County profile · official public datasets

Fulton County, IL

210 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 22.9% rated Good, 56.2% Fair, 21% Poor.

210
Public bridges: 22.9%
Good condition: 21%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

100th
of 102 on Poor share: 21%
Poor-condition share: 210
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Fulton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Fulton County ranks #100 of 102 Illinois counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 21%). Fulton County, Illinois contains 210 public highway bridges. Roughly 22.9% are rated “Good,” 56.2% “Fair,” and 21% “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

210

Public highway bridges in Fulton County

Good condition

22.9%

48 of 210 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56.2%

118 of 210 rated 5-6

Poor condition

21%

44 of 210 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#100 of 102

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

Condition distribution

Share of 210 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

22.9% (48)

Fair

56.2% (118)

Poor

21% (44)

Fulton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 24,390 vehicle crossings a day

That is 20.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 21% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 554 crossings a day against 629 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 210 of 210 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

34.3% of Fulton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

72 of the 210 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 22.9% 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 21.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 136 over ILLINOIS RIVER, built 1936, carries 5,250 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 44-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 24,390 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1920s

6
1930s

17
1940s

6
1950s

23
1960s

10
1970s

34
1980s

40
1990s

35
2000s

21
2010s

9
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Illinois average (1979).

How Fulton County compares with Illinois's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Illinois counties nearest Fulton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 21% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1984 is 7 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 101 Illinois counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Fulton County and the 5 Illinois counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Woodford County	223	26.9%	62.8%	10.3%	1985
White County	214	29.4%	64%	6.5%	1986
Fulton County (this page)	210	22.9%	56.2%	21%	1977
McDonough County	209	53.6%	39.7%	6.7%	1981
Williamson County	201	67.2%	29.4%	3.5%	1985
Warren County	199	69.3%	23.1%	7.5%	1985

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IL (210 bridges here).

Clinton County, IN · 210 bridges
Howard County, IA · 210 bridges
Montgomery County, IA · 210 bridges
Calloway County, KY · 210 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IL (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges

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

All 210 Good 48 Fair 118 Poor 44

Good-condition bridges (48)

Sort:

Fulton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Fulton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 24,390 vehicle crossings a day

34.3% of Fulton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 21.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Fulton County compares with Illinois's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Good-condition bridges (48)

FAS 452-CH 2

CH 16

PEANUT RIDGERD-TR3

OR 2

FAS 450-CH 20

FAU 6889-CH 5

FAS 460-CH 14

CH 26

MANLEY RD (TR 18)

TR 770

BARNS SCHOOL RD-TR

BARNS SCHOOL RD-TR

TR 523

ELLIS RD = TR 73

TARTERS FERRY-TR 1

CYPRESS RD - TR 11

CYPRESS RD - TR 11

DEERTRACK RD-TR 13

WERTMAN RD - TR 15

POLECAT RD - TR 20

M & M RD - TR 334

HOLLER RD - TR 385

TRIPLE CR RD-TR 40

BACK RD - TR 451

SQUIRREL RD - TR 4

CLEER RD - TR 467

MONSTER LN-TR 520

TR 105(BIRDS CORNE

MITCHELL RD - TR 7

QUARTER RD - TR 44

FAS 448

NORTH ALLEY

MS-2800 (Cass Pl)

ILL 97

MAPLE LN - TR 189

US 24/IL 100

FAS 452-CH 2

US 24 / IL 9

SILVER CR RD - TR

FAS 457 (CH 31)

FAS 452 CH 2

BUCKEYE CHURCH TR

IL 116

HILLSIDE RD - TR 4

US 24/IL 100

US 24/ IL 78

US 24/ IL 78

IL 41

Related