County profile · official public datasets

Newton County, IN

172 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.9% rated Good, 56.4% Fair, 1.7% Poor.

172
Public bridges
41.9%
Good condition
1.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Newton County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 12%
lowest Poor share in state
1.7%
Poor-condition share
172
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.

Newton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Newton County ranks #11 of 92 Indiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.7%). Newton County, Indiana contains 172 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.9% are rated “Good,” 56.4% “Fair,” and 1.7% “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

172

Public highway bridges in Newton County

Good condition

41.9%

72 of 172 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56.4%

97 of 172 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.7%

3 of 172 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#11 of 92

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

Condition distribution

Share of 172 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
41.9% (72)
Fair
56.4% (97)
Poor
1.7% (3)

Newton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 493 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 247 crossings a day against 2,596 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 171 of 172 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

37.2% of Newton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

64 of the 172 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 41.9% 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 71% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STATELINE ROAD over RINER-HOUSEWORTH DITCH, built 1968, carries 350 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 493 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Newton County's bridges were built

172 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 39 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Indiana average (1978).

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

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

The 5 Indiana counties nearest Newton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.7% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 6 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Newton County and the 5 Indiana counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Washington County 174 2.3%
Pike County 172 10.5%
Newton County (this page) 172 1.7%
Miami County 171 7.6%
Lawrence County 165 9.7%
Jennings County 163 9.8%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IN (172 bridges here).

Similar average build year

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

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

Fair-condition bridges (97)

CR 650 E

Fair

Over: IROQUOIS RIVER

0.1 MI S CR 700 S, Newton, IN

Built 1910 Load: 13.4 t ADT: 143

SR 16

Fair

Over: IROQUOIS RIVER

01.06 W SR 55, Newton, IN

Built 1996 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 2,022

CR 700 N

Fair

Over: BEAVER LAKE DITCH

0.1 MI W US 41, Newton, IN

Built 1916 Load: 17.3 t ADT: 52

CR 350 W

Fair

Over: THOMPSON DITCH

1.0 MI E CR 900 S, Newton, IN

Built 1900 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 143

CR 1400 S

Fair

Over: COUNTY DITCH

0.2 MI E CR 550 E, Newton, IN

Built 1975 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 143

CR 1700 S

Fair

Over: COUNTY DITCH

0.2 MI E CR 600 E, Newton, IN

Built 1965 Load: 20.6 t ADT: 143

CR 375 W

Fair

Over: THOMPSON DITCH

0.1 MI S CR 1000 S, Newton, IN

Built 1972 Load: 21.9 t ADT: 143

CR 1300 S

Fair

Over: HUNTER DITCH

0.3 MI E CR 350 E, Newton, IN

Built 1960 Load: 23.5 t ADT: 285

CR 700 S

Fair

Over: SHUEY DITCH

0.4 MI W US 41, Newton, IN

Built 1950 Load: 23.9 t ADT: 285

CR 1500 S

Fair

Over: BONHAM DITCH

0.7 MI W CR 525 W, Newton, IN

Built 1985 Load: 25.1 t ADT: 143

CR 1700 S

Fair

Over: MONTGOMERY DITCH

0.3 MI W CR 150 E, Newton, IN

Built 1926 Load: 25.5 t ADT: 143

BLUE ISLAND DRIVE

Fair

Over: SUMAVA WATERWAY

0.1 MI E CR 250 W, Newton, IN

Built 1997 Load: 25.5 t ADT: 143

CR 600 W

Fair

Over: GARRARD DITCH

0.1 MI N CR 900 S, Newton, IN

Built 1975 Load: 26.1 t ADT: 143

CR 700 W

Fair

Over: SHELDON DITCH NO 1

0.2 MI S CR 1400 S, Newton, IN

Built 2006 Load: 27.1 t ADT: 143

CR 150 W

Fair

Over: MORRISON DITCH NO 1

0.5 MI S CR 1400 S, Newton, IN

Built 1965 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 143

CR 1300 N

Fair

Over: DEFRIES DITCH

0.0 MI INT CR 500 E, Newton, IN

Built 1993 Load: 28.4 t ADT: 143

CR 275 W

Fair

Over: CLARK DITCH

0.0 MI INT CR 825 S, Newton, IN

Built 1984 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 143

CR 700 W

Fair

Over: SHELDON DITCH NO 1

0.3 MI S US 24, Newton, IN

Built 1975 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 143

CR 275 S

Fair

Over: BEAVER CREEK

0.4 MI E CR 400 W, Newton, IN

Built 1950 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 143

CR 50 S

Fair

Over: SALISBURY DITCH

0.2 MI W US 41, Newton, IN

Built 1991 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 143

CR 200 S

Fair

Over: BEAVER CREEK

0.5 MI E CR 250 W, Newton, IN

Built 1971 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 143

CR 1550 S

Fair

Over: HUNTER DITCH

0.0 MI INT CR 550 E, Newton, IN

Built 1968 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 143

CR 1000 S

Fair

Over: WHALEY DITCH

0.1 MI E CR 700 W, Newton, IN

Built 1991 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 143

CR 750 S

Fair

Over: BATTLEDAY DITCH

0.1 MI E CR 300 E, Newton, IN

Built 1993 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 143

CR 1125 S

Fair

Over: WHALEY DITCH

0.4 MI W CR 600 W, Newton, IN

Built 1991 Load: 29.4 t ADT: 143

CR 50 E

Fair

Over: IROQUOIS RIVER

1.1 MI N CR 1200 S, Newton, IN

Built 1966 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 569

CR 300 E

Fair

Over: HUNTER DITCH

0.4 MI N CR 1200 S, Newton, IN

Built 1930 Load: 30.4 t ADT: 143

CR 1550 S

Fair

Over: OBRIEN DITCH

0.1 MI W CR 300 E, Newton, IN

Built 1930 Load: 30.7 t ADT: 427

CR 1800 S

Fair

Over: BRANCH MONTGOMERY DITCH

0.2 MI W CR 50 E, Newton, IN

Built 1965 Load: 30.7 t ADT: 143

CR 500 W

Fair

Over: BEAVER CREEK

0.4 MI N CR 350 S, Newton, IN

Built 1968 Load: 31.0 t ADT: 143

DIVISION ROAD

Fair

Over: BEAVER CREEK

1.2 MI W MERIDIAN RD, Newton, IN

Built 1980 Load: 31.4 t ADT: 143

CR 700 S

Fair

Over: TURNER DITCH

0.3 MI W CR 650 E, Newton, IN

Built 1914 Load: 31.4 t ADT: 143

CR 1700 S

Fair

Over: BR MONTGOMERY DITCH

0.2 MI E CR 50 E, Newton, IN

Built 1925 Load: 31.4 t ADT: 143

CR 1300 S

Fair

Over: STACK DITCH

0.7 MI E SR 55, Newton, IN

Built 1968 Load: 31.4 t ADT: 143

LINCOLN ST

Fair

Over: KENT DITCH

0.0 MI INT 4TH ST, Newton, IN

Built 1930 Load: 31.7 t ADT: 852

I-65 NB

Fair

Over: DEHAAN DITCH

03.89 N SR 10, Newton, IN

Built 1966 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 14,069

CR 100 E

Fair

Over: KNIGHT DITCH

0.0 MI INT CR 700 N, Newton, IN

Built 1960 Load: 32.3 t ADT: 143

SR 16

Fair

Over: MOSQUITO CREEK

01.31 E SR 55, Newton, IN

Built 1931 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,179

US 24

Fair

Over: MORRISON DITCH

00.51 E SR 71, Newton, IN

Built 1994 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,999

US 41 SB

Fair

Over: BEAVER LAKE DITCH

03.75 S SR 10, Newton, IN

Built 1963 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,869

US 24

Fair

Over: KENT DITCH

00.22 W US 41, Newton, IN

Built 2012 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 6,530

CR 700 W

Fair

Over: BEAVER CREEK

0.2 MI S CR 300 S, Newton, IN

Built 1968 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 143

CR 100 S

Fair

Over: CURTIS CREEK

0.1 MI E CR 525 E, Newton, IN

Built 1965 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 143

E DIVISION ROAD

Fair

Over: CURTIS CREEK

0.3 MI W CR 525 E, Newton, IN

Built 1988 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 143

CR 950 N

Fair

Over: KNIGHT DITCH

0.4 MI E CR 150 W, Newton, IN

Built 1963 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 285

CR 200 E

Fair

Over: KNIGHT DITCH

0.1 MI S CR 800 N, Newton, IN

Built 1991 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 143

CR 350 W

Fair

Over: MONTGOMERY DITCH

0.6 MI N CR 1400 S, Newton, IN

Built 1965 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 143

CR 1400 S

Fair

Over: BONHAM DITCH

0.2 MI W CR 525 W, Newton, IN

Built 1992 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 143

CR 600 W

Fair

Over: SHELDON DITCH NO 1

0.1 MI S CR 1275 S, Newton, IN

Built 1976 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 143

CR 250 W

Fair

Over: KENT DITCH

0.0 MI INT CR 1400 S, Newton, IN

Built 2001 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 994
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.