County profile · official public datasets

Henry County, IA

173 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41% rated Good, 37.6% Fair, 21.4% Poor.

173
Public bridges
41%
Good condition
21.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

59th
of 99 on Poor share
21.4%
Poor-condition share
173
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.

Henry County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Henry County ranks #59 of 99 Iowa counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 21.4%). Henry County, Iowa contains 173 public highway bridges. Roughly 41% are rated “Good,” 37.6% “Fair,” and 21.4% “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

173

Public highway bridges in Henry County

Good condition

41%

71 of 173 rated 7-9

Fair condition

37.6%

65 of 173 rated 5-6

Poor condition

21.4%

37 of 173 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#59 of 99

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

Condition distribution

Share of 173 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
41% (71)
Fair
37.6% (65)
Poor
21.4% (37)

Henry County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,479 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 21.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 256 crossings a day against 1,525 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 173 of 173 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

38.7% of Henry County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

67 of the 173 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 30.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

235TH STREET over BIG CREEK, built 1957, carries 2,930 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 37-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 9,479 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Henry County's bridges were built

173 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 41 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the Iowa average (1979).

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

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

The 5 Iowa counties nearest Henry County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 21.4% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Henry County and the 5 Iowa counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Fremont County 179 19.6%
Des Moines County 176 16.5%
Henry County (this page) 173 21.4%
Union County 169 32.5%
Clarke County 168 31.5%
Greene County 168 14.9%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IA (173 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IA (1982 here).

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

All bridges (173)

LOCAL ROAD

Fair

Over: LOCAL STREAM

073052704, Henry, IA

Built 1917 Load: 9.9 t ADT: 21

LOCAL ROAD

Fair

Over: NORTH BIG CREEK

072053101, Henry, IA

Built 1918 Load: 13.9 t ADT: 11

LOCAL

Fair

Over: MUD CREEK

072071604, Henry, IA

Built 1953 Load: 15.7 t ADT: 62

LOCAL

Fair

Over: LOCAL STREAM

070072103, Henry, IA

Built 1915 Load: 15.8 t ADT: 51

FM

Fair

Over: BRUSH CREEK

070050603, Henry, IA

Built 1956 Load: 16.1 t ADT: 50

LOCAL ROAD

Fair

Over: SPEARMAN BRANCH

071062709, Henry, IA

Built 1994 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 30

FM

Fair

Over: NORTH BIG CREEK

072052903, Henry, IA

Built 1950 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 20

FM

Fair

Over: EAST FORK CROOKED CREEK

073051501, Henry, IA

Built 1965 Load: 17.5 t ADT: 140

FM

Fair

Over: BIG CEDAR RIVER CREEK

070071702, Henry, IA

Built 1961 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 45

FM

Fair

Over: BIG CEDAR CREEK

071072805, Henry, IA

Built 1954 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 140

IA 78

Fair

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH

5.6 MI. E OF E JCT US 218, Henry, IA

Built 1931 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 180

H14 120TH ST

Fair

Over: LOCAL CREEK

073051801, Henry, IA

Built 1920 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 120

US 34

Fair

Over: DRAINAGE

2.1 mi. W of Jct. SR W-55, Henry, IA

Built 1956 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 6,800

KENTUCKY AVE

Fair

Over: SMALL

073061102, Henry, IA

Built 2005 Load: 18.7 t ADT: 11

FM

Fair

Over: BRANDY WINE CREEK

072060901, Henry, IA

Built 1966 Load: 19.9 t ADT: 340

LOCAL

Fair

Over: LITTLE CEDAR CREEK

070072001, Henry, IA

Built 1957 Load: 20.2 t ADT: 47

LOCAL

Fair

Over: S. BR. BIG CREEK

071051102, Henry, IA

Built 1959 Load: 21.0 t ADT: 40

LOCAL

Fair

Over: CROOKED CREEK

073052201, Henry, IA

Built 1959 Load: 22.3 t ADT: 123

FM

Fair

Over: BRANCH SHAWNEE CREEK

073070704, Henry, IA

Built 1973 Load: 22.6 t ADT: 90

US 218

Fair

Over: LITTLE POTOMAC

1.5 mi S of SR H28, Henry, IA

Built 1958 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 13,300

FM

Fair

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH

070062401, Henry, IA

Built 1971 Load: 23.1 t ADT: 60

IA 78

Fair

Over: STREAM

0.3 mi. W of E jct. W66, Henry, IA

Built 1932 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 780

IA 78

Fair

Over: CROOKED CREEK

0.2 MI. E OF S.R. W-47, Henry, IA

Built 1951 Load: 23.9 t ADT: 1,170

LOCAL RD

Fair

Over: SMALL NATURAL STREAM

073052102, Henry, IA

Built 1931 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 600

FM

Fair

Over: SOUTH BIG CREEK

072053601, Henry, IA

Built 1967 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 900

FM

Fair

Over: SUGAR CREEK

073071504, Henry, IA

Built 1974 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 60

FM

Fair

Over: CROOKED CREEK

073070604, Henry, IA

Built 1968 Load: 24.9 t ADT: 130

LOCAL

Fair

Over: BR E FORK CROOKED CREEK

073051404, Henry, IA

Built 1982 Load: 25.0 t ADT: 26

LOCAL

Fair

Over: BIG CREEK

070051805, Henry, IA

Built 1977 Load: 25.3 t ADT: 62

CITY STREET

Fair

Over: OVER BNSF RR

071061006, Henry, IA

Built 1968 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 6,800

FM

Fair

Over: EAST FORK CROOKED CREEK

073051401, Henry, IA

Built 1968 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 70

US 218 NB

Fair

Over: SOUTH FISH CREEK

0.7 mi. N of Jct. SR J20, Henry, IA

Built 1964 Load: 27.8 t ADT: 4,850

IA # 78

Fair

Over: STREAM

2.0 mi. W of W Jct W-66, Henry, IA

Built 1916 Load: 27.8 t ADT: 1,110

GRAND AVE

Fair

Over: EAST HENRY ST

071061006, Henry, IA

Built 1967 Load: 28.8 t ADT: 6,858

LOCAL

Fair

Over: LYNN CREEK

073073603, Henry, IA

Built 1973 Load: 29.1 t ADT: 51

FM

Fair

Over: SUGAR CREEK

073073004, Henry, IA

Built 1968 Load: 30.6 t ADT: 110

W55 FRANKLIN AVE

Fair

Over: SKUNK RIVER

071072408, Henry, IA

Built 1960 Load: 30.7 t ADT: 1,570

US 218 NB

Fair

Over: BIG CREEK

3.0 mi. S of S Jct. US 34, Henry, IA

Built 1963 Load: 30.9 t ADT: 4,850

LOCAL

Fair

Over: BRUSH CREEK

070050706, Henry, IA

Built 1984 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 73

FM

Fair

Over: BOUGUS CREEK

070062209, Henry, IA

Built 1985 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 450

FM

Fair

Over: SPEARMAN BRANCH

071062604, Henry, IA

Built 1979 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 260

LOCAL

Fair

Over: SPEARMAN BRANCH

071062606, Henry, IA

Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 82

FM

Fair

Over: BERRY BR

071072902, Henry, IA

Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 60

FM

Fair

Over: SMALL STREAM

071073202, Henry, IA

Built 1974 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 50

FM

Fair

Over: STREAM

072053102, Henry, IA

Built 1984 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 130

FM

Fair

Over: BRANCH 0F MUD CREEK

072071311, Henry, IA

Built 1985 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 780

LOCAL

Fair

Over: EAST FORK CROOKED CREEK

073051202, Henry, IA

Built 1984 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 11

LOCAL

Fair

Over: BR.BRUSH CREEK

071053206, Henry, IA

Built 1993 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 51

W 46 ASH AVE

Fair

Over: MUD CREEK

070073110, Henry, IA

Built 1976 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 440

FM

Fair

Over: BIG CREEK

072062904, Henry, IA

Built 1980 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 230
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.