County profile · official public datasets

Spencer County, IN

244 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.8% rated Good, 50% Fair, 1.2% Poor.

244
Public bridges
48.8%
Good condition
1.2%
Poor condition

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.

Top 9%
lowest Poor share in state
1.2%
Poor-condition share
244
public highway bridges
1982
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.

Spencer County Bridge Snapshot

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

Condition distribution

Share of 244 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
48.8% (119)
Fair
50% (122)
Poor
1.2% (3)

Spencer County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,699 vehicle crossings a day

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.

24.2% of Spencer County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

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.

One structure carries 94.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

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.

When Spencer County's bridges were built

244 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

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).

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

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

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Spencer County and the 5 Indiana counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Montgomery County 252 2.4%
Morgan County 252 4%
Shelby County 247 7.3%
Spencer County (this page) 244 1.2%
Greene County 239 9.2%
Monroe County 232 2.2%

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.

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Two NBI-derived peer sets for Spencer County, both outside Indiana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IN (244 bridges here).

Similar average build year

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.

All bridges (244)

CR 900N

Good

Over: SANDY CREEK

00.70 W of CR 475 E, Spencer, IN

Built 1974 Load: 37.8 t ADT: 170

US 231 NB

Good

Over: AK STEEL RR SPUR

02.31 S SR 70, Spencer, IN

Built 2004 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 4,800

US 231 SB

Good

Over: AK STEEL RR SPUR

02.31 S SR 70, Spencer, IN

Built 2004 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 4,800

CR 100W

Good

Over: GARRETT CREEK

00.15 N of SR 45, Spencer, IN

Built 1997 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 130

CR 100W

Good

Over: E FORK LITTLE PIGEON CR

01.30 N 950 N, Spencer, IN

Built 1985 Load: 38.4 t ADT: 100

US 231 NB

Good

Over: HOOSIER SOUTHERN RR

00.74 S SR 162, Spencer, IN

Built 2010 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 4,800

US 231 SB

Good

Over: HOOSIER SOUTHERN RR

00.74 S SR 162, Spencer, IN

Built 2008 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 4,800

CR 600N

Good

Over: HONEY CREEK

00.22 W of US 231, Spencer, IN

Built 1978 Load: 39.1 t ADT: 100

SR 62

Good

Over: LONGS BRANCH

00.88 W US 231, Spencer, IN

Built 1955 Load: 39.2 t ADT: 2,870

CR 1350N

Good

Over: BRANCH PIGEON CREEK

00.25 E of CR 600 E, Spencer, IN

Built 1978 Load: 39.6 t ADT: 170

CR 950N

Good

Over: BRANCH LITTLE PIGEON CR

00.08 S of CR 950 N, Spencer, IN

Built 1991 Load: 39.7 t ADT: 140

I-64 EB

Good

Over: BR N FK LITL PIGEON CR

00.33 W US 231, Spencer, IN

Built 2008 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 5,500

I-64 WB

Good

Over: BR N FK LITL PIGEON CR

00.33 W US 231, Spencer, IN

Built 2008 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 5,500

SR 161

Good

Over: LAKE DRAIN

04.53 S SR 62, Spencer, IN

Built 1990 Load: 40.5 t ADT: 1,588

US 231

Good

Over: E FK LITTLE PIGEON CREEK

01.20 N SR 70, Spencer, IN

Built 2010 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 9,600

US 231

Good

Over: TRIB E FK LITTLE PIGEON

01.80 N SR 70, Spencer, IN

Built 2010 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 9,600

CR 1100E

Good

Over: BR MIDDLE FK CROOKED CR

00.01 N of CR 1225 N, Spencer, IN

Built 2019 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 100

US 231 SB

Good

Over: AEP MCDONOUGH RR SPUR

01.80 N SR 66, Spencer, IN

Built 2006 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 5,000

SR 245

Good

Over: BROWN CREEK

01.07 S SR 162, Spencer, IN

Built 2017 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 3,094

CR 600E

Good

Over: BRANCH CROOKED CREEK

00.40 N of CR 1100 N, Spencer, IN

Built 1993 Load: 41.9 t ADT: 100

US 231 NB

Good

Over: AEP MCDONOUGH RR SPUR

01.80 N SR 66, Spencer, IN

Built 2007 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 5,000

CR 300E

Good

Over: N FORK LITTLE PIGEON CR

00.44 N of CR 1700 N, Spencer, IN

Built 2019 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 1,220

ORCHARD RD

Good

Over: BRANCH LITTLE PIGEON CR

00.25 S of CR 900 N, Spencer, IN

Built 2006 Load: 42.7 t ADT: 170

SR 161

Good

Over: GARRETT CREEK

05.98 S SR 66, Spencer, IN

Built 1992 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 11,403

CR 900N

Good

Over: BR E FK LITTLE PIGEON CR

00.88 E of US 231, Spencer, IN

Built 2007 Load: 43.2 t ADT: 60

CR 80W

Good

Over: BRANCH LITTLE PIGEON CR

00.09 S of CR 1200 N, Spencer, IN

Built 1989 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 60

SR 68

Good

Over: N FORK LITTLE PIGEON CRE

01.15 E SR 161, Spencer, IN

Built 2000 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 1,180

US 231 S TO I-64 W

Good

Over: BR N FK LITL PIGEON CR

00.63 W US 231, Spencer, IN

Built 2008 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 500

US 231 SB

Good

Over: HOOSIER SOUTHERN RR

01.29 S SR 62, Spencer, IN

Built 2010 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 4,800

I-64 E TO US 231 S

Good

Over: BR N FK LITL PIGEON CR

00.63 W US 231, Spencer, IN

Built 2008 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 500

CR 2190N

Good

Over: BRANCH HUNLEY CREEK

01.11 E of CR 700 E, Spencer, IN

Built 1993 Load: 45.8 t ADT: 60

CR 500N

Good

Over: LAKE DRAIN

00.90 E of CR450 W, Spencer, IN

Built 2009 Load: 45.8 t ADT: 250

I-64 WBL

Good

Over: SOUTHERN RR

00.59 E US 231, Spencer, IN

Built 1972 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 13,310

CR 150E

Good

Over: E FORK LITTLE PIGEON CR

00.04 N of CR 1100 N, Spencer, IN

Built 1992 Load: 46.6 t ADT: 100

CR 1950N

Good

Over: ANDERSON RIVER

00.56 E of SR 62, Spencer, IN

Built 1999 Load: 47.5 t ADT: 220

CR 2100N

Good

Over: HUNLEY CREEK

00.51 E of CR 700 E, Spencer, IN

Built 2008 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 100

CR 225E

Good

Over: BR N FK LITTLE PIGEON CR

00.13 N of CR 1900 N, Spencer, IN

Built 1992 Load: 50.8 t ADT: 160

CR 600W

Good

Over: WILLOW POND DITCH

00.73 S of SR 66, Spencer, IN

Built 2004 Load: 59.3 t ADT: 170

ORCHARD ROAD

Good

Over: BRANCH LAKE DRAIN

00.27 N of CR 600 N, Spencer, IN

Built 2006 Load: 59.4 t ADT: 370

US 231

Good

Over: BR N FK LITL PIGEON CR

00.24 N I-64, Spencer, IN

Built 2008 Load: 81.6 t ADT: 6,800

CR 1000 N

Good

Over: BR E FK LITTLE PIGEON CR

00.01 W of CR 100 E, Spencer, IN

Built 1996 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 140

CR 450W

Poor

Over: GARRETT CREEK

00.14 S of CR 440 S, Spencer, IN

Built 1915 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 60

CR 1300N

Poor

Over: ANDERSON RIVER

00.15 E of CR 1425 E, Spencer, IN

Built 1968 Load: 10.2 t ADT: 90

SR 162

Poor

Over: BRANCH CROOKED CREEK

01.30 E SR 245, Spencer, IN

Built 1987 Load: 83.6 t ADT: 2,549
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.