Total bridges
214
Public highway bridges in Lee County
County profile · official public datasets
Lee County, IA
214 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.9% rated Good, 41.6% Fair, 13.6% Poor.
- 214
- Public bridges
- 44.9%
- Good condition
- 13.6%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Lee County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- Top 29%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 13.6%
- Poor-condition share
- 214
- 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.
Lee County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lee County ranks #29 of 99 Iowa counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 13.6%). Lee County, Iowa contains 214 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.9% are rated “Good,” 41.6% “Fair,” and 13.6% “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.
Good condition
44.9%
96 of 214 rated 7-9
Fair condition
41.6%
89 of 214 rated 5-6
Poor condition
13.6%
29 of 214 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#29 of 99
Among Iowa counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 214 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 44.9% (96)
Fair 41.6% (89)
Poor 13.6% (29)
Lee County's Poor-condition bridges carry 22,542 vehicle crossings a day
That is 8.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 13.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 777 crossings a day against 1,194 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 212 of 214 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
36.4% of Lee County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
78 of the 214 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 44.9% 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 48.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
AVE L over DRY CREEK, built 1915, carries 10,953 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 29-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 22,542 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Lee County's bridges were built
214 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 2
1900–1909
2 bridges
- 1910s 2
1910–1919
2 bridges
- 1920s 2
1920–1929
2 bridges
- 1930s 8
1930–1939
8 bridges
- 1940s 11
1940–1949
11 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
22 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
16 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
38 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
21 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
33 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
32 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
20 bridges
- 2020s 7
2020–2029
7 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Iowa average (1979).
How Lee County compares with Iowa's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Iowa counties nearest Lee County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 13.6% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 98 Iowa counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison County | 217 | 24.9% | 56.2% | 18.9% | 1969 |
| Marion County | 217 | 38.7% | 48.8% | 12.4% | 1984 |
| Ringgold County | 217 | 25.3% | 31.3% | 43.3% | 1971 |
| Lee County (this page) | 214 | 44.9% | 41.6% | 13.6% | 1981 |
| Floyd County | 213 | 49.8% | 35.7% | 14.6% | 1984 |
| Howard County | 210 | 41.9% | 35.2% | 22.9% | 1984 |
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 Lee 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 Lee County, both outside Iowa so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside IA (214 bridges here).
- Lee County, AL · 214 bridges
- White County, IL · 214 bridges
- White County, IN · 214 bridges
- Wayne County, MS · 214 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.
Fair-condition bridges (89)
IA 16
FairOver: LITTLE CEDAR CREEK
1.7 mi. E of Jct. SR W46, Lee, IA
Built 1966 Load: 30.2 t ADT: 830
SO 10TH ST
FairOver: SOAP CREEK
000000000, Lee, IA
Built 1982 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 460
IA 27
FairOver: SUGAR CREEK
6.3 mi. N of MO St. Line, Lee, IA
Built 2001 Load: 31.7 t ADT: 7,200
RIVER RD
FairOver: PRICES CREEK
000000000, Lee, IA
Built 1983 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 680
MIDDLE RD
FairOver: PRICES CREEK
000000000, Lee, IA
Built 1977 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 820
CNTY.CLB.RD
FairOver: PENITENTIARY CREEK
067040200, Lee, IA
Built 1985 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,088
AVE A
FairOver: DRY CREEK
067040500, Lee, IA
Built 1987 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,890
AVE H
FairOver: FRENCH CREEK
067040401, Lee, IA
Built 1983 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 10,382
COUNTY ROAD
FairOver: SUGAR CREEK
068060203, Lee, IA
Built 1985 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,530
LOCAL
FairOver: HOG THIEF HOLLOW
065053303, Lee, IA
Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
FM
FairOver: DRAINAGE DITCH
068032103, Lee, IA
Built 1964 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
FM
FairOver: DRAINAGE DITCH
068032602, Lee, IA
Built 1961 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 260
FM
FairOver: MUD CREEK
068042304, Lee, IA
Built 1972 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 410
LOCAL
FairOver: BONNELL CREEK
068061406, Lee, IA
Built 1978 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 34
FM
FairOver: CREEK
068070702, Lee, IA
Built 1963 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 470
LOCAL
FairOver: LOST CREEK
069043102, Lee, IA
Built 1978 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 100
LOCAL
FairOver: LITTLE SUGAR CREEK
068070902, Lee, IA
Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 26
LOCAL
FairOver: SMALL STREAM
066070104, Lee, IA
Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 40
FM
FairOver: CREEK
069042604, Lee, IA
Built 1975 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 60
IA 2
FairOver: DEVIL CREEK
0.5 MI. W OF JCT. US 61, Lee, IA
Built 1973 Load: 33.2 t ADT: 4,250
FM
FairOver: HOG THIEF HOLLOW
065052011, Lee, IA
Built 1958 Load: 33.3 t ADT: 280
COUNTY ROAD
FairOver: LITTLE SUGAR CREEK
068060405, Lee, IA
Built 1975 Load: 34.1 t ADT: 1,370
US 218
FairOver: OVER BNSF RR
4.4 MI. N OF JCT. US 61, Lee, IA
Built 1971 Load: 34.9 t ADT: 2,750
LOCAL
FairOver: CREEK
067051208, Lee, IA
Built 1961 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 530
IA 2
FairOver: US 61
At the Jct. U.S. 61, Lee, IA
Built 2011 Load: 35.7 t ADT: 6,200
IA 27 NB
FairOver: 295TH ST AND BNSF RR
0.5 mi. N of SR J72, Lee, IA
Built 2001 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 3,600
NB US 61
FairOver: LOST CREEK
2.4 mi. S of Jct. IA 16, Lee, IA
Built 1966 Load: 36.4 t ADT: 4,550
US 136
FairOver: MISSISSIPPI RIVER RR RD
OVER MISS. RIVER-KEOKUK, Lee, IA
Built 1985 Load: 36.9 t ADT: 10,500
FM
FairOver: PAINTER CREEK
067051905, Lee, IA
Built 1972 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 1,400
US 61 & 136
FairOver: DES MOINES RVR RR & RD
AT MISSOURI STATE LINE, Lee, IA
Built 1994 Load: 40.0 t ADT: 5,100
US 218 NB
FairOver: BIG SUGAR CREEK
AT JCT. IA 16, Lee, IA
Built 1970 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 4,550
IA 27 NB
FairOver: US 218
At Jct. U.S. 218, Lee, IA
Built 2002 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 2,800
IA 27 NB
FairOver: SUGAR CREEK
4.7 miles south of IA 2, Lee, IA
Built 1989 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 3,600
US 61 NB
FairOver: BNSF RR
3.9 MI. N OF JCT. US 218, Lee, IA
Built 1999 Load: 43.3 t ADT: 3,500
IA 27 SB
FairOver: US 218
At Jct. U.S. 218, Lee, IA
Built 2002 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 2,800
IA 27 SB
FairOver: DES MOINES RIVER
St. Francis Border Bridge, Lee, IA
Built 2002 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 3,600
IA 27 NB
FairOver: DES MOINES RIVER
St. Francis Border Bridge, Lee, IA
Built 2002 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 3,600
2ND ST
FairOver: SMALL NATURAL STREAM
067040308, Lee, IA
Built 1959 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 3,720
FM
FairOver: CREEK
069062305, Lee, IA
Built 1958 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 150
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.