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)

FELL AVE

Good

Over: SUGAR CR

200 FT N OF KELSEY, McLean, IL

Built 2005 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 2,000

CH 26 (Woodford Co

Good

Over: Evergreen Lake SPilW

2.5 Mile NW of Hudso, McLean, IL

Built 1970 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 350

IL RT 9

Good

Over: KINGS CREEK

3.6 MI E IL 122, McLean, IL

Built 2004 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 4,100

TR 18

Good

Over: BR SUGAR CREEK

0.5 MI W STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 1994 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 25

ILL 9

Good

Over: WEST FORK SUGAR CR

4.4 MI NW OF ILL 122, McLean, IL

Built 2007 Load: 48.3 t ADT: 1,950

TR 517

Good

Over: W FORK SALT CR

3.5 MI SE DOWNS, McLean, IL

Built 2018 Load: 49.2 t ADT: 75

I-39/US 51 NB

Good

Over: SIX MILE CREEK

3.91 MI N OF I-55, McLean, IL

Built 1989 Load: 49.6 t ADT: 8,650

FAS 294/OLD 66A NB

Good

Over: MACKINAW RIVER

8.45 MI S OF US 24, McLean, IL

Built 1954 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 2,300

FAS 294/OLD 66A

Good

Over: TURKEY CREEK

5.79 MI S OF US 24, McLean, IL

Built 2015 Load: 52.2 t ADT: 2,050

FAS 491 CH 15

Good

Over: North Fork Salt Cre

4 miles NE LeRoy, McLean, IL

Built 2018 Load: 52.2 t ADT: 200

FAS 493 CH 5 SAYBR

Good

Over: BR SANGAMON CREEK

1.4 MI S OF ILL 9, McLean, IL

Built 1984 Load: 53.8 t ADT: 900

I-55/I-74 NB

Good

Over: SIX PTS RD/FAU 6369

1.9 MI S JCT ILL 9, McLean, IL

Built 1963 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 21,550

TR 221 A

Good

Over: LITTLE CROOKED CREEK

1.0 MI S COOKSVILLE, McLean, IL

Built 2011 Load: 55.1 t ADT: 50

US 51 NB

Good

Over: SUGAR CREEK

0.8 M N OF ILL 9, McLean, IL

Built 2015 Load: 56.4 t ADT: 11,300

TR 547

Good

Over: Ditch

SW OF BELLFLOWER, McLean, IL

Built 2010 Load: 57.3 t ADT: 25

BEICH RD FAU 6371

Good

Over: LITTLE KICKAPOO CR

0.6 MI N 74 & 55, McLean, IL

Built 1995 Load: 58.3 t ADT: 1,400

I-55 NW BLOOMINGTO

Good

Over: I-74

I-55SB OVER I-74, McLean, IL

Built 1962 Load: 59.0 t ADT: 18,850

IL. RT. 9

Good

Over: INTER. STREAM

1.52 MI. E. OF IL122, McLean, IL

Built 2004 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 3,600

OAKLAND AVE FAU 63

Good

Over: BROOKRIDGE CREEK

1.0 MI S 55 & 9, McLean, IL

Built 1993 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 3,600

US 136

Good

Over: KICKAPOO CREEK

1.34 M W OF US 51, McLean, IL

Built 2011 Load: 61.6 t ADT: 3,000

FAS 472 CH 12

Good

Over: BRANCH SIX MI CR.

2.3 MI W HUDSON, McLean, IL

Built 1992 Load: 61.6 t ADT: 825

ILL 122

Good

Over: STREAM

6.45 MI W IL 9, McLean, IL

Built 1999 Load: 62.5 t ADT: 1,250

FAS 494 CH 21

Good

Over: SALT CREEK

2.0 SE LEROY, McLean, IL

Built 1990 Load: 64.5 t ADT: 700

FAS 481 CH 32

Good

Over: MIDDLE FORK SUGAR CR

0.5 MI ESE STANFORD, McLean, IL

Built 2022 Load: 64.8 t ADT: 900

CH 63

Good

Over: MONEY CREEK

4 MI SW CLARKSVILLE, McLean, IL

Built 2019 Load: 68.0 t ADT: 400

I-74

Good

Over: NORTH CREEK

2.3 M E OF FAS 1478, McLean, IL

Built 1969 Load: 71.3 t ADT: 21,500

FAU 6431 CH 29

Good

Over: LITTLE KICKAPOO CR

1.0 MI NW DOWNS, McLean, IL

Built 1987 Load: 73.9 t ADT: 775

US136

Good

Over: STREAM

13.62 M E OF US 51, McLean, IL

Built 1969 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 1,250

I-55

Good

Over: TRIB OF TURKEY CR

1.5 MI NW LEXINGTON, McLean, IL

Built 1974 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 23,400

I-74 RAMP 27.49

Good

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH

.1 M S OF I-74, McLean, IL

Built 1996 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 500

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.