Total bridges
244
Public highway bridges in Spencer County
County profile · official public datasets
244 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.8% rated Good, 50% Fair, 1.2% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Spencer County posts a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Spencer County ranks #8 of 92 Indiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.2%). Spencer County, Indiana contains 244 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.8% are rated “Good,” 50% “Fair,” and 1.2% “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
244
Public highway bridges in Spencer County
Good condition
48.8%
119 of 244 rated 7-9
Fair condition
50%
122 of 244 rated 5-6
Poor condition
1.2%
3 of 244 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#8 of 92
Among Indiana counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 244 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 0.6% 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 900 crossings a day against 2,069 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 244 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
59 of the 244 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 48.8% 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.
SR 162 over BRANCH CROOKED CREEK, built 1987, carries 2,549 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 2,699 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
244 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
Built before 1900
4 bridges
1900–1909
4 bridges
1910–1919
4 bridges
1920–1929
7 bridges
1930–1939
9 bridges
1940–1949
5 bridges
1950–1959
6 bridges
1960–1969
9 bridges
1970–1979
25 bridges
1980–1989
65 bridges
1990–1999
49 bridges
2000–2009
37 bridges
2010–2019
18 bridges
2020–2029
2 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 65 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the Indiana average (1978).
The 5 Indiana counties nearest Spencer County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.2% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1983 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 91 Indiana counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery County | 252 | 51.2% | 46.4% | 2.4% | 1983 |
| Morgan County | 252 | 50.4% | 45.6% | 4% | 1986 |
| Shelby County | 247 | 32.4% | 60.3% | 7.3% | 1974 |
| Spencer County (this page) | 244 | 48.8% | 50% | 1.2% | 1982 |
| Greene County | 239 | 43.9% | 46.9% | 9.2% | 1982 |
| Monroe County | 232 | 62.1% | 35.8% | 2.2% | 1988 |
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 Spencer County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Spencer County, both outside Indiana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside IN (244 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside IN (1982 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: SANDY CREEK
00.12 N of CR 625 N, Spencer, IN
Over: ANDERSON RIVER
03.02 E SR 545, Spencer, IN
Over: BRANCH SANDY CREEK
00.53 N of SR 66, Spencer, IN
Over: HUNLEY CREEK
01.35 N of SR 62, Spencer, IN
Over: TRIB E FK LITTLE PIGEON
03.32 N SR 70, Spencer, IN
Over: TRIB E FK LITTLE PIGEON
03.32 N SR 70, Spencer, IN
Over: BRANCH SANDY CREEK
00.16 N CR 625 N, Spencer, IN
Over: BLACKHAWK CREEK
00.32 E SR 545, Spencer, IN
Over: HUFFMAN DITCH
00.50 W of CR 200 W, Spencer, IN
Over: HONEY CREEK
02.54 N SR 66, Spencer, IN
Over: I-64 EB/WB
03.07 E US 231, Spencer, IN
Over: HOOPPOLE DITCH
00.12 N of CR 400 N, Spencer, IN
Over: SWEEZER DITCH
04.29 S SR 62, Spencer, IN
Over: MIDDLE FORK CROOKED CR
00.76 W of SR 545, Spencer, IN
Over: BAKER CREEK
00.38 S of CR 300 N, Spencer, IN
Over: BRANCH CROOKED CREEK
00.35 S of CR 1350 N, Spencer, IN
Over: NO NAME CREEK
00.25 S of CR 1100 N, Spencer, IN
Over: N&S RR
01.62 E SR 62, Spencer, IN
Over: MIDDLE FORK CROOKED CR
00.02 N of CR 1150 N, Spencer, IN
Over: CROOKED CREEK
00.42 E of SR 162, Spencer, IN
Over: LITTLE SANDY CREEK
00.37 W of CR 750 E, Spencer, IN
Over: NO NAME CREEK
00.42 N of CR 1350 N, Spencer, IN
Over: E FORK LITTLE PIGEON CR
01.40 S SR 62, Spencer, IN
Over: BRANCH LAKE DRAIN
00.98 W of CR 250 W, Spencer, IN
Over: CROOKED CREEK
00.37 E of CR 800 E, Spencer, IN
Over: HONEY CREEK
00.16 W of US 231, Spencer, IN
Over: BRANCH SWEEZER DITCH
00.15 N of CR 700 N, Spencer, IN
Over: SWEEZER DITCH
00.20 E of ORCHARD LANE R, Spencer, IN
Over: SANDY CREEK
00.70 W of CR 475 E, Spencer, IN
Over: AK STEEL RR SPUR
02.31 S SR 70, Spencer, IN
Over: AK STEEL RR SPUR
02.31 S SR 70, Spencer, IN
Over: GARRETT CREEK
00.15 N of SR 45, Spencer, IN
Over: E FORK LITTLE PIGEON CR
01.30 N 950 N, Spencer, IN
Over: HOOSIER SOUTHERN RR
00.74 S SR 162, Spencer, IN
Over: HOOSIER SOUTHERN RR
00.74 S SR 162, Spencer, IN
Over: HONEY CREEK
00.22 W of US 231, Spencer, IN
Over: LONGS BRANCH
00.88 W US 231, Spencer, IN
Over: BRANCH PIGEON CREEK
00.25 E of CR 600 E, Spencer, IN
Over: BRANCH LITTLE PIGEON CR
00.08 S of CR 950 N, Spencer, IN
Over: BR N FK LITL PIGEON CR
00.33 W US 231, Spencer, IN
Over: BR N FK LITL PIGEON CR
00.33 W US 231, Spencer, IN
Over: LAKE DRAIN
04.53 S SR 62, Spencer, IN
Over: E FK LITTLE PIGEON CREEK
01.20 N SR 70, Spencer, IN
Over: TRIB E FK LITTLE PIGEON
01.80 N SR 70, Spencer, IN
Over: BR MIDDLE FK CROOKED CR
00.01 N of CR 1225 N, Spencer, IN
Over: AEP MCDONOUGH RR SPUR
01.80 N SR 66, Spencer, IN
Over: BROWN CREEK
01.07 S SR 162, Spencer, IN
Over: BRANCH CROOKED CREEK
00.40 N of CR 1100 N, Spencer, IN
Over: AEP MCDONOUGH RR SPUR
01.80 N SR 66, Spencer, IN
Over: N FORK LITTLE PIGEON CR
00.44 N of CR 1700 N, Spencer, IN
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.