County profile · official public datasets

Reno County, KS

573 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 51.8% rated Good, 42.1% Fair, 6.1% Poor.

573
Public bridges: 51.8%
Good condition: 6.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Reno County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

69th
of 104 on Poor share: 6.1%
Poor-condition share: 573
public highway bridges: 1980
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.

Reno County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Reno County ranks #69 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.1%). Reno County, Kansas contains 573 public highway bridges. Roughly 51.8% are rated “Good,” 42.1% “Fair,” and 6.1% “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

573

Public highway bridges in Reno County

Good condition

51.8%

297 of 573 rated 7-9

Fair condition

42.1%

241 of 573 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.1%

35 of 573 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#69 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 573 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

51.8% (297)

Fair

42.1% (241)

Poor

6.1% (35)

Reno County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,460 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 442 crossings a day against 1,775 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 569 of 573 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

46.2% of Reno County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

265 of the 573 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 51.8% 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 65.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

Woodie Seat Fwy over AVENUE "B", built 1959, carries 10,180 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 35-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 15,460 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

7
1930s

16
1940s

9
1950s

70
1960s

117
1970s

102
1980s

65
1990s

54
2000s

48
2010s

56
2020s

29

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 117 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1980, 8 years newer than the Kansas average of 1972.

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

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Reno County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.1% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1980 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Reno County and the 5 Kansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Sumner County	659	50.2%	47.2%	2.6%	1978
Butler County	591	59.2%	34.7%	6.1%	1966
McPherson County	586	66.6%	32.8%	0.7%	1979
Reno County (this page)	573	51.8%	42.1%	6.1%	1980
Shawnee County	563	62.9%	34.1%	3%	1981
Lyon County	492	65.7%	33.3%	1%	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 Reno 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 Reno County, both outside Kansas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (573 bridges here).

Prince George's County, MD · 576 bridges
Iroquois County, IL · 570 bridges
Bergen County, NJ · 577 bridges
York County, PA · 569 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1980 here).

Tulsa County, OK · avg 1980 · 1,135 bridges
Miami-Dade County, FL · avg 1980 · 1,057 bridges
Pulaski County, AR · avg 1980 · 721 bridges
McLennan County, TX · avg 1980 · 714 bridges

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

All 573 Good 297 Fair 241 Poor 35

Poor-condition bridges (35)

Sort:

Reno County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Reno County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,460 vehicle crossings a day

46.2% of Reno County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 65.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Reno 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

Poor-condition bridges (35)

LOCAL MEDF230

WILLISON RD 15.52

RED ROCK RD.21.50

VICTORY RD 27.01

FOUNTAIN GR.25.10

PLEASANT VAL.10.30

Salt Marsh Rd

PLEASANT VAL.20.10

DEAN RD.12.75

PLEASANT VAL.25.05

STERLING RD.4.55

SMOOTS CK RD.25.35

LOCAL HAYE5435

RIVERTON RD.8.95

Woodie Seat Fwy

ARLINGTON RD.19.68

IRISH CREEK.19.50

W 17th Ave

PEACE RD.5.20

FOUNTAIN GR 32.10

BROADACRES RD.8.80

Castleton Rd

JORDAN SPR RD.7.20

FOUNTAIN GR.42.05

SEGO RD.7.20

GREENFIELD.25.85

US50 HWY

OBEE RD 22.35

SIXTH AVENUE

THIRD AVENUE

FIRST AVENUE

Pretty Prairie Rd.

69th Ave

JORDAN SPRIN.16.40

LERADO RD 15.05

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