Total bridges
220
Public highway bridges in Taylor County
County profile · official public datasets
Taylor County, IA
220 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.5% rated Good, 37.7% Fair, 37.7% Poor.
- 220
- Public bridges
- 24.5%
- Good condition
- 37.7%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Taylor 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.
- 94th
- of 99 on Poor share
- 37.7%
- Poor-condition share
- 220
- public highway bridges
- 1973
- 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.
Taylor County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Taylor County ranks #94 of 99 Iowa counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 37.7%). Taylor County, Iowa contains 220 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.5% are rated “Good,” 37.7% “Fair,” and 37.7% “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
24.5%
54 of 220 rated 7-9
Fair condition
37.7%
83 of 220 rated 5-6
Poor condition
37.7%
83 of 220 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#94 of 99
Among Iowa counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 220 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 24.5% (54)
Fair 37.7% (83)
Poor 37.7% (83)
Taylor County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,497 vehicle crossings a day
That is 17.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 37.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 55 crossings a day against 167 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 219 of 220 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
50.5% of Taylor County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
111 of the 220 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 24.5% 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 17.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
IA 2 over PLATTE RIVER, built 1976, carries 800 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 83-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 4,497 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Taylor County's bridges were built
220 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 4
1900–1909
4 bridges
- 1910s 2
1910–1919
2 bridges
- 1920s 2
1920–1929
2 bridges
- 1930s 6
1930–1939
6 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
17 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
40 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
30 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
39 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
27 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
18 bridges
- 2000s 12
2000–2009
12 bridges
- 2010s 13
2010–2019
13 bridges
- 2020s 10
2020–2029
10 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1973, 6 years older than the Iowa average of 1979.
How Taylor County compares with Iowa's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Iowa counties nearest Taylor County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 37.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 98 Iowa counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison County | 225 | 16% | 46.7% | 37.3% | 1968 |
| Sac County | 224 | 35.7% | 30.8% | 33.5% | 1973 |
| Taylor County (this page) | 220 | 24.5% | 37.7% | 37.7% | 1973 |
| 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 |
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 Taylor 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 Taylor County, both outside Iowa so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside IA (220 bridges here).
- Bibb County, GA · 220 bridges
- Decatur County, IN · 220 bridges
- Dubois County, IN · 220 bridges
- Winn County, LA · 220 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside IA (1973 here).
- Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
- Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
- Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
- Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (83)
FM
FairOver: CREEK
070322001, Taylor, IA
Built 1940 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 60
FM
FairOver: MIDDLE BRANCH 102 RIVER
070331201, Taylor, IA
Built 1968 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 110
FIELD ENTRANCE
FairOver: SIDE DITCH
067341707, Taylor, IA
Built 1900 Load: 25.2 t ADT: 10
FM
FairOver: DRAINAGE DITCH
067321203, Taylor, IA
Built 1940 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 79
FM
FairOver: MIDDLE 102 RIVER
067341801, Taylor, IA
Built 1986 Load: 27.8 t ADT: 210
FM
FairOver: SMALL STREAM
069350704, Taylor, IA
Built 1956 Load: 28.0 t ADT: 79
FM
FairOver: MIDDLE 102 RIVER
068340401, Taylor, IA
Built 1975 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 40
FM
FairOver: HONEY CREEK
069323202, Taylor, IA
Built 1986 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 390
LOCAL
FairOver: SMALL
070330702, Taylor, IA
Built 1976 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 11
FM
FairOver: HONEY CREEK
068332104, Taylor, IA
Built 1976 Load: 30.2 t ADT: 29
LOCAL
FairOver: MIDDLE 102 RIVER
067340603, Taylor, IA
Built 1995 Load: 30.3 t ADT: 5
LOCAL
FairOver: HONEY CREEK
067330501, Taylor, IA
Built 2001 Load: 31.0 t ADT: 15
FM
FairOver: TRIBUTARY TO MIDDLE 102
070332001, Taylor, IA
Built 1984 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 390
IA 2
FairOver: EAST 102 RIVER
At Jct. SR N-44, Taylor, IA
Built 1978 Load: 32.3 t ADT: 1,130
IA 2
FairOver: MIDDLE 102 RIVER
2.9 mi. W of Jct. IA 148, Taylor, IA
Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,350
IA 148
FairOver: MIDDLE BRANCH W 102 RVR
2.8 MI. S OF SR J-20, Taylor, IA
Built 1924 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 890
FM
FairOver: SMALL STREAM
067323008, Taylor, IA
Built 1989 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 40
LOCAL
FairOver: TRIB TO WEST 102 RIVER
067352104, Taylor, IA
Built 1984 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 29
150TH ST
FairOver: EAST FORK 102 RIVER
070323101, Taylor, IA
Built 2021 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 50
LOCAL
FairOver: NODAWAY RIVER DITCH
070350401, Taylor, IA
Built 1989 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 29
LOCAL
FairOver: CREEK
070353204, Taylor, IA
Built 1957 Load: 33.3 t ADT: 34
LOCAL
FairOver: N BR 102 RIVER
070342004, Taylor, IA
Built 1996 Load: 33.4 t ADT: 20
IA 148
FairOver: W.FORK 102 RIVER
0.1 MI. N OF SR J20, Taylor, IA
Built 1961 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 1,200
FM
FairOver: MIDDLE BRANCH 102 RIVER
070332103, Taylor, IA
Built 1983 Load: 34.7 t ADT: 390
LOCAL
FairOver: EAST 102 RIVER
068342611, Taylor, IA
Built 1993 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 488
LOCAL
FairOver: CREEK
069332402, Taylor, IA
Built 1961 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 5
LOCAL
FairOver: PLATTE BRANCH
067331303, Taylor, IA
Built 1984 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 26
FM
FairOver: HONEY CREEK
069323101, Taylor, IA
Built 1998 Load: 41.3 t ADT: 26
IA 148
FairOver: MIDDLE BR W 102 RIVER
2.0 MI.S.OF SR J-20, Taylor, IA
Built 1961 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 890
FM
FairOver: WEST 102 RIVER
070341201, Taylor, IA
Built 1951 Load: 46.1 t ADT: 34
J23 170TH ST
FairOver: DRAINAGE DITCH
069331101, Taylor, IA
Built 1935 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 309
IA 148
FairOver: MIDDLE CREEK
0.1 MI. N OF JCT. SR J35, Taylor, IA
Built 1961 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 940
N64
FairOver: EAST RIVER
069320502, Taylor, IA
Built 1990 Load: 57.1 t ADT: 927
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.