County profile · official public datasets

Smith County, KS

281 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.7% rated Good, 56.9% Fair, 11.4% Poor.

281
Public bridges
31.7%
Good condition
11.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Smith 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.

98th
of 104 on Poor share
11.4%
Poor-condition share
281
public highway bridges
1961
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.

Smith County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Smith County ranks #98 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.4%). Smith County, Kansas contains 281 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.7% are rated “Good,” 56.9% “Fair,” and 11.4% “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

281

Public highway bridges in Smith County

Good condition

31.7%

89 of 281 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56.9%

160 of 281 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.4%

32 of 281 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#98 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 281 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
31.7% (89)
Fair
56.9% (160)
Poor
11.4% (32)

Smith County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,975 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 62 crossings a day against 372 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 281 of 281 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

71.9% of Smith County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

202 of the 281 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 31.7% 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.

One structure carries 43.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

K8 HWY over MIDDLE BEAVER CREEK, built 1941, carries 860 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 32-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,975 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Smith County's bridges were built

281 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 52 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1961, 11 years older than the Kansas average of 1972.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Smith County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.4% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1961 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 10 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Smith County and the 5 Kansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Crawford County 297 7.4%
Ottawa County 295 4.7%
Smith County (this page) 281 11.4%
Ellis County 275 4%
Republic County 266 3%
Rice County 262 3.1%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (281 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1961 here).

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

All 281 Good 89 Fair 160 Poor 32

Poor-condition bridges (32)

230 ROAD

Poor

Over: OAK CREEK TRIB.

8.0S 7.0E OF BELLAIRE, Smith, KS

Built 1910 Load: 4.0 t ADT: 10

X ROAD

Poor

Over: MIDDLE OAK CREEK

3.6S 1.5E OF CORA, Smith, KS

Built 1930 Load: 4.1 t ADT: 20

290 ROAD

Poor

Over: N FORK SOLOMON TRIBUTARY

3.5S 2.0W OF GAYLORD, Smith, KS

Built 1910 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 10

Q ROAD

Poor

Over: E BRANCH TROUBLESOME CR.

5.8S 1.0E OF THORNBURG, Smith, KS

Built 1925 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 5

170 ROAD

Poor

Over: SPRING CREEK

2.0E OF SMITH CENTER, Smith, KS

Built 1900 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 15

120 ROAD

Poor

Over: WEST BEAVER CREEK

5.4N 0.8W OF ATHOL, Smith, KS

Built 1969 Load: 5.9 t ADT: 30

K ROAD

Poor

Over: MIDDLE BEAVER CREEK TRIB

6.0N 5.0W SMITH CENTER, Smith, KS

Built 1910 Load: 6.4 t ADT: 10

50 ROAD

Poor

Over: WHITE ROCK CREEK

3.5N 4.0E OF CORA, Smith, KS

Built 1955 Load: 6.5 t ADT: 10

R ROAD

Poor

Over: WALNUT CREEK

2.0W OF WOMER, Smith, KS

Built 1920 Load: 7.0 t ADT: 10

F ROAD

Poor

Over: MIDDLE BEAVER CREEK

2.6N 6.0W OF REAMSVILLE, Smith, KS

Built 1940 Load: 7.2 t ADT: 10

N ROAD

Poor

Over: EAST BEAVER CREEK

1.0N 2.0W SMITH CENTER, Smith, KS

Built 1930 Load: 7.3 t ADT: 10

180 ROAD

Poor

Over: WEST OAK CREEK

3.0S 0.6E OF BELLAIRE, Smith, KS

Built 1900 Load: 8.0 t ADT: 20

160 ROAD

Poor

Over: EAST BEAVER CREEK

0.5N 2.0W OF SMITH CENTER, Smith, KS

Built 1910 Load: 8.2 t ADT: 10

U ROAD (RS 626)

Poor

Over: LINDSEY CREEK

0.5N OF PORTIS, Smith, KS

Built 1930 Load: 8.6 t ADT: 80

A ROAD

Poor

Over: WEST MIDDLE CEDAR CREEK

8.1N 2.0W OF KENSINGTON, Smith, KS

Built 1969 Load: 9.1 t ADT: 20

W ROAD

Poor

Over: WEST OAK CREEK

2.7S 7.0E OF SMITH CENTER, Smith, KS

Built 1998 Load: 10.0 t ADT: 10

120 ROAD

Poor

Over: SPRING CREEK

3.0N 3.3W OF BELLAIRE, Smith, KS

Built 1990 Load: 10.3 t ADT: 20

Z ROAD

Poor

Over: WOLF CREEK

2.0N 3.5E OF CORA, Smith, KS

Built 1925 Load: 10.7 t ADT: 10

230 ROAD

Poor

Over: EAST CEDAR CREEK

2.0N 1.0W OF CEDAR, Smith, KS

Built 1925 Load: 10.9 t ADT: 20

M ROAD

Poor

Over: EAST BEAVER CREEK

2.0S 3.0W OF SMITH CENTER, Smith, KS

Built 1996 Load: 10.9 t ADT: 20

90 ROAD

Poor

Over: EAST MIDDLE CEDAR CREEK

8.0N 1.4W OF KENSINGTON, Smith, KS

Built 1920 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 20

200 ROAD

Poor

Over: CEDAR CREEK TRIBUTARY

2.6S 0.5E OF ATHOL, Smith, KS

Built 1966 Load: 14.5 t ADT: 40

J ROAD

Poor

Over: BACHELOR RUN

1.8N 1.8W OF REAMSVILLE, Smith, KS

Built 1930 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 10

190 ROAD

Poor

Over: WEST CEDAR CREEK

1.7S 1.3W OF KENSINGTON, Smith, KS

Built 1910 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 20

140 ROAD

Poor

Over: EAST CEDAR CREEK

3.0N 3.5W OF ATHOL, Smith, KS

Built 1940 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 15

270 ROAD

Poor

Over: N FORK SOLOMON TRIBUTARY

2.0S 2.0E OF CEDAR, Smith, KS

Built 1920 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 10

M ROAD

Poor

Over: BULL CREEK

0.8S 3.0W OF THORNBURG, Smith, KS

Built 1920 Load: 20.9 t ADT: 10

J ROAD

Poor

Over: NORTH FORK SOLOMON TRIB

1.0S 2.5W OF GAYLORD, Smith, KS

Built 1936 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 50

K8 HWY

Poor

Over: MIDDLE BEAVER CREEK

12.12MI N JT U36, Smith, KS

Built 1941 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 860

220 ROAD

Poor

Over: SPRING CREEK

5.5S 0.5W OF SMITH CENTER, Smith, KS

Built 2000 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 10

R ROAD

Poor

Over: DRY CREEK

3.5N 5.0E OF GAYLORD, Smith, KS

Built 1970 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 50

US281 HWY

Poor

Over: WHITE ROCK CREEK

3.95 MI N JCT K191, Smith, KS

Built 1937 Load: 32.3 t ADT: 530

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.