Total bridges
449
Public highway bridges in Washington County
County profile · official public datasets
449 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 22.3% rated Good, 70.8% Fair, 6.9% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Washington County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Washington County ranks #51 of 75 Arkansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.9%). Washington County, Arkansas contains 449 public highway bridges. Roughly 22.3% are rated “Good,” 70.8% “Fair,” and 6.9% “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
449
Public highway bridges in Washington County
Good condition
22.3%
100 of 449 rated 7-9
Fair condition
70.8%
318 of 449 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6.9%
31 of 449 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#51 of 75
Among Arkansas counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 449 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 1.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,445 crossings a day against 7,949 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 449 of 449 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
132 of the 449 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 22.3% 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.
East Huntsville Rd over Spout Spring Br. - Fay., built 1940, carries 13,000 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 31-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 44,785 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
449 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
Built before 1900
1 bridges
1920–1929
13 bridges
1930–1939
30 bridges
1940–1949
13 bridges
1950–1959
14 bridges
1960–1969
28 bridges
1970–1979
74 bridges
1980–1989
76 bridges
1990–1999
95 bridges
2000–2009
59 bridges
2010–2019
44 bridges
2020–2029
2 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 95 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the Arkansas average (1980).
The 5 Arkansas counties nearest Washington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.9% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1986 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 74 Arkansas counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County (this page) | 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 |
| White County | 322 | 44.1% | 50.6% | 5.3% | 1978 |
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 Washington County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Washington County, both outside Arkansas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside AR (449 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside AR (1982 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: West Fork White River
0.63 M SE of Hwy 156, Washington, AR
Over: Dutch Mills Creek Wash.
SIDE DRAIN ON SH 59-6.58, Washington, AR
Over: I 49 MN LNS
4 MI N US 62 & 71 INTCH, Washington, AR
Over: I-49 SB & 71B SB-Wash Co
JCT I-49 & US 71B 17B, Washington, AR
Over: I-49 - Washington Co.
1.3 MI N INT I-49 &US412, Washington, AR
Over: I 49 Mn Lns - Wash. Co.
JCT OF I 49 ML & 71 SB, Washington, AR
Over: Illinois River
1mi. E. Prairie Grove, Washington, AR
Over: White River-Washington
9.48 MI E. OF US 71-B, Washington, AR
Over: Richland Creek
9.8 MI E OF US 71 B, Washington, AR
Over: Sweetwater Creek
7.53 Mi N.W. Jct 170&265, Washington, AR
Over: Ellis Creek - Washington
0.8 Mi S Jct Hwy 170, Washington, AR
Over: Muddy Fork-Washington Co
0.50 Mi W Prairie Grove, Washington, AR
Over: West Fork of White River
4.36 Mi N Crawford Co Lin, Washington, AR
Over: Hutchins Creek
6.83 Mi N Crawford Co Lin, Washington, AR
Over: London Creek
0.4 Mi NW of Brentwood, Washington, AR
Over: Mill Creek
9.69 Mi N Hwy 74, Washington, AR
Over: Muddy Fork-Washington Co
0.40 mi East of CR 288, Washington, AR
Over: White River-Washington
0.31 miles E. of SH 16, Washington, AR
Over: Clear Creek
6.22 MI N JCT SH 265 & 16, Washington, AR
Over: Hwy 71B 16B & 17B-Wash
Hwy 71B - Jct Sec 16B&17B, Washington, AR
Over: I 49 - Section 28-Wash
4.1 Mi N Jct 71B-17B, Washington, AR
Over: West Fork White River
1.3 MI E JCT SH 265, Washington, AR
Over: Porter Road
2.69 NO JCT 49 & 62, Washington, AR
Over: Middle Fork White River
8.46 MI E JCT 71 SEC 17, Washington, AR
Over: NB I-49 Ramp to 71B
SH112/I-49/71B Intchg, Washington, AR
Over: Dry Creek - Wash. Co.
0.2 MI S CO RD 47, Washington, AR
Over: Clear Creek - Wash Co.
0.6 MI WEST OF CR 84, Washington, AR
Over: Scull Creek - Wash. Co.
0.16 Mi E of Gregg Ave, Washington, AR
Over: Illinois River - Wash.
3.26 Mi W Farmington, Washington, AR
Over: Clear Creek Tributary
0.42 Mi E. Jct I-49, Washington, AR
Over: Muddy Fork - Wash. Co.
1 Mi W of Prairie Grove, Washington, AR
Over: Brush Creek - Tontitown
0.02 Mi W Jct Javello Rd., Washington, AR
Over: Brush Creek
1.7 miles East of SH 112, Washington, AR
Over: Brush Creek
0.77 miles N of SH 412, Washington, AR
Over: Stream - Springdale
4.5 Mi. E of Dearing Rd., Washington, AR
Over: Ditch - Springdale
4.8 mi. E. of Dearing Rd., Washington, AR
Over: Pond Overflow-Springdale
0.16 mi. N of Don Tyson, Washington, AR
Over: Brush Creek - Wash. Co.
1.38 Mi N of US 412, Washington, AR
Over: Wildcat Creek-Washington
0.6 MI E BENTON CO LN, Washington, AR
Over: BLACKBURN CREEK
.5 MI N OF HOPPER TUNNEL, Washington, AR
Over: DEADMAN HOLLOW ACCESS RD
1.6 MI N OF HOPPER TUNNEL, Washington, AR
Over: US 71B MN LNS - Wash Co
I-49 & US 71B, Washington, AR
Over: Van Asche Street
0.9 MI. N INT I-49 & 71B, Washington, AR
Over: Johnson Mill Blvd.
2.35 N INTER I-49 & 71B, Washington, AR
Over: DEADMAN HOLLOW ACCESS RD
1.6 MI N OF HOPPER TUNNEL, Washington, AR
Over: Van Asche Street
0.9 MI NO I-49 & SH 71B, Washington, AR
Over: Hamestring Creek
2.19 MI N. JCT US 62 & 49, Washington, AR
Over: Hylton Branch
5.74 MI N JCT HS 265 & 16, Washington, AR
Over: Creek
5.1 mi N SH 170 junction, Washington, AR
Over: US 71B MN LNS - Wash Co.
I-49 & US 71B, Washington, AR
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.