County profile · official public datasets

Lincoln County, KS

225 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 33.3% rated Good, 56.4% Fair, 10.2% Poor.

225
Public bridges: 33.3%
Good condition: 10.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Lincoln 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.

92nd
of 104 on Poor share: 10.2%
Poor-condition share: 225
public highway bridges: 1957
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.

Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lincoln County ranks #92 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.2%). Lincoln County, Kansas contains 225 public highway bridges. Roughly 33.3% are rated “Good,” 56.4% “Fair,” and 10.2% “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

225

Public highway bridges in Lincoln County

Good condition

33.3%

75 of 225 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56.4%

127 of 225 rated 5-6

Poor condition

10.2%

23 of 225 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#92 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 225 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

33.3% (75)

Fair

56.4% (127)

Poor

10.2% (23)

Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,575 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 68 crossings a day against 437 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 225 of 225 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

71.1% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

160 of the 225 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 33.3% 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 59% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

K18 HWY over SALINE RIVER DRAINAGE, built 1929, carries 930 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 23-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,575 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

2
1920s

19
1930s

71
1940s

10
1950s

22
1960s

26
1970s

16
1980s

20
1990s

16
2000s

11
2010s

10
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 71 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1957, 15 years older than the Kansas average of 1972.

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

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Lincoln County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.2% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1957 against a peer-group mean of 1967 is 10 years older.

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

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (225 bridges here).

Dallas County, AL · 225 bridges
Madison County, IA · 225 bridges
Mahaska County, IA · 225 bridges
Lenawee County, MI · 225 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1957 here).

Essex County, MA · avg 1957 · 395 bridges
Greer County, OK · avg 1957 · 230 bridges
Spink County, SD · avg 1957 · 176 bridges
Brewster County, TX · avg 1957 · 114 bridges

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

All 225 Good 75 Fair 127 Poor 23

Good-condition bridges (75)

Sort:

Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,575 vehicle crossings a day

71.1% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 59% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Lincoln 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 (75)

RS 1469 Fox Dr

RS 397 Wheat Dr

290th Road

Kife Lane

K18 HWY

K18 HWY

RS 393 - Elk Dr.

Kiowa Rd

K14 HWY

K18 HWY

K18 HWY

RS 1004 Clover Ln

RS 394 270th Rd

30th Rd

160th Road

K181 HWY

RS 393 290th Rd

300th Road

RS 393 - Elk Dr.

RS 1001 120th Rd

K14 HWY

K181 HWY

RS 1469 15th Rd

K181 HWY

K18 HWY

170th Rd

40th Rd

50th Rd

K18 HWY

Rye Dr

Milo Dr

RS 394 280th Rd

RS 2036 Iron Dr

310th Rd

Wheat Dr

RS 2036 Iron Dr

K18 HWY

RS 393 - Elk Dr.

RS 2216 Iron Dr

Teal Dr RS 1467

K18 HWY

Hawk Drive

E Fox Dr

K14 HWY

LOCAL ROAD

30th Rd

RS 393 - Elk Dr.

E Fox Dr

I70 HWY WB

I70 HWY EB

Related