County profile · official public datasets

Shelby County, IN

247 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.4% rated Good, 60.3% Fair, 7.3% Poor.

247
Public bridges: 32.4%
Good condition: 7.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Shelby County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

70th
of 92 on Poor share: 7.3%
Poor-condition share: 247
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Shelby County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Shelby County ranks #70 of 92 Indiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.3%). Shelby County, Indiana contains 247 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.4% are rated “Good,” 60.3% “Fair,” and 7.3% “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

247

Public highway bridges in Shelby County

Good condition

32.4%

80 of 247 rated 7-9

Fair condition

60.3%

149 of 247 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.3%

18 of 247 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#70 of 92

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

Condition distribution

Share of 247 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

32.4% (80)

Fair

60.3% (149)

Poor

7.3% (18)

Shelby County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,160 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 744 crossings a day against 2,659 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 244 of 247 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

49.8% of Shelby County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

123 of the 247 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 32.4% 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 51.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 52 over BRANDYWINE CREEK, built 1955, carries 5,707 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 11,160 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1900s

2
1910s

8
1920s

7
1930s

9
1940s

8
1950s

36
1960s

32
1970s

40
1980s

18
1990s

33
2000s

30
2010s

18
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Indiana average (1978).

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

The 5 Indiana counties nearest Shelby County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.3% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1984 is 10 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Shelby County and the 5 Indiana counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Clark County	257	52.5%	45.9%	1.6%	1987
Montgomery County	252	51.2%	46.4%	2.4%	1983
Morgan County	252	50.4%	45.6%	4%	1986
Shelby County (this page)	247	32.4%	60.3%	7.3%	1974
Spencer County	244	48.8%	50%	1.2%	1982
Greene County	239	43.9%	46.9%	9.2%	1982

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IN (247 bridges here).

Houston County, AL · 247 bridges
Madera County, CA · 247 bridges
Chickasaw County, MS · 247 bridges
New York County, NY · 247 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IN (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 247 Good 80 Fair 149 Poor 18

All bridges (247)

Sort:

Shelby County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Shelby County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,160 vehicle crossings a day

49.8% of Shelby County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 51.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Shelby 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

All bridges (247)

CR 500S

CR 500S

CR 250W

CR 850S

CR 900S

CR 600E

S COUNTY LINE RD

CR 1200S

FRONTAGE ROAD

SYCAMORE ROAD

MORRIS AVE

CR 1100 NORTH

CR 350S

CR 700 NORTH

WALDRON RD/CR 600

CR 600S

COUNTY LINE RD

CR 600S

I-74 EB

CR 775E

CR 500S

CR 775 EAST

BOGGSTOWN RD

CR 250 EAST

I-74 EB

I-74 WB

CR 1100 NORTH

CR 700S

CR 800E

CR 250W

CR 1100 NORTH

CR 1100 NORTH

CR 400 NORTH

CR 700 NORTH

CR 850 NORTH

CR 600 WEST

CR 390 WEST

I-74 EB

I-74 WB

CR 700N

CR 850 NORTH

US 52

I-65 NB

I-65 SB

I-74 WB

CR 250 EAST

MICHIGAN RD

I-65

I-74

N. HARRISON STREET

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