County profile · official public datasets

McLean County, IL

624 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 60.9% rated Good, 36.2% Fair, 2.9% Poor.

624
Public bridges
60.9%
Good condition
2.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

McLean County posts a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across large county bridge inventory.

Top 6%
lowest Poor share in state
2.9%
Poor-condition share
624
public highway bridges
1981
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.

McLean County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, McLean County ranks #6 of 102 Illinois counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.9%). McLean County, Illinois contains 624 public highway bridges. Roughly 60.9% are rated “Good,” 36.2% “Fair,” and 2.9% “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

624

Public highway bridges in McLean County

Good condition

60.9%

380 of 624 rated 7-9

Fair condition

36.2%

226 of 624 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.9%

18 of 624 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#6 of 102

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

Condition distribution

Share of 624 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
60.9% (380)
Fair
36.2% (226)
Poor
2.9% (18)

McLean County's Poor-condition bridges carry 69,775 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,876 crossings a day against 1,624 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 624 of 624 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39.7% of McLean County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

248 of the 624 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 60.9% 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 35.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-55 BUSN LOOP over Norfolk Southern Railway, built 1940, carries 25,000 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 18-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 69,775 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When McLean County's bridges were built

624 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 131 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Illinois average (1979).

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

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

The 5 Illinois counties nearest McLean County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.9% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for McLean County and the 5 Illinois counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Will County 649 10.5%
McLean County (this page) 624 2.9%
Livingston County 579 8.3%
Iroquois County 570 14.4%
LaSalle County 528 12.3%
Madison County 523 8.4%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IL (624 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IL (1981 here).

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

All 624 Good 380 Fair 226 Poor 18

Good-condition bridges (380)

TR 608

Good

Over: BRANCH MACKINAW RV

3.5 MI SE ANCHOR, McLean, IL

Built 1971 Load: 18.8 t ADT: 75

TR 142

Good

Over: SUGAR CREEK

2.5 MI NNW SHIRLEY, McLean, IL

Built 1967 Load: 20.1 t ADT: 100

TR 339

Good

Over: MIDDLE FORK SUGAR CR

2.5 MILE E STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 1969 Load: 20.4 t ADT: 300

FAU-6340 (CH-32)

Good

Over: Br Sugar Creek

1.5 MI N SHIRLEY, McLean, IL

Built 1974 Load: 21.1 t ADT: 950

TR-302

Good

Over: KICKAPOO CREEK

3.5 MI SW DOWNS, McLean, IL

Built 1973 Load: 21.4 t ADT: 50

TR 128

Good

Over: BRANCH SUGAR CREEK

1.0 MILE NW SHIRLEY, McLean, IL

Built 1967 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 75

TR 134

Good

Over: KINGS MILL CREEK

1.2MI NNW TWIN GROVE, McLean, IL

Built 1967 Load: 22.0 t ADT: 75

TR 5A

Good

Over: SALT CREEK

2 MI NE FARMER CITY, McLean, IL

Built 1972 Load: 22.4 t ADT: 75

TR 503

Good

Over: BRANCH LONE TREE

1.5 MI NE BELLFLOWER, McLean, IL

Built 1972 Load: 22.4 t ADT: 50

TR 606 A

Good

Over: MACKINAW RIVER

2.0 MI E ANCHOR, McLean, IL

Built 1970 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 75

TR 168

Good

Over: BRANCH TIMBER CREEK

1.0 MILE E SHIRLEY, McLean, IL

Built 1970 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 75

TR 396

Good

Over: MONEY CREEK

5.0 MI SW COOKSVILLE, McLean, IL

Built 1969 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 50

TR 530

Good

Over: BRANCH SALT CREEK

4.8 MI SW BELLFLOWER, McLean, IL

Built 1973 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 75

TR 0032

Good

Over: STREAM

0.5 MILE N STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 1977 Load: 23.0 t ADT: 75

TR 243

Good

Over: BR SUGAR CREEK

2.8 MI SW DANVERS, McLean, IL

Built 1973 Load: 23.0 t ADT: 50

CH 6

Good

Over: MACKINAW RIVER

4.8 MI SW GRIDLEY, McLean, IL

Built 1963 Load: 23.0 t ADT: 200

TR 35

Good

Over: ROOKS CREEK

3.5 MI SSE WESTON, McLean, IL

Built 1969 Load: 23.0 t ADT: 50

TR 12

Good

Over: STREAM

2 MI SW FOOSLAND, McLean, IL

Built 1976 Load: 23.3 t ADT: 100

TR 349

Good

Over: SANGAMON RV

1.0 MI NW SAYBROOK, McLean, IL

Built 1961 Load: 23.3 t ADT: 75

TR 72

Good

Over: B. MIDDLE FK SUGAR C

3.5 MI E STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 1969 Load: 23.3 t ADT: 50

TR 155

Good

Over: LITTLE CROOKED CREEK

3.0MI SE PLEASANTHIL, McLean, IL

Built 1963 Load: 23.3 t ADT: 25

SHEPARD ROAD

Good

Over: N BR SUGAR CR

SHEPARD RD W VETERNS, McLean, IL

Built 2007 Load: 23.3 t ADT: 1,700

TR 592

Good

Over: HENLINE DITCH

3.5 MI SW CROPSEY, McLean, IL

Built 1961 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 200

TR 101

Good

Over: BR SIX MILE CREEK

1.0 MI NW HUDSON, McLean, IL

Built 1969 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 50

TR 83

Good

Over: BR MACKINAW RIVER

2.0 M SSE CLARKSVILL, McLean, IL

Built 1965 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 150

TR 46

Good

Over: BRANCH-SUGAR CR

1 MILE SE STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 1970 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 75

TR 52

Good

Over: 1.5 MI N MCLEAN

MOUNT HOPE SEC 23-24, McLean, IL

Built 1959 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 150

TR 12

Good

Over: LONG TREE CREEK

2.5 MI SW FOOSLAND, McLean, IL

Built 1973 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 100

TR 83

Good

Over: I-55

2 MI SW OF LEXINGTON, McLean, IL

Built 1974 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 150

TR 0004

Good

Over: STREAM

2.5 MILE W STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 1977 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 25

FAS 479 CH 59

Good

Over: BR MID FORK SUGAR CR

2.5 MI S STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 1952 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 325

TR 570

Good

Over: HENLINE DITCH

5.0 MI WSW CROPSEY, McLean, IL

Built 1960 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 25

TR 438

Good

Over: N FORK SALT CREEK

1.0 MI NNE LEROY, McLean, IL

Built 1963 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 25

PARK ACCESS ROAD

Good

Over: DAWSON LAKE

2.5 MI S ELLSWORTH, McLean, IL

Built 1965 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 325

ILL 9

Good

Over: SQUAW CR

0.25 MI E OF FAI 55, McLean, IL

Built 1980 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 17,900

TR 560

Good

Over: STREAM

2.5 MI SE COLFAX, McLean, IL

Built 1971 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 150

TR 203

Good

Over: BR MACKINAW RIVER

1.0 MI S COLFAX, McLean, IL

Built 1963 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 50

TR 385

Good

Over: KICKAPOO CREEK

1.5 MI N DOWNS, McLean, IL

Built 1968 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 75

TR 507

Good

Over: LITTLE KICKAPOO CR

2.0 MI N HEYWORTH, McLean, IL

Built 1964 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 50

TR 334

Good

Over: MONEY CREEK

0.5 MI NE TOWANDA, McLean, IL

Built 1964 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 50

TR 18 A

Good

Over: MIDDLE FORK SUGAR CR

2 MILE SSW STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 1965 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 50

TR 255B

Good

Over: BRANCH OF MACKINAW R

4.5 MI SSE ANCHOR, McLean, IL

Built 1973 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 50

TR 547

Good

Over: BRANCH OF LONE TREE

1.0MI SE BELLFLOWER, McLean, IL

Built 1972 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 50

TR 602A

Good

Over: BRANCH OF LONE TREE

1.0 MI NE BELLFLOWER, McLean, IL

Built 1972 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 75

TR 203

Good

Over: LITTLE CROOKED CREEK

E EDGE COOKSVILLE, McLean, IL

Built 1971 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 75

TR 462

Good

Over: SALT CREEK

1.2 MI NE LEROY, McLean, IL

Built 1973 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 150

TR 105

Good

Over: HENLINE DITCH

3.0 MI N COLFAX, McLean, IL

Built 1972 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 25

TR 190

Good

Over: SHORT POINT CREEK

1.5 MI SW HEYWORTH, McLean, IL

Built 1967 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 75

US 51 SB

Good

Over: SUGAR CREEK

0.27 MI S HOVEY AVE, McLean, IL

Built 1978 Load: 25.3 t ADT: 9,700

TR 560

Good

Over: MACKINAW RIVER

2.0 MI ESE COLFAX, McLean, IL

Built 1964 Load: 25.3 t ADT: 150

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

Related

Browse all → | Rankings →
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.