Total bridges
225
Public highway bridges in Lincoln County
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.
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.
When Lincoln County's bridges were built
225 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 1
1900–1909
1 bridges
- 1910s 2
1910–1919
2 bridges
- 1920s 19
1920–1929
19 bridges
- 1930s
1930–1939
71 bridges
- 1940s 10
1940–1949
10 bridges
- 1950s 22
1950–1959
22 bridges
- 1960s 26
1960–1969
26 bridges
- 1970s 16
1970–1979
16 bridges
- 1980s 20
1980–1989
20 bridges
- 1990s 16
1990–1999
16 bridges
- 2000s 11
2000–2009
11 bridges
- 2010s 10
2010–2019
10 bridges
- 2020s 1
2020–2029
1 bridges
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.
| 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.
Poor-condition bridges (23)
Wheat Dr
PoorOver: BACON CREEK
2.0N 0.7W OF ASH GROVE, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 2.2 t ADT: 35
Grain Dr
PoorOver: OWL CREEK
4.0S 0.2E OF SHADY BEND, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 7.3 t ADT: 25
215th Rd
PoorOver: BATTLE CREEK
2.0S 3.5W OF BARNARD, Lincoln, KS
Built 1920 Load: 8.3 t ADT: 40
20th Rd
PoorOver: SALINE RIVER
1.3S 3.5W OF SYLVAN GROVE, Lincoln, KS
Built 1965 Load: 8.3 t ADT: 20
100th Road
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
2.0W 5.8S OF VESPER, Lincoln, KS
Built 1940 Load: 8.3 t ADT: 35
100th Road
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
0.7N 2.0E OF VESPER, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 10.0 t ADT: 45
233rd Rd
PoorOver: RATTLESNAKE CREEK
1.2W 0.7N OF BARNARD, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 10.7 t ADT: 15
200th Rd
PoorOver: WEST ELKHORN CREEK
7.0S 0.5E OF LINCOLN, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 11.3 t ADT: 30
190th Rd
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
7.4W 0.2S OF WESTFALL, Lincoln, KS
Built 1920 Load: 14.1 t ADT: 20
E Grain Dr
PoorOver: W. ELKHORN CREEK
5.2S 2.6E OF LINCOLN, Lincoln, KS
Built 1915 Load: 14.6 t ADT: 10
K18 HWY
PoorOver: SALINE RIVER DRAINAGE
0.99 MI E K252, Lincoln, KS
Built 1929 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 930
Deer Dr
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
6.8W 1.0S OF WESTFALL, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 18.9 t ADT: 25
Lark Dr
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
1.0N 2.1E OF BEVERLY, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 18.9 t ADT: 30
Pike Drive
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
2.0E OF DENMARK, Lincoln, KS
Built 1935 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 40
Colt Dr
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
2.0S OF WESTFALL, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 25
Hawk Dr
PoorOver: TRIB TO BRUSH CREEK
2.8S OF BEVERLY, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 20.9 t ADT: 15
Iron Drive
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
3.0S 2.5W OF LINCOLN, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 22.6 t ADT: 30
140th Road
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
0.2S 2.3E OF DENMARK, Lincoln, KS
Built 1935 Load: 25.2 t ADT: 40
300th Road
PoorOver: SALT CREEK
1.6S 4.7E OF BARNARD, Lincoln, KS
Built 1930 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 30
Bison Drive
PoorOver: SPRING CREEK
9.3E 8.7S OS SYLVAN GROVE, Lincoln, KS
Built 1987 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 35
Rye Drive
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
2.0N 2.3E OF DENMARK, Lincoln, KS
Built 1936 Load: 41.0 t ADT: 25
80th Rd
PoorOver: BACON CREEK
0.1N OF ASH GROVE, Lincoln, KS
Built 1915 Load: 44.5 t ADT: 35
Vine Dr
PoorOver: UNNAMED STREAM
1.0N 0.4E OF ASH GROVE, Lincoln, KS
Built 1900 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 40
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.