County profile · official public datasets

Pocahontas County, IA

201 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 19.4% rated Good, 55.2% Fair, 25.4% Poor.

201
Public bridges
19.4%
Good condition
25.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Pocahontas County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

71st
of 99 on Poor share
25.4%
Poor-condition share
201
public highway bridges
1974
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.

Pocahontas County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Pocahontas County ranks #71 of 99 Iowa counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 25.4%). Pocahontas County, Iowa contains 201 public highway bridges. Roughly 19.4% are rated “Good,” 55.2% “Fair,” and 25.4% “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

201

Public highway bridges in Pocahontas County

Good condition

19.4%

39 of 201 rated 7-9

Fair condition

55.2%

111 of 201 rated 5-6

Poor condition

25.4%

51 of 201 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#71 of 99

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

Condition distribution

Share of 201 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
19.4% (39)
Fair
55.2% (111)
Poor
25.4% (51)

Pocahontas County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,763 vehicle crossings a day

That is 9.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 25.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 113 crossings a day against 448 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 201 of 201 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

44.8% of Pocahontas County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

90 of the 201 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 19.4% 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 12.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FM over DD # 77 NO LIZARD CK, built 1973, carries 698 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 51-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,763 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Pocahontas County's bridges were built

201 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 77 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 38.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1974, 5 years older than the Iowa average of 1979.

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

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

The 5 Iowa counties nearest Pocahontas County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 25.4% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Pocahontas County and the 5 Iowa counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Audubon County 206 18.4%
Pocahontas County (this page) 201 25.4%
Dallas County 199 9%
Allamakee County 197 9.1%
Calhoun County 197 25.4%
Decatur County 197 40.6%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside IA (201 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside IA (1974 here).

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

All 201 Good 39 Fair 111 Poor 51

All bridges (201)

LOCAL

Fair

Over: N LIZARD CREEK

093330402, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1977 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 5

LOCAL

Fair

Over: N LIZARD CREEK

093330602, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1977 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 50

LOCAL

Fair

Over: N LIZARD CREEK

093330802, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1977 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 11

LOCAL

Fair

Over: PILOT CREEK

093331201, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1976 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 40

IA 4

Fair

Over: NORTH LIZARD CREEK

5.6 mi. N of IA 3, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1976 Load: 37.1 t ADT: 3,150

IA 3

Fair

Over: NORTH LIZARD CREEK

1.6 mi. W of jct. IA 15, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1974 Load: 39.3 t ADT: 2,390

IA 4 & 7

Fair

Over: STREAM

At N jct. IA 7, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1969 Load: 41.3 t ADT: 1,990

LOCAL

Fair

Over: BIG CEDAR CREEK

090343301, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1971 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 50

FM

Fair

Over: OVERFLW OF PILOT CREEK

092310106, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1995 Load: 51.2 t ADT: 379

FM

Fair

Over: D.D.#125

090313602, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1987 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 240

630TH ST

Fair

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH 125

090313501, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1900 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 11

FM

Good

Over: LITTLE CEDAR CK DD #181

091342004, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1986 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 34

IA 3

Good

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH 53

2.3 mi. E of IA 4, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1984 Load: 30.1 t ADT: 2,390

FM

Good

Over: BIG CEDAR CREEK D.D.#41

092340202, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1986 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 34

LOCAL

Good

Over: PILOT CREEK

093331302, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1980 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 20

LOCAL

Good

Over: PILOT CREEK

093331302, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1980 Load: 31.2 t ADT: 20

IA 4

Good

Over: NORTH LIZARD CREEK

2.7 mi. S of jct IA 10, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1976 Load: 31.5 t ADT: 3,150

IA 10

Good

Over: NORTH LIZARD CREEK

1.6 mi. W of Jct IA 4, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2003 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 1,200

FM

Good

Over: BIG CEDAR CK DD #181

091342401, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1980 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 11

LOCAL

Good

Over: DD #77 NO LIZARD CK

092321602, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1984 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 20

LOCAL

Good

Over: PILOT CREEK

093313102, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1984 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 34

IA 4

Good

Over: LIZARD CREEK

1.0 mi. N of Jct. IA #3, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1968 Load: 32.3 t ADT: 3,750

IA 3

Good

Over: BRANCH 19 OF DD NO 53

0.3 MI. W OF IA 4, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2018 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 2,060

C56 590TH ST

Good

Over: LIZARD CREEK

090320801, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2015 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 240

C26 460TH ST

Good

Over: PILOT CREEK

092310603, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2015 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 270

410TH ST

Good

Over: NO LIZARD CK

093330801, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2019 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 5

190TH AVE

Good

Over: DD 77 N LIZARD CREEK

093331502, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2015 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 30

540TH ST

Good

Over: S LIZARD CREEK DD 22

091331601, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2015 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 15

550TH ST

Good

Over: DD #22 SO LIZARD CK

091332201, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2018 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 34

210TH AVE

Good

Over: S LIZARD CREEK DD#22

091332502, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2023 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 11

100TH AVE

Good

Over: BR LITTLE CEDAR CREEK

091341802, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2021 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5

200TH AVE

Good

Over: BR N LIZARD CREEK

092331402, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2015 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 15

490TH ST

Good

Over: LIZARD CREEK

092332201, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2012 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 26

LOCAL

Good

Over: DD #21

092333101, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1990 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 20

C 29 (480TH ST)

Good

Over: BIG CEDAR CK DD #41

092341401, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2011 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 230

450TH ST

Good

Over: LITTLE CEDAR CREEK

093343101, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2017 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 34

LOCAL RD

Good

Over: SOUTH LIZARD CREEK

090320601, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1979 Load: 33.0 t ADT: 11

IA 10

Good

Over: LITTLE CEDAR CREEK

3.7 mi. W of SR N28, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1988 Load: 33.2 t ADT: 1,230

N 33 150TH AVE

Good

Over: BR BIG CEDAR CREEK

090343602, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2019 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 15

500TH ST

Good

Over: LITTLE CEDAR CREEK

092343001, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2021 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 15

LOCAL

Good

Over: BIG CEDAR CREEK

090340102, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1989 Load: 39.6 t ADT: 26

LOCAL

Good

Over: W FORK DES MOINES RIVER

093312501, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1995 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 34

LOCAL

Good

Over: NO LIZARD CK DD #171

091312201, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2009 Load: 42.3 t ADT: 11

FM

Good

Over: NO LIZARD CK DD #77

092321502, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2005 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 309

FM

Good

Over: PILOT CK DD #63

093322202, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2006 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 270

FM

Good

Over: BEAVER CREEK

093320302, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2005 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 249

FM

Good

Over: LITTLE CEDAR CREEK

090340503, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2008 Load: 50.0 t ADT: 34

LOCAL

Good

Over: LIZARD CREEK

090311303, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2004 Load: 52.9 t ADT: 26

FM

Good

Over: S LIZARD CK DD #22

090322501, Pocahontas, IA

Built 2000 Load: 52.9 t ADT: 379

IA 10

Good

Over: BIG CEDAR CREEK

0.2 W of E jct SR N28, Pocahontas, IA

Built 1987 Load: 56.0 t ADT: 1,200

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.