County profile · official public datasets

Henderson County, IL

142 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 33.1% rated Good, 54.9% Fair, 12% Poor.

142
Public bridges: 33.1%
Good condition: 12%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

81st
of 102 on Poor share: 12%
Poor-condition share: 142
public highway bridges: 1985
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.

Henderson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Henderson County ranks #81 of 102 Illinois counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12%). Henderson County, Illinois contains 142 public highway bridges. Roughly 33.1% are rated “Good,” 54.9% “Fair,” and 12% “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

142

Public highway bridges in Henderson County

Good condition

33.1%

47 of 142 rated 7-9

Fair condition

54.9%

78 of 142 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12%

17 of 142 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#81 of 102

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

Condition distribution

Share of 142 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

33.1% (47)

Fair

54.9% (78)

Poor

12% (17)

Henderson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,450 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 262 crossings a day against 67 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 142 of 142 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

17.6% of Henderson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

25 of the 142 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 33.1% 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 44.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CARMAN RD over DUGOUT CREEK, built 1954, carries 2,000 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 4,450 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

3
1920s

4
1930s

7
1950s

4
1960s

3
1970s

11
1980s

43
1990s

36
2000s

15
2010s

16

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 43 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1985, 6 years newer than the Illinois average of 1979.

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

The 5 Illinois counties nearest Henderson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Henderson County and the 5 Illinois counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Richland County	151	68.2%	26.5%	5.3%	1979
Randolph County	149	59.7%	32.9%	7.4%	1981
Henderson County (this page)	142	33.1%	54.9%	12%	1985
Perry County	136	38.2%	54.4%	7.4%	1981
Kendall County	132	52.3%	35.6%	12.1%	1990
Massac County	132	43.9%	47.7%	8.3%	1980

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IL (142 bridges here).

Monroe County, AL · 142 bridges
Graham County, KS · 142 bridges
Kenton County, KY · 142 bridges
Freeborn County, MN · 142 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IL (1985 here).

Hillsborough County, FL · avg 1985 · 840 bridges
Lancaster County, NE · avg 1985 · 661 bridges
Nueces County, TX · avg 1985 · 528 bridges
Grayson County, TX · avg 1985 · 513 bridges

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

All 142 Good 47 Fair 78 Poor 17

All bridges (142)

Sort:

Henderson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Henderson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,450 vehicle crossings a day

17.6% of Henderson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 44.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Henderson 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

All bridges (142)

TR 196

TR 210

FAS 1420 - CH 6

FAS 419 - CH 7

ILL 164

US 34

N RARITAN RD

FAS 1420 - CH 6

FAS 1421 - CH 2

CH 1

TR 204

TR 5

TR 15

TR 17

TR 107

TR 113

TR 210

MS# 1800

TR 94

TR 66

TR 193

TR 1A (HANCOCK)

TR 177

TR 138

TR 83

TR 138

TR 208A

TR 205

TR 166

TR 212

TR 180

TR 94

TR 62

TR 68

TR 74

TR 169

TR 94

TR 175

TR 92

TR 44

CH 12

TR 58

FAS 413 - CH 5

US 34

TR 196

US 34EB

US 34WB

US 34EB

US 34WB

CH 9 (RARITAN ROAD

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