County profile · official public datasets

Brown County, IN

114 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 20.2% rated Good, 63.2% Fair, 16.7% Poor.

114
Public bridges
20.2%
Good condition
16.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Brown County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

89th
of 92 on Poor share
16.7%
Poor-condition share
114
public highway bridges
1964
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.

Brown County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Brown County ranks #89 of 92 Indiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 16.7%). Brown County, Indiana contains 114 public highway bridges. Roughly 20.2% are rated “Good,” 63.2% “Fair,” and 16.7% “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

114

Public highway bridges in Brown County

Good condition

20.2%

23 of 114 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.2%

72 of 114 rated 5-6

Poor condition

16.7%

19 of 114 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#89 of 92

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

Condition distribution

Share of 114 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
20.2% (23)
Fair
63.2% (72)
Poor
16.7% (19)

Brown County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,250 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 15.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 236 crossings a day against 1,496 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 113 of 114 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

64% of Brown County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

73 of the 114 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 20.2% 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 17.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

TC STEELE ROAD over NORTH FORK OF SALT CREEK, built 1957, carries 750 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 19-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 4,250 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Brown County's bridges were built

114 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 24 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1964, 14 years older than the Indiana average of 1978.

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

How Brown County compares with Indiana's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Indiana counties nearest Brown County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 16.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1964 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is 14 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 91 Indiana counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Brown County and the 5 Indiana counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Crawford County 123 17.1%
Scott County 118 5.9%
Whitley County 115 0%
Brown County (this page) 114 16.7%
Tipton County 113 1.8%
Martin County 104 7.7%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IN (114 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IN (1964 here).

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

All bridges (114)

NORTH SHORE DRIVE

Fair

Over: BEAR CREEK

0.1 MI. W. BEAR CREEK RD, Brown, IN

Built 1979 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 100

HAMILTON CREEK RD.

Fair

Over: HAMILTON CREEK

0.6 MI. N OF BOB ALLEN RD, Brown, IN

Built 1961 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 185

MOUNT MORIAH ROAD

Fair

Over: E BRANCH SWEETWATER CREE

0.9 MI. W. SWEETWATER TRL, Brown, IN

Built 1925 Load: 34.6 t ADT: 50

SR 45

Fair

Over: BEANBLOSSOM CREEK

05.48 S SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1970 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 1,230

SR 45

Fair

Over: BEANBLOSSOM CREEK

00.73 S SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1974 Load: 35.3 t ADT: 2,420

SR 45

Fair

Over: N FORK BEANBLOSSOM CREEK

01.77 S SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1970 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 2,420

SR 46

Fair

Over: TATER BUG BRANCH

01.36 W SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1935 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 7,185

SR 135

Fair

Over: PLEASANT VALLEY CREEK

04.64 S SR 46, Brown, IN

Built 1969 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 1,250

RICHARDS ROAD

Fair

Over: LICK CREEK

0 MI. W. OF LICK CREEK RD, Brown, IN

Built 1925 Load: 38.3 t ADT: 100

SR 45

Fair

Over: BRIAR CREEK

04.49 S SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1996 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 2,034

RINNIE SEITZ ROAD

Fair

Over: MOUNT LIBERTY CREEK

.1 MI E OF MT. LIBERTY RD, Brown, IN

Built 1982 Load: 42.2 t ADT: 125

SR 46

Fair

Over: NORTH FORK SALT CREEK

01.24 E SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1964 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 10,520

GRANDVIEW ROAD

Fair

Over: S BR MIDDLE FK SALT CREE

0.1 MI E OF BELLSVILLE PK, Brown, IN

Built 1971 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 225

SR 46

Fair

Over: NORTH FORK SALT CREEK

00.99 E SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1964 Load: 49.0 t ADT: 11,699

UPPER SALT CR ROAD

Fair

Over: BRANCH OF N FORK SALT CR

0.2 MI. S. HAMILTON CR RD, Brown, IN

Built 1962 Load: 51.0 t ADT: 250

MOUNT NEBO ROAD

Fair

Over: HAMILTON CREEK

.2 MI S OF HAMILTON CR RD, Brown, IN

Built 1935 Load: 55.2 t ADT: 100

UPPER SALT CR ROAD

Fair

Over: NORTH FORK OF SALT CREEK

.4 MI. S. OF SPRUNICA RD., Brown, IN

Built 1967 Load: 63.3 t ADT: 125

MOUNT MORIAH ROAD

Fair

Over: FORK EAST BR SWEETWATER

1.2 MI E OF BELLSVILLE PK, Brown, IN

Built 1964 Load: 67.2 t ADT: 50

SR 135

Fair

Over: LITTLE BEANBLOSSOM CREEK

01.71 N SR 45, Brown, IN

Built 1933 Load: 73.3 t ADT: 3,730

LICK CREEK ROAD

Fair

Over: LICK CREEK

00.10 MI. N. OF SR 45, Brown, IN

Built 1920 Load: 75.0 t ADT: 300

SR 46

Fair

Over: BARTLETTS BRANCH

06.37 E SR 446, Brown, IN

Built 1935 Load: 77.4 t ADT: 6,365

SR 46

Fair

Over: GREASY CREEK

00.34 E SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1964 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 14,040

SR 46

Good

Over: NORTH FORK SALT CREEK

07.00 W SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1997 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 7,397

HOOVER ROAD

Good

Over: BR EAST FK SALT CREEK

1.3 MI N PUMPKIN RIDGE RD, Brown, IN

Built 1999 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 275

CHRISTIANSBURG ROA

Good

Over: MIDDLE FORK SALT CREEK

0.1 MI S OF BELLSVILLE PK, Brown, IN

Built 1994 Load: 20.5 t ADT: 400

GATESVILLE ROAD

Good

Over: BRANCH BEAN BLOSSOM CREE

00.40 E SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 2008 Load: 22.9 t ADT: 875

YELLOWWOOD ROAD

Good

Over: NORTH FORK OF SALT CREEK

0.0 S OF GREEN VALLEY RD, Brown, IN

Built 2017 Load: 24.6 t ADT: 280

HORNETTOWN ROAD

Good

Over: INDIANA RR

00.50 MI. E. OF SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 2004 Load: 26.8 t ADT: 350

BEAN BLOSSOM ROAD

Good

Over: BEAN BLOSSOM CREEK

.1 MI N OF WOODLAND LK RD, Brown, IN

Built 1977 Load: 28.2 t ADT: 1,175

SR 135

Good

Over: BEANBLOSSOM CREEK

00.30 S SR 45, Brown, IN

Built 1990 Load: 29.5 t ADT: 3,680

NORTH SHORE DRIVE

Good

Over: POSSUM TROT CREEK

00.10 MI E POSSUM TROT RD, Brown, IN

Built 2011 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 100

LOWER SCHOONER RD.

Good

Over: LOWER SCHOONER CREEK

00.10 W SR 46, Brown, IN

Built 1997 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 125

GREEN VALLEY ROAD

Good

Over: LICK CREEK

0.1 MI E OF OAK GROVE RD, Brown, IN

Built 2009 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100

YELLOWWOOD LAKE RD

Good

Over: JACKSON CREEK

1.33 S LANAM RIDGE RD, Brown, IN

Built 2021 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100

GRAVEL CREEK ROAD

Good

Over: GRAVEL CREEK

1.1 MI N OF ELKINSVILE RD, Brown, IN

Built 1996 Load: 35.2 t ADT: 25

SR 135

Good

Over: HAMILTON CREEK

09.45 N SR 58, Brown, IN

Built 1980 Load: 35.3 t ADT: 130

SR 46

Good

Over: GREEN VALLEY CREEK

01.05 W SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1998 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 7,185

SR 135

Good

Over: UNT MIDDLE FORK SALT CR

09.03 S SR 46, Brown, IN

Built 2014 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 350

SR 135

Good

Over: MOSER BRANCH

01.57 N SR 45, Brown, IN

Built 1933 Load: 39.8 t ADT: 3,730

ELKINSVILLE ROAD

Good

Over: GRAVEL CREEK

.1 MI. W. GRAVEL CREEK RD, Brown, IN

Built 2011 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 100

SR 135

Good

Over: GNAW BONE CREEK

00.05 S SR 46, Brown, IN

Built 1961 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 1,165

SR 135

Good

Over: BR SALT CREEK

07.11 S SR 46, Brown, IN

Built 1986 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 1,445

SR 45

Good

Over: LICK CREEK

02.87 S SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 2016 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 1,860

SR 135

Good

Over: PLEASANT VALLEY CREEK

04.46 S SR 46, Brown, IN

Built 1969 Load: 59.0 t ADT: 1,520

SR 45

Good

Over: PLUM CREEK

05.79 S SR 135, Brown, IN

Built 1970 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 2,034

BOND CEMETERY ROAD

Poor

Over: NORTH FORK OF SALT CREEK

.2MI S OF GREEN VALLEY RD, Brown, IN

Built 1908 Load: 0.0 t

MOUNT LIBERTY ROAD

Poor

Over: MOUNT LIBERTY CREEK

00.10 S 4 MILE RD, Brown, IN

Built 1929 Load: 2.7 t ADT: 150

KIRKS FORD ROAD

Poor

Over: MIDDLE FORK SALT CREEK

0.1 MI S ELKINSVILLE RD, Brown, IN

Built 1915 Load: 3.4 t ADT: 15

COUNTRY CLUB RD

Poor

Over: OWL CREEK

0.4 MI S. OF HELMSBURG RD, Brown, IN

Built 1945 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 150

MOUNT LIBERTY ROAD

Poor

Over: GNAWBONE CREEK

00.10 S SR 46, Brown, IN

Built 1940 Load: 4.9 t ADT: 275
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.