County profile · official public datasets

Lawrence County, IL

185 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 36.2% rated Good, 41.1% Fair, 22.7% Poor.

185
Public bridges
36.2%
Good condition
22.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

101st
of 102 on Poor share
22.7%
Poor-condition share
185
public highway bridges
1975
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.

Lawrence County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lawrence County ranks #101 of 102 Illinois counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 22.7%). Lawrence County, Illinois contains 185 public highway bridges. Roughly 36.2% are rated “Good,” 41.1% “Fair,” and 22.7% “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

185

Public highway bridges in Lawrence County

Good condition

36.2%

67 of 185 rated 7-9

Fair condition

41.1%

76 of 185 rated 5-6

Poor condition

22.7%

42 of 185 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#101 of 102

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

Condition distribution

Share of 185 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
36.2% (67)
Fair
41.1% (76)
Poor
22.7% (42)

Lawrence County's Poor-condition bridges carry 94,890 vehicle crossings a day

That is 38.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 22.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,259 crossings a day against 803 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 185 of 185 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

42.7% of Lawrence County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

79 of the 185 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 36.2% 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 7.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAP-327WB (US-50) over FAS-1827, built 1958, carries 7,200 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 42-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 94,890 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Lawrence County's bridges were built

185 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 27 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 14.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Illinois average (1979).

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

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

The 5 Illinois counties nearest Lawrence County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 22.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 5 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lawrence County and the 5 Illinois counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
De Witt County 192 5.7%
Clinton County 190 7.4%
Saline County 185 4.9%
Lawrence County (this page) 185 22.7%
Jasper County 181 5%
Carroll County 179 10.6%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IL (185 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IL (1975 here).

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

Poor-condition bridges (42)

TR-58

Poor

Over: THE SLOUGH

4 MI ESE CHAUNCEY, Lawrence, IL

Built 1909 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 25

TR-92

Poor

Over: B & O RR

0.5 MI W BRIDGEPORT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1920 Load: 12.3 t ADT: 100

TR 5

Poor

Over: BRUSHY FORK

1 MI NW BIRDS, Lawrence, IL

Built 1916 Load: 12.6 t ADT: 50

CH-5

Poor

Over: BRUSHY FORK

1 MI W PINKSTAFF, Lawrence, IL

Built 1971 Load: 17.5 t ADT: 175

FAS-801

Poor

Over: MAD CREEK

1 MI E CHAUNCEY, Lawrence, IL

Built 1973 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 325

FAS-801

Poor

Over: BRUSHY FORK SYSTEM

EAST EDGE BIRDS, Lawrence, IL

Built 1909 Load: 18.5 t ADT: 525

TR-37

Poor

Over: BIRCH CREEK

2.5 MI WSW BIRDS, Lawrence, IL

Built 1974 Load: 18.8 t ADT: 75

FR 505

Poor

Over: STREAM

1 MI N BRIDGEPORT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1910 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 225

FAS-807

Poor

Over: LITTLE BONPAS

4 MI S SUMNER, Lawrence, IL

Built 1909 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 1,100

TR-10

Poor

Over: SHIRLEY CREEK

1 MI W SUMNER, Lawrence, IL

Built 1909 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 75

FAS-806

Poor

Over: STREAM

BRIDGEPORT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1922 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 1,700

FAS-806

Poor

Over: EAGLE BRANCH

4 MI SE CHAUNCEY, Lawrence, IL

Built 1945 Load: 20.1 t ADT: 150

CH-12

Poor

Over: OTTER POND DRAIN DT

1.5 MI NE LAWRENCEVL, Lawrence, IL

Built 1931 Load: 20.1 t ADT: 50

TR-142

Poor

Over: DRAIN DITCH

N EDGE MT CARMEL APT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1967 Load: 20.7 t ADT: 35

CH-15

Poor

Over: BRANCH RACCOON CREEK

8 MI W ST FRANCISVIL, Lawrence, IL

Built 1972 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 75

FAS-807 (CH-6)

Poor

Over: LITTLE BONPAS CREEK

4 MI S SUMNER, Lawrence, IL

Built 1939 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 1,100

FAS 1808/FR 550

Poor

Over: STREAM

JCT SBI-12 & US-50B, Lawrence, IL

Built 1925 Load: 25.3 t ADT: 25

TR-263

Poor

Over: RACCOON CREEK

6.25 MI S BRIDGEPORT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1995 Load: 25.6 t ADT: 50

FAS-805

Poor

Over: RACOON CREEK

7 MI W ST FRANCISVLE, Lawrence, IL

Built 1963 Load: 26.2 t ADT: 225

FAP-327WB (US-50)

Poor

Over: FAS-1827

LAW-VINCENNES AP RD, Lawrence, IL

Built 1958 Load: 26.9 t ADT: 7,200

FAP-327WB (US-50)

Poor

Over: TR-262

2.4 MI E AIRPORT INT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1957 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 7,200

CH 11

Poor

Over: Trib to Raccoon Cree

6 MI SW Bridgeport, Lawrence, IL

Built 1934 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 35

FAP-332 (ILL-1)

Poor

Over: STREAM

.25 MI N BIRDS RD, Lawrence, IL

Built 1921 Load: 28.5 t ADT: 3,600

CH-5

Poor

Over: BIRCH CREEK

3.5 MI NW PINKSTAFF, Lawrence, IL

Built 1979 Load: 29.5 t ADT: 100

St. F Muni 7250

Poor

Over: WABASH RIVER

ST. FRANCISVILLE, Lawrence, IL

Built 1906 Load: 30.5 t ADT: 500

TR-243

Poor

Over: LITTLE BONPAS CREEK

0.25 MI W HELENA, Lawrence, IL

Built 1988 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 150

FAP-332 (ILL-1)

Poor

Over: EMBARRAS RV OVERFLOW

.5 MI N US-50, Lawrence, IL

Built 1923 Load: 31.4 t ADT: 5,400

TR 258

Poor

Over: DRAIN DITCH

4 MI NE BILLET, Lawrence, IL

Built 2002 Load: 31.4 t ADT: 150

FAP-332 (ILL-1)

Poor

Over: EMBARRAS R OVERFLOW

1 MI N US-50, Lawrence, IL

Built 1964 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,400

TR 257

Poor

Over: WABASH RIVER

ST. FRANCISVILLE, Lawrence, IL

Built 1906 Load: 33.4 t ADT: 500

TR 31

Poor

Over: EAGLE BRANCH

3.5 MI ESE CHAUNCEY, Lawrence, IL

Built 2006 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 25

FAP-327EB (US-50)

Poor

Over: ALLISON DITCH NO 1

2 MI E AIRPORT INT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1957 Load: 34.7 t ADT: 7,200

FAP-327WB (US-50)

Poor

Over: ALLISON DITCH NO 1

2 MI E AIRPORT INT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1957 Load: 34.7 t ADT: 7,200

FAP-327EB (US-50)

Poor

Over: FR-2004/ALLISON DT 3

.5 MI E LAKE LAW INT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1961 Load: 34.7 t ADT: 6,200

FAP-327WB (US-50)

Poor

Over: FR-2004/ALLISON DT 3

.5 MI E LAKE LAW INT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1961 Load: 36.6 t ADT: 6,200

FAP-327EB (US 50)

Poor

Over: BEAVER POND DITCH

3 MI E LAWRENCEVILLE, Lawrence, IL

Built 1957 Load: 36.9 t ADT: 7,200

FAP-327WB (US-50)

Poor

Over: BEAVER POND DITCH

3 MI E LAWRENCEVILLE, Lawrence, IL

Built 1957 Load: 36.9 t ADT: 7,200

FAP-332 (ILL-1)

Poor

Over: INDIAN CREEK

2 MI S LAWRENCEVILLE, Lawrence, IL

Built 1957 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 2,550

FAP-327EB (US-50)

Poor

Over: FR-1747/ALLISON DT 2

.5 MI W LAKE LAW INT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1959 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 7,200

FAP-327WB (US-50)

Poor

Over: FR-1747/ALLISON DT 2

.5 MI W LAKE LAW INT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1959 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 7,200

FAP-327/FR-1699

Poor

Over: ALLISON DITCH NO 1

2 MI E AIRPORT INT, Lawrence, IL

Built 1957 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 20

FAS-801

Poor

Over: SUGAR CREEK

4 MI E BIRDS, Lawrence, IL

Built 1930 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 375
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.