County profile · official public datasets

Appanoose County, IA

183 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41% rated Good, 27.9% Fair, 31.1% Poor.

183
Public bridges: 41%
Good condition: 31.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

80th
of 99 on Poor share: 31.1%
Poor-condition share: 183
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.

Appanoose County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Appanoose County ranks #80 of 99 Iowa counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 31.1%). Appanoose County, Iowa contains 183 public highway bridges. Roughly 41% are rated “Good,” 27.9% “Fair,” and 31.1% “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

183

Public highway bridges in Appanoose County

Good condition

41%

75 of 183 rated 7-9

Fair condition

27.9%

51 of 183 rated 5-6

Poor condition

31.1%

57 of 183 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#80 of 99

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

Condition distribution

Share of 183 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

41% (75)

Fair

27.9% (51)

Poor

31.1% (57)

Appanoose County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,736 vehicle crossings a day

That is 9.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 31.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 101 crossings a day against 359 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 183 of 183 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

38.8% of Appanoose County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

71 of the 183 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% 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 18.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

OLD IA 138 over WALNUT CREEK, built 1973, carries 1,060 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 57-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,736 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

11
1920s

4
1940s

7
1950s

23
1960s

12
1970s

26
1980s

14
1990s

24
2000s

31
2010s

18
2020s

13

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 31 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Iowa average (1979).

How Appanoose County compares with Iowa's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Iowa counties nearest Appanoose County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 31.1% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 98 Iowa counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Appanoose County and the 5 Iowa counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Osceola County	185	38.4%	53%	8.6%	1965
Mills County	184	29.3%	51.6%	19%	1976
Keokuk County	183	34.4%	45.9%	19.7%	1980
Appanoose County (this page)	183	41%	27.9%	31.1%	1981
Ida County	182	42.9%	40.7%	16.5%	1983
Wright County	182	35.2%	35.7%	29.1%	1979

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IA (183 bridges here).

St. Clair County, AL · 183 bridges
Richmond County, GA · 183 bridges
Marshall County, IN · 183 bridges
Scott County, KY · 183 bridges

Similar average build year

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

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

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

All 183 Good 75 Fair 51 Poor 57

Poor-condition bridges (57)

Sort:

Appanoose County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Appanoose County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,736 vehicle crossings a day

38.8% of Appanoose County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 18.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Appanoose County compares with Iowa's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Poor-condition bridges (57)

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