County profile · official public datasets

Jackson County, IL

228 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 66.2% rated Good, 27.2% Fair, 6.6% Poor.

228
Public bridges: 66.2%
Good condition: 6.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 37%
lowest Poor share in state: 6.6%
Poor-condition share: 228
public highway bridges: 1987
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.

Jackson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Jackson County ranks #38 of 102 Illinois counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.6%). Jackson County, Illinois contains 228 public highway bridges. Roughly 66.2% are rated “Good,” 27.2% “Fair,” and 6.6% “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

228

Public highway bridges in Jackson County

Good condition

66.2%

151 of 228 rated 7-9

Fair condition

27.2%

62 of 228 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.6%

15 of 228 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#38 of 102

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

Condition distribution

Share of 228 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

66.2% (151)

Fair

27.2% (62)

Poor

6.6% (15)

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 33,185 vehicle crossings a day

That is 6.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,212 crossings a day against 1,861 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 228 of 228 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

17.5% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

40 of the 228 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 66.2% 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 50% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IL-13 EB over Big Muddy River, built 2014, carries 16,600 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 33,185 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1920s

2
1930s

12
1940s

1
1950s

12
1960s

6
1970s

21
1980s

52
1990s

38
2000s

50
2010s

25
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 52 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1987, 8 years newer than the Illinois average of 1979.

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

The 5 Illinois counties nearest Jackson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.6% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1987 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 7 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jackson County and the 5 Illinois counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Washington County	233	50.6%	43.3%	6%	1973
Douglas County	232	76.3%	22.4%	1.3%	1982
Clark County	230	62.6%	32.6%	4.8%	1978
Jackson County (this page)	228	66.2%	27.2%	6.6%	1987
McHenry County	227	41.4%	38.3%	20.3%	1983
Woodford County	223	26.9%	62.8%	10.3%	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 Jackson 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 Jackson County, both outside Illinois so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IL (228 bridges here).

Franklin County, IA · 228 bridges
Attala County, MS · 228 bridges
Saratoga County, NY · 228 bridges
Pitt County, NC · 228 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IL (1987 here).

St. Louis County, MO · avg 1987 · 912 bridges
Ellis County, TX · avg 1987 · 691 bridges
St. Louis County, MN · avg 1987 · 663 bridges
Palm Beach County, FL · avg 1987 · 610 bridges

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

All 228 Good 151 Fair 62 Poor 15

All bridges (228)

Sort:

Jackson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Jackson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 33,185 vehicle crossings a day

17.5% of Jackson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 50% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Jackson 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 (228)

FAU 9572

MCLAUGHLIN RD-TR 2

CH 25

TR 312 MARTIE RD

TR 45-CALVARY CEM

N. SATO ROAD-TR 12

TR 254-MCMAHAN RD

TR309 W.PLEASANT H

CH2 N MUDLINE RD

TR194-MAPLE SPRG R

CH 23-TRICO ROAD

TR 121 MAIN RD

TR 124A-PIERSON RD

TR 252 CROW RD

CAVALRY CEM RD

TR 200

CH 17-DUTCH RIDGE

ORCHARD HILL RD

CH 9

E PLEASANT HILL RD

GLENN RD

TR 110

CH 32

ELKVILLE WATER RD

LICHLITER RD

ETHERTON RD

LITCHLITER ROAD

BEAR ROAD

FAS-919 (CH-12)

SIU ACCESS RD

MAES RD

TR-98 (Union Sch R

TR-98 (Union Sch R

ROYALTON RD

CRANE ROAD

RESERVOIR RD

COUNTRY CLUB ROAD

CRACKERS NECK ST

FAS 919 (Makanda R

WOOD ROAD TR 278

TR 31

TR 93

WATSON ROAD

CH 2

TR 217A

SPRINGER RIDGE RD

TR 246

IL 13 EB

TR 15

TR 212

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