County profile · official public datasets

Atchison County, KS

197 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.6% rated Good, 48.7% Fair, 9.6% Poor.

197
Public bridges: 41.6%
Good condition: 9.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

89th
of 104 on Poor share: 9.6%
Poor-condition share: 197
public highway bridges: 1969
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.

Atchison County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Atchison County ranks #89 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.6%). Atchison County, Kansas contains 197 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.6% are rated “Good,” 48.7% “Fair,” and 9.6% “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.

Total bridges

197

Public highway bridges in Atchison County

Good condition

41.6%

82 of 197 rated 7-9

Fair condition

48.7%

96 of 197 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.6%

19 of 197 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#89 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 197 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

41.6% (82)

Fair

48.7% (96)

Poor

9.6% (19)

Atchison County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,492 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 394 crossings a day against 587 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 197 of 197 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.8% of Atchison County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

104 of the 197 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 41.6% 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 37.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US-59 HWY over RS1290, built 1955, carries 2,830 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 19-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 7,492 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

9
1920s

19
1930s

24
1940s

10
1950s

21
1960s

14
1970s

8
1980s

28
1990s

18
2000s

15
2010s

20
2020s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 28 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 14.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1969) matches the Kansas average (1972).

How Atchison County compares with Kansas's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Atchison County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.6% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1969 against a peer-group mean of 1965 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 103 Kansas counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Atchison County and the 5 Kansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Bourbon County	206	42.2%	42.2%	15.5%	1962
Wilson County	205	34.6%	53.2%	12.2%	1959
Atchison County (this page)	197	41.6%	48.7%	9.6%	1969
Jefferson County	194	52.1%	43.8%	4.1%	1975
Chase County	189	48.1%	45%	6.9%	1964
Morris County	179	33%	54.2%	12.8%	1967

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (197 bridges here).

Crawford County, IL · 197 bridges
Fountain County, IN · 197 bridges
Warrick County, IN · 197 bridges
Allamakee County, IA · 197 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1969 here).

Cook County, IL · avg 1969 · 1,721 bridges
Fresno County, CA · avg 1969 · 916 bridges
Cuyahoga County, OH · avg 1969 · 871 bridges
Ventura County, CA · avg 1969 · 501 bridges

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

All 197 Good 82 Fair 96 Poor 19

Good-condition bridges (82)

Sort:

Atchison County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Atchison County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,492 vehicle crossings a day

52.8% of Atchison County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 37.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Atchison County compares with Kansas's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Good-condition bridges (82)

LOCAL RD. 2-C.6

RS 1592

RS 1592

FIFTH ST. FAU 0219

US59 HWY-UTAH BV

RS 20

RS 1700

LOCAL RD. E-20.3

LOCAL RD. K-21.6

LOCAL RD 27.5-F.3

K116 HWY

LOCAL RD. O-22.9

LOCAL RD. H-3.1

LOCAL RD. 25.4-P.3

RS 20

RS 23

LOCAL RD. 28.2-E.3

LOCAL RD. O-16.5

LOCAL RD. N.6-17.5

LOCAL RD. 22.5-P.9

K116 HWY

RS 23

LOCAL RD. 6.4-N.2

Local Rd. 6.9-H.0

RS 17

LOCAL RD. A.8-18.9

LOCAL RD. 19-A.6

RS Route 800

LOCAL RD. A-23.7

LOCAL RD. C-16.8

RS 1592

LOCAL RD. H.5-25.4

RS 21

RS 1869

LOCAL RD. I-5-12.1

RS 17

LOCAL RD. C-12.1

MINOR COL 11.2-N.0

US73 HWY

LOCAL RD. 18-A.8

LOCAL RD. H.1-13.4

LOCAL RD. 19-E.3

LOCAL RD. K-5.5

K116 HWY

RS 26

LOCAL RD. I.5-13.1

US159 HWY

LOCAL RD. 14-F.9

LOCAL RD. 4.9-O.2

K7 HWY

Related