County profile · official public datasets

Ford County, KS

223 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 50.2% rated Good, 49.8% Fair, 0% Poor.

223
Public bridges: 50.2%
Good condition: 0%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Ford County posts a top-1% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 1%
lowest Poor share in state: 0%
Poor-condition share: 223
public highway bridges: 1972
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.

Ford County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Ford County ranks #1 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Ford County, Kansas contains 223 public highway bridges. Roughly 50.2% are rated “Good,” 49.8% “Fair,” and 0% “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

223

Public highway bridges in Ford County

Good condition

50.2%

112 of 223 rated 7-9

Fair condition

49.8%

111 of 223 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0 of 223 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#1 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 223 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

50.2% (112)

Fair

49.8% (111)

Poor

0% (0)

42.2% of Ford County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

94 of the 223 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 50.2% 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.

1920s

17
1930s

31
1940s

6
1950s

16
1960s

12
1970s

27
1980s

58
1990s

30
2000s

17
2010s

3
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 58 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Kansas average (1972).

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

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Ford County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1964 is 8 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Ford 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	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 (this page)	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 Ford 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 Ford County, both outside Kansas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (223 bridges here).

Woodford County, IL · 223 bridges
Hardin County, KY · 223 bridges
Stanton County, NE · 223 bridges
Macon County, NC · 223 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1972 here).

Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
Madison County, AL · avg 1972 · 710 bridges
Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
York County, PA · avg 1972 · 569 bridges

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

All 223 Good 112 Fair 111 Poor 0

All bridges (223)

Sort:

Ford County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

42.2% of Ford County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

How Ford 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

All bridges (223)

Rd 120

RS 948 (132 RD)

US283 HWY

Rd 121

Iron Rd

Iron Rd

Rd 115

North B. 14TH. ST.

Saddle Side Rd

Zane Rd

US50/US400 HWY

Rd 133

Rd 123

Lariat Rd

US283 HWY

Rd 134

Rd 112

Antelope Rd

Eagle Rd

S. 14th Ave.

Backtrail Rd

Rd 114

RS 1435 (RD 105)

Rd 109

Chestnut Road

Rd 131

WILROADS GARDEN RD

US283 HWY

Lariat Rd

US50 HWY

Rd 135

2nd. AVENUE

Rd 129

Rd 111

Rd 104

RS 954 (RD 117)

Rd 107

Rd 131

Backtrail Rd

Rd 106

Rd 130

RS 796 (MARSHALL)

Rd 129

Kettle Rd

Whirlwind Rd

NORTH AVENUE A

Backtrail Rd

Wildfire Rd

Spur Rd

RS 252 (LARIAT RD)

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