County profile · official public datasets

Kearny County, KS

72 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.7% rated Good, 58.3% Fair, 0% Poor.

72
Public bridges: 41.7%
Good condition: 0%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Kearny County posts a top-5% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.

Top 4%
lowest Poor share in state: 0%
Poor-condition share: 72
public highway bridges: 1968
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.

Kearny County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Kearny County ranks #4 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Kearny County, Kansas contains 72 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.7% are rated “Good,” 58.3% “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

Public highway bridges in Kearny County

Good condition

41.7%

30 of 72 rated 7-9

Fair condition

58.3%

42 of 72 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0 of 72 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#4 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 72 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

41.7% (30)

Fair

58.3% (42)

Poor

0% (0)

55.6% of Kearny County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

40 of the 72 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 41.7% 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

1
1930s

5
1940s

5
1950s

16
1960s

13
1970s

10
1980s

16
1990s

1
2000s

2
2010s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 16 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1968) matches the Kansas average (1972).

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

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Kearny 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 1968 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 Kearny County and the 5 Kansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Thomas County	82	63.4%	34.1%	2.4%	1966
Finney County	78	67.9%	29.5%	2.6%	1972
Kearny County (this page)	72	41.7%	58.3%	0%	1968
Edwards County	69	26.1%	69.6%	4.3%	1970
Hamilton County	68	88.2%	11.8%	0%	1955
Gray County	66	66.7%	33.3%	0%	1961

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (72 bridges here).

Lafayette County, AR · 72 bridges
Tattnall County, GA · 72 bridges
Wilkinson County, GA · 72 bridges
Mercer County, ND · 72 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1968 here).

Montgomery County, PA · avg 1968 · 828 bridges
San Joaquin County, CA · avg 1968 · 644 bridges
Providence County, RI · avg 1968 · 476 bridges
Imperial County, CA · avg 1968 · 444 bridges

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

All 72 Good 30 Fair 42 Poor 0

Fair-condition bridges (42)

Sort:

Kearny County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

55.6% of Kearny County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

How Kearny 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 (42)

Road Z

LOCAL RD. 140

LOCAL RD. 120

LOCAL RD. W Z

MINOR COL (RD A A)

LOCAL RD. 160

MINOR COL (RD 220)

LOCAL RD. 240

RS 2215(River Rd)

RS 2215(River Rd)

RS 2215(River Rd)

LOCAL RD. 180

K25 HWY

RS 243 (RD 180)

LOCAL RD. X

LOCAL RD. N

LOCAL RD (WEST ST)

LOCAL RD. F

LOCAL RD (LINCOLN)

150 Road

LOCAL RD. N

LOCAL RD. Y

RS 243 (RD Y)

RS 243 Z Road

RS 243 (MAIN ST)

RS 294 (RD 250)

RS 358 (RIVER RD)

RS 922 (RD B)

RS 922 (RD B)

RS 928 (RD 40)

RS 1522 (RD L)

RS 1522 (RD L)

RS 1671 (RIVER RD)

RS 1712 (RD 360)

RS 2215( River Rd)

LOCAL RD. 150

LOCAL RD(6th ST)

LOCAL RD. U

LOCAL RD. 140

Local RD. R

RS 294 (RD A A)

LOCAL RD. 270

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