County profile · official public datasets

Fountain County, IN

197 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.9% rated Good, 67% Fair, 8.1% Poor.

197
Public bridges: 24.9%
Good condition: 8.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Fountain 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.

76th
of 92 on Poor share: 8.1%
Poor-condition share: 197
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.

Fountain County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Fountain County ranks #76 of 92 Indiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.1%). Fountain County, Indiana contains 197 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.9% are rated “Good,” 67% “Fair,” and 8.1% “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

197

Public highway bridges in Fountain County

Good condition

24.9%

49 of 197 rated 7-9

Fair condition

67%

132 of 197 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.1%

16 of 197 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#76 of 92

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

Condition distribution

Share of 197 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

24.9% (49)

Fair

67% (132)

Poor

8.1% (16)

Fountain County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,019 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 189 crossings a day against 2,287 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 197 of 197 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

59.4% of Fountain County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

117 of the 197 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 24.9% 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 19.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CR 30E over COAL Creek, built 1959, carries 590 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 16-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 3,019 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1900s

1
1910s

9
1920s

27
1930s

14
1940s

1
1950s

16
1960s

38
1970s

20
1980s

35
1990s

13
2000s

9
2010s

7
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.3% 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.

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

The 5 Indiana counties nearest Fountain County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.1% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1964 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is 12 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Fountain County and the 5 Indiana counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Hancock County	201	58.2%	41.8%	0%	1985
Parke County	200	25.5%	56.5%	18%	1953
Warrick County	197	48.7%	47.7%	3.6%	1981
Fountain County (this page)	197	24.9%	67%	8.1%	1964
Adams County	194	45.4%	53.6%	1%	1983
Howard County	194	40.2%	55.2%	4.6%	1976

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IN (197 bridges here).

Crawford County, IL · 197 bridges
Allamakee County, IA · 197 bridges
Calhoun County, IA · 197 bridges
Decatur County, IA · 197 bridges

Similar average build year

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

Bergen County, NJ · avg 1964 · 577 bridges
Morris County, NJ · avg 1964 · 508 bridges
Baltimore city County, MD · avg 1964 · 374 bridges
Ross County, OH · avg 1964 · 356 bridges

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

All 197 Good 49 Fair 132 Poor 16

Fair-condition bridges (132)

Sort:

Fountain County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Fountain County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,019 vehicle crossings a day

59.4% of Fountain County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 19.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

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

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Fair-condition bridges (132)

CR 170W

CR 170W

CR 170W

CR 750E

LUTHERAN CHURCH Rd

CR 320E

CR 870E

CR 150N

CR 1200S

CR 170W

US 41

SR 341

CR 280W

US 41

CR 700S

CR 250N

SR 341

CR 350E

US 136

CR 300N

CR 200S

Trestle Rd

CR 900S

11TH ST

SR 32

CR 200S

CR 300N

CR 300S

RIVER Rd

CR 470W

COUNTY LINE RD

SR 341

CR 310W

CR 750E

CR 600E

SR 55

CR 150N

CR 730W

CR 425E

SAWMILL RD

US 41

CR 150N

CR 1460N

CR 1000S

PORTLAND ARCH Rd

CR 1420N

CR 700E

CR 480W

I-74 EB

I-74 WB

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