County profile · official public datasets

Lafayette County, FL

28 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 50% rated Good, 42.9% Fair, 7.1% Poor.

28
Public bridges
50%
Good condition
7.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Lafayette County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

55th
of 67 on Poor share
7.1%
Poor-condition share
28
public highway bridges
1968
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.

Lafayette County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lafayette County ranks #55 of 67 Florida counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.1%). Lafayette County, Florida contains 28 public highway bridges. Roughly 50% are rated “Good,” 42.9% “Fair,” and 7.1% “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.

Total bridges

28

Public highway bridges in Lafayette County

Good condition

50%

14 of 28 rated 7-9

Fair condition

42.9%

12 of 28 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.1%

2 of 28 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#55 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 28 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
50% (14)
Fair
42.9% (12)
Poor
7.1% (2)

Lafayette County's Poor-condition bridges carry 700 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 350 crossings a day against 2,018 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 28 of 28 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

64.3% of Lafayette County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

18 of the 28 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 50% 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 78.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR-51 over BRITT CREEK, built 1940, carries 550 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 700 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Lafayette County's bridges were built

28 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1940s, when 7 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 25% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 75 to 84 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1968, 15 years older than the Florida average of 1983.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

How Lafayette County compares with Florida's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Florida counties nearest Lafayette County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1968 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is 5 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 66 Florida counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lafayette County and the 5 Florida counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Wakulla County 48 12.5%
Franklin County 43 41.9%
Suwannee County 37 5.4%
Union County 28 0%
Lafayette County (this page) 28 7.1%
Gilchrist County 10 0%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside FL (28 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside FL (1968 here).

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

All 28 Good 14 Fair 12 Poor 2

All bridges (28)

SE LA BENNETT GRD

Fair

Over: STEINHATCHEE RIVER

0.3 MI. E. OF SR-51, Lafayette, FL

Built 1996 Load: 14.3 t ADT: 41

CR 53

Fair

Over: FOUR MILE CREEK

13 MI SOUTH OF I-10, Lafayette, FL

Built 1947 Load: 18.3 t ADT: 1,600

CR 251 (NW CR 101)

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK

0.4 MI NORTH OF CR 250, Lafayette, FL

Built 1969 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 151

SR-51 (HAL ADAMS)

Fair

Over: SUWANNEE RIVER

3 MI. N. OF MAYO, Lafayette, FL

Built 1947 Load: 19.2 t ADT: 4,900

SR-51

Fair

Over: KETTLE BRANCH

2 MI. N. OF DIXIE CO., Lafayette, FL

Built 1945 Load: 32.0 t ADT: 550

US-27 (SR-20)

Fair

Over: SUWANNEE RIVER

CITY OF BRANFORD, Lafayette, FL

Built 1989 Load: 33.7 t ADT: 5,900

CR 357

Fair

Over: OWL CREEK

0.1 MI SOUTH OF SR 51, Lafayette, FL

Built 1964 Load: 33.9 t ADT: 150

SR-349

Fair

Over: MCCALLS CREEK

7.6 MI. S. OF US-27, Lafayette, FL

Built 1946 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 2,600

CR 250

Fair

Over: SUWANNEE RIVER OVERFLOW

0.1 MI W OF SUWANNEE RVR, Lafayette, FL

Built 1964 Load: 39.2 t ADT: 1,211

SR-349

Fair

Over: HAMMOCK BRANCH

3.3 MI. S. OF US-27, Lafayette, FL

Built 1944 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 2,600

SOUTHEAST LAND RD

Fair

Over: HATCHBEND RUN

1.4 MI NORTH OF CR 138, Lafayette, FL

Built 1995 Load: 50.0 t ADT: 51

US-27 (SR-20)

Fair

Over: PICKET LAKE BRANCH

0.5 MI. S. OF CR-251, Lafayette, FL

Built 1950 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 3,400

US-27 (SR-20)

Good

Over: SUWANNEE RIVER RELIEF

0.5 MI. W. OF BRANFORD, Lafayette, FL

Built 1954 Load: 22.6 t ADT: 5,900

SR-349

Good

Over: WALKER CREEK

5.1 MI. S. OF US-27, Lafayette, FL

Built 1944 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 2,600

SW CR 300

Good

Over: CATTLE CROSSING

0.6 MI SOUTH OF CR 534, Lafayette, FL

Built 1955 Load: 34.9 t ADT: 200

SR-51

Good

Over: OWL CREEK

11.1 MI. S. OF MAYO, Lafayette, FL

Built 2001 Load: 37.5 t ADT: 757

SR-51

Good

Over: KETTLE CREEK

1.1 MI. N OF DIXIE CO., Lafayette, FL

Built 2015 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 550

US-27 (SR-20)

Good

Over: PETERSON CREEK

200 FT. E. OF CR-292, Lafayette, FL

Built 1965 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 3,800

SR-51

Good

Over: CALF CREEK

7.9 MI. S. OF MAYO, Lafayette, FL

Built 2001 Load: 39.5 t ADT: 757

CR 138 (SE CR 490)

Good

Over: TRIB TO SUWANNEE RVR

0.6 MI E OF SE CR 500, Lafayette, FL

Built 2000 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 101

ISLAND DRIVE

Good

Over: PICKET LAKE CANAL

0.5MI SOUTH OF CR 354, Lafayette, FL

Built 1972 Load: 44.1 t ADT: 21

SR-349

Good

Over: MAYPOP CREEK

1.3 MI. S. OF US-27, Lafayette, FL

Built 1986 Load: 50.8 t ADT: 2,600

CR 53

Good

Over: SOUTH MILL CREEK

8.8 MI SOUTH OF I-10, Lafayette, FL

Built 2000 Load: 54.8 t ADT: 1,600

CR 53

Good

Over: NORTH MILL CREEK

8.7 MI SOUTH OF I-10, Lafayette, FL

Built 2000 Load: 54.8 t ADT: 1,600

US-27 (SR-20)

Good

Over: GRACIE BRANCH

1.1 MILES E. OF CR-354, Lafayette, FL

Built 1950 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 3,400

US-27 (SR-20)

Good

Over: LEADBEATER BRANCH

0.8 MILES W. OF CR-420, Lafayette, FL

Built 1950 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 4,368

Camp Grade Road

Poor

Over: Steinhatchee River

0.2 MI EAST OF SR 51, Lafayette, FL

Built 1921 Load: 3.8 t ADT: 150

SR-51

Poor

Over: BRITT CREEK

1.4 MI. N. OF DIXIE CO., Lafayette, FL

Built 1940 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 550

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.