
Public highway bridges in Union County
County profile · official public datasets
Union County, AR
289 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 73% rated Good, 26% Fair, 1% Poor.
- 289
- Public bridges
- 73%
- Good condition
- 1%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Union County pairs a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 7%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 1%
- Poor-condition share
- 289
- public highway bridges
- 1992
- 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.
Union County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Union County ranks #5 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1%). Union County, Arkansas contains 289 public highway bridges. Roughly 73% are rated “Good,” 26% “Fair,” and 1% “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.
Good condition
73%
211 of 289 rated 7-9
Fair condition
26%
75 of 289 rated 5-6
Poor condition
1%
3 of 289 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#5 of 75
Among Arkansas counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 289 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 73% (211)
Fair 26% (75)
Poor 1% (3)
Union County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,080 vehicle crossings a day
That is 2.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,027 crossings a day against 1,685 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 289 of 289 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
17.3% of Union County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
50 of the 289 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 73% 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 91.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
US 82B S5 LM 2.42 over UN PAC RR & Jackson St, built 1935, carries 11,000 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 12,080 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Union County's bridges were built
289 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 3
1920–1929
3 bridges
- 1930s 11
1930–1939
11 bridges
- 1950s 13
1950–1959
13 bridges
- 1960s 11
1960–1969
11 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
47 bridges
- 1980s 14
1980–1989
14 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
42 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
96 bridges
- 2010s 38
2010–2019
38 bridges
- 2020s 14
2020–2029
14 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 96 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 33.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1992, 12 years newer than the Arkansas average of 1980.
How Union County compares with Arkansas's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Union County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1992 against a peer-group mean of 1981 is 11 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 74 Arkansas counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 (this page) | 289 | 73% | 26% | 1% | 1992 |
| Greene County | 251 | 51% | 45.8% | 3.2% | 1992 |
| Crawford County | 248 | 22.2% | 70.2% | 7.7% | 1974 |
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 Union 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 Union County, both outside Arkansas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside AR (289 bridges here).
- Butler County, IA · 289 bridges
- Grundy County, IA · 289 bridges
- McKinley County, NM · 289 bridges
- Knox County, IN · 290 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1992 here).
- Johnson County, KS · avg 1992 · 781 bridges
- Wake County, NC · avg 1992 · 760 bridges
- Nodaway County, MO · avg 1992 · 396 bridges
- Cameron County, TX · avg 1992 · 355 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (75)
Union Co Rd 23 Z-A
FairOver: LAPILE CREEK
3.2 MI N SH 129, Union, AR
Built 1997 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 360
SH 7 S-2 LM 0.82
FairOver: MILL CREEK
1.03 MI NW JCT US 167, Union, AR
Built 1972 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,800
SH 129 S-1 LM14.62
FairOver: LITTLE CREEK
0.6 MI S OF JCT 129 & 82, Union, AR
Built 1976 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,500
SH 7 SB S2 LM11.34
FairOver: SMACKOVER RELIEF
1.6 MI N JCT SH 160, Union, AR
Built 1974 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,840
SH 7 S 2 LM 11.70
FairOver: SMACKOVER CREEK
1.9 MI N JCT SH 160, Union, AR
Built 1974 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,679
Union Co HINSON RD
FairOver: US 82-SEC 5 LM18.96
1.8 MI E JCT US 82 & 82B, Union, AR
Built 1979 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,100
UnionUS167S1LM10.9
FairOver: BAYOU LOUTRE
0.6 MI NO JCT SH 7, Union, AR
Built 1997 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 8,629
Union CR 26 Z-C
FairOver: CREEK
.2 mi north co. rd#308, Union, AR
Built 2001 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 855
UNION CR34 Z-I
FairOver: CREEK
3.3MI EAST SH#15, Union, AR
Built 2001 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 202
Union CR 35 Z-H
FairOver: three creek relief
1.5 MI W JCT CR 51, Union, AR
Built 2002 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 101
UNION CR 96 Z-L
FairOver: SO. LAPILE CREEK
1 MI S JCT CR 155, Union, AR
Built 2002 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 45
UNION CoRd 18 Z-E
FairOver: Flat Creek
1 mi. E jct SH 335 & CR18, Union, AR
Built 2008 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 635
CR 10
FairOver: Hines Branch
.5 mi. W CR 10&36, Union, AR
Built 2010 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 490
Union CORD 248 Z-H
FairOver: West Three Creeks
1.30 M E of Int. 35 & 248, Union, AR
Built 2011 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 101
US82 S5 LM19.64 EB
FairOver: SOUTHWEST AVE.
2.7 MI E JCT US 82 & 82B, Union, AR
Built 1979 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,860
US 82EB S-5LM19.44
FairOver: Ouachita Valley RR
2.5 MI E JCT 82 & 82B, Union, AR
Built 1979 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,700
82 S5 LM 18.55
FairOver: WESSON RR
1.6 MI E JCT US 82 & 82B, Union, AR
Built 1979 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,700
US 167 S1 LM15.33
FairOver: Memory Lane Cook St RR
.50 Mi S Jct US 63, Union, AR
Built 2011 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 6,000
US82 EB LM.82 SEC6
FairOver: BOGGY BAYOU
.2 MI W OF JCT US 82B, Union, AR
Built 1978 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,500
US 82WB S-5LM19.44
FairOver: ouachita Valley RR
2.5 MI E JCT US 82 & 82B, Union, AR
Built 1979 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,700
US82 WB S5 LM18.55
FairOver: WESSON RR
1.6 MI E JCT US 82 & 82B, Union, AR
Built 1979 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,700
US 167 S1 LM 15.33
FairOver: Memory Lane.CookSt/RR
.50 mi.S jct. US 63, Union, AR
Built 2009 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 6,000
SH 172 S-0 LM 1.59
FairOver: CREEK
1.62 MI N JCT US82, Union, AR
Built 1986 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 416
SH 335 S2 LM2.42
FairOver: Flat creek
2.42 mi E jct 7 & 335, Union, AR
Built 2007 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 540
SHALLOW LAKE ROAD
FairOver: LAPILE CREEK
SHALLOW LAKE ROAD, Union, AR
Built 1986 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 70
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.