County profile · official public datasets

Clay County, KS

231 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 51.9% rated Good, 42.9% Fair, 5.2% Poor.

231
Public bridges: 51.9%
Good condition: 5.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

60th
of 104 on Poor share: 5.2%
Poor-condition share: 231
public highway bridges: 1970
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.

Clay County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clay County ranks #60 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.2%). Clay County, Kansas contains 231 public highway bridges. Roughly 51.9% are rated “Good,” 42.9% “Fair,” and 5.2% “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

231

Public highway bridges in Clay County

Good condition

51.9%

120 of 231 rated 7-9

Fair condition

42.9%

99 of 231 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.2%

12 of 231 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#60 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 231 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

51.9% (120)

Fair

42.9% (99)

Poor

5.2% (12)

Clay County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,145 vehicle crossings a day

That is 9.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 512 crossings a day against 322 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 231 of 231 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

63.2% of Clay County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

146 of the 231 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 51.9% 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 30.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US24 HWY over LINCOLN CREEK DRAINAGE, built 1965, carries 1,880 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 12-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 6,145 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

2
1920s

5
1930s

20
1940s

41
1950s

9
1960s

27
1970s

48
1980s

17
1990s

21
2000s

14
2010s

22
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 48 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1970) matches the Kansas average (1972).

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

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Clay County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.2% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1964 is 6 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Clay County and the 5 Kansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Greenwood County	235	24.7%	54%	21.3%	1957
Clay County (this page)	231	51.9%	42.9%	5.2%	1970
Allen County	227	45.4%	43.6%	11%	1959
Lincoln County	225	33.3%	56.4%	10.2%	1957
Riley County	224	56.7%	37.9%	5.4%	1976
Ford County	223	50.2%	49.8%	0%	1972

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (231 bridges here).

Saline County, AR · 231 bridges
Jones County, IA · 231 bridges
Panola County, MS · 231 bridges
Burke County, NC · 231 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1970 here).

Hamilton County, OH · avg 1970 · 783 bridges
Yavapai County, AZ · avg 1970 · 543 bridges
Garfield County, OK · avg 1970 · 504 bridges
San Luis Obispo County, CA · avg 1970 · 401 bridges

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

All 231 Good 120 Fair 99 Poor 12

Fair-condition bridges (99)

Sort:

Clay County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Clay County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,145 vehicle crossings a day

63.2% of Clay County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 30.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Clay 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

Fair-condition bridges (99)

RS 132

LOCAL 4.0-S.8

LOCAL 20.0-U.0

US24 HWY

RS 125

RS 794

RS 1321

MINOR L.0-11.9

K900 PARKS ROUTE

RS 124

LOCAL J.0-26.4

RS 132

US24 HWY

RS 124

RS 829

RS 829

RS 1335

RS 1408

LOCAL 1.0-B.8

LOCAL H.0-30.3

LOCAL H.5-5.5

LOCAL 25.0-H.8

LOCAL J.0-3.9

MINOR 16.0-J.0

LOCAL 17.0-K.6

LOCAL 5.0-M.5

K82 HWY

LOCAL 17.0-H.9

RS 132

RS 1321

RS 5028

LOCAL 17.0-U.6

22nd Rd.

16th Rd.

LOCAL P.2-24.2

MINOR Q.0-3.2

LOCAL 3.0-U.7

LOCAL W-14.3

RS 130

Hackberry Rd.

K15 HWY

MINOR 5.0-S.2

LOCAL 7.0-L.5

Valleyview Rd.

20th Rd.

K-9 HIGHWAY

US 24 HWY

K-9 HIGHWAY

RS 1321

Related