County profile · official public datasets

Saline County, IL

185 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 71.4% rated Good, 23.8% Fair, 4.9% Poor.

185
Public bridges
71.4%
Good condition
4.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Saline County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 16%
lowest Poor share in state
4.9%
Poor-condition share
185
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.

Saline County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Saline County ranks #16 of 102 Illinois counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.9%). Saline County, Illinois contains 185 public highway bridges. Roughly 71.4% are rated “Good,” 23.8% “Fair,” and 4.9% “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

185

Public highway bridges in Saline County

Good condition

71.4%

132 of 185 rated 7-9

Fair condition

23.8%

44 of 185 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.9%

9 of 185 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#16 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
71.4% (132)
Fair
23.8% (44)
Poor
4.9% (9)

Saline County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,735 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,748 crossings a day against 1,544 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.

21.6% of Saline County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

40 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 71.4% 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 26.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

ILL 34 & 145 over STREAM, built 1924, carries 4,100 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 15,735 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Saline County's bridges were built

185 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1985, 6 years newer than the Illinois average of 1979.

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

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

The 5 Illinois counties nearest Saline County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.9% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is 7 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Saline 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%
Lawrence County 185 22.7%
Saline County (this page) 185 4.9%
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 Saline 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 Saline 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 (1985 here).

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

All 185 Good 132 Fair 44 Poor 9

All bridges (185)

TR 28

Good

Over: PRAIRIE CREEK

3.0 MI WEST GALATIA, Saline, IL

Built 1982 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 25

FAP 332-US 45 (SB)

Good

Over: STREAM

1 MI SW ELDORADO, Saline, IL

Built 2002 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 9,550

FAP 332-US 45 (NB)

Good

Over: STREAM

1 MI SW ELDORADO, Saline, IL

Built 2002 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 9,550

FAS 898 HARCO ROAD

Good

Over: STREAM

0.5 MI S OF HARCO, Saline, IL

Built 1986 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 1,250

FAS 903

Good

Over: TRIB M FORK SALINE R

2.5 MI SW GALATIA, Saline, IL

Built 1987 Load: 44.1 t ADT: 500

BARTON TRAIL RD

Good

Over: SPOIL BANK DTCH TRIB

1 MI S OF US 45, Saline, IL

Built 2017 Load: 44.1 t ADT: 10

ILL 142

Good

Over: RECTOR CREEK

1.6 MI S HAMILTON CO, Saline, IL

Built 1928 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 2,150

HARCO BLACKTOP

Good

Over: STREAM

1.5 MI S OF ILL 34, Saline, IL

Built 2009 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 1,400

US 45-FAP 332

Good

Over: MIDDLE FORK SALINE R

N OF HARRISBURG, Saline, IL

Built 2004 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 10,200

RALEIGH RD

Good

Over: ELDORADO RESR SPWAY

1.25 MI E RALEIGH, Saline, IL

Built 2009 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 2,250

IL 34-FAP 869

Good

Over: MIDDLE FORK SALINE R

1.7 MI E FRANKLIN CO, Saline, IL

Built 2002 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 2,100

ILL 145-FH 12

Good

Over: TRIB-BATTLEFORD CR

0.6 MI N OF POPE CO, Saline, IL

Built 1948 Load: 51.5 t ADT: 1,600

FEAZEL RD

Good

Over: PANKEY BRANCH

@ US 45 INTERSECTION, Saline, IL

Built 2021 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 750

LEWIS RD

Good

Over: BRUSHY CREEK

2 MI NW HARRISBUG, Saline, IL

Built 2017 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 25

ILL 34

Good

Over: Spring Valley Creek

0.2 mi w of Rudement, Saline, IL

Built 2017 Load: 52.2 t ADT: 2,050

ILL 34

Good

Over: STREAM

2.6MI.E.OF ILL 145, Saline, IL

Built 2005 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 2,050

IL 142

Good

Over: INDIAN CREEK

3 MI N OF ELDORADO, Saline, IL

Built 2022 Load: 54.8 t ADT: 2,200

NEW IL 13

Good

Over: TRIB W HBURG DITCH

0.25 E OF LOVERS LA, Saline, IL

Built 1996 Load: 55.7 t ADT: 7,350

IL 34/145

Good

Over: PANKEY BRANCH

0.5 MI S HARRISBURG, Saline, IL

Built 2022 Load: 58.3 t ADT: 5,350

FAP 776-IL 142

Good

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH

0.1 MI NW JCT US 45, Saline, IL

Built 1963 Load: 61.6 t ADT: 5,550

US 45

Good

Over: BRUSH CREEK

1MI S OF TEXAS CITY, Saline, IL

Built 2016 Load: 62.5 t ADT: 3,650

US 45

Good

Over: S FORK SALINE RIVER

1.5 MI NE STONEFORT, Saline, IL

Built 2017 Load: 65.1 t ADT: 2,000

FOREST ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLE EAGLE CREEK

8.0 MI W ST RTE 1, Saline, IL

Built 2021 Load: 69.0 t ADT: 175

HARCO RD

Good

Over: M FORK SALINE RIVER

1 M S OF IL 34, Saline, IL

Built 2013 Load: 69.3 t ADT: 1,400

PEAK RD

Good

Over: SPRING VALLEY CREEK

0.8 MI S OF IL 34, Saline, IL

Built 2018 Load: 74.2 t ADT: 50

ILLINOIS RT. 13

Good

Over: STREAM

1.4 MI. W OF RT. 142, Saline, IL

Built 1971 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 2,600

TR 291

Poor

Over: BR POND CREEK

4.00 MI S CARRIER M, Saline, IL

Built 1987 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 10

TR 119

Poor

Over: STREAM

WEST C L ELDORADO, Saline, IL

Built 1915 Load: 19.4 t ADT: 300

ILL 34 & 145

Poor

Over: STREAM

1.3 MI N OF ILL 145, Saline, IL

Built 1924 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 4,100

CH 6

Poor

Over: INDIAN CREEK

0.7 MI E OF IL 142, Saline, IL

Built 1992 Load: 28.2 t ADT: 75

US 45

Poor

Over: NORTH FORK SALINE RI

1 MI N OF TEXAS CITY, Saline, IL

Built 1953 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 3,750

CH 4

Poor

Over: TRIB TO RECTOR CREEK

2 MI N OF RALEIGH, Saline, IL

Built 1983 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 175

FAS 1897-CH 25

Poor

Over: STREAM

1.5 MI E OF ELDORADO, Saline, IL

Built 1988 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 225

US 45

Poor

Over: OVFW NF SALINE RIV

0.5 MI N TEXAS CITY, Saline, IL

Built 1953 Load: 39.5 t ADT: 3,750

ILL 13

Poor

Over: MID FORK SALINE RIV.

1.6 MI E HARRISBURG, Saline, IL

Built 1972 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 3,350

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.