County profile · official public datasets

Woodson County, KS

143 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 37.1% rated Good, 54.5% Fair, 8.4% Poor.

143
Public bridges: 37.1%
Good condition: 8.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Woodson 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.

82nd
of 104 on Poor share: 8.4%
Poor-condition share: 143
public highway bridges: 1958
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.

Woodson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Woodson County ranks #82 of 104 Kansas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.4%). Woodson County, Kansas contains 143 public highway bridges. Roughly 37.1% are rated “Good,” 54.5% “Fair,” and 8.4% “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

143

Public highway bridges in Woodson County

Good condition

37.1%

53 of 143 rated 7-9

Fair condition

54.5%

78 of 143 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.4%

12 of 143 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#82 of 104

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

Condition distribution

Share of 143 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

37.1% (53)

Fair

54.5% (78)

Poor

8.4% (12)

Woodson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 695 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 58 crossings a day against 691 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 143 of 143 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

68.5% of Woodson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

98 of the 143 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 37.1% 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 75.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

K105 HWY over CEDAR CREEK, built 1949, carries 523 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 12-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 695 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

10
1930s

44
1940s

6
1950s

18
1960s

13
1970s

11
1980s

18
1990s

11
2000s

5
2010s

5
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 44 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1958, 14 years older than the Kansas average of 1972.

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

The 5 Kansas counties nearest Woodson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.4% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1958 against a peer-group mean of 1964 is 6 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Woodson County and the 5 Kansas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Elk County	154	37%	55.8%	7.1%	1959
Anderson County	144	34.7%	61.1%	4.2%	1956
Woodson County (this page)	143	37.1%	54.5%	8.4%	1958
Graham County	142	52.8%	39.4%	7.7%	1968
Geary County	140	46.4%	43.6%	10%	1972
Chautauqua County	130	41.5%	47.7%	10.8%	1964

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KS (143 bridges here).

Franklin County, AR · 143 bridges
San Francisco County, CA · 143 bridges
Adair County, KY · 143 bridges
Casey County, KY · 143 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KS (1958 here).

Middlesex County, MA · avg 1958 · 818 bridges
Bucks County, PA · avg 1958 · 699 bridges
Butte County, CA · avg 1958 · 437 bridges
Marin County, CA · avg 1958 · 207 bridges

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

All 143 Good 53 Fair 78 Poor 12

All bridges (143)

Sort:

Woodson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Woodson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 695 vehicle crossings a day

68.5% of Woodson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 75.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Woodson 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

All bridges (143)

RS 4 200th Rd

MEADOW RD.

90th RD.

70th RD.

RS 1132 110th Rd

160th Rd

142nd RD.

RS 666 7th St

RS 1882 70th Rd

US75 HWY

RS 291 180th RD

RS 1882 70th Rd

RS 148 ELK RD

US75 HWY

RS 666

ROCK RD.

220th RD.

US 75 HWY

US54 HWY

K105 HWY

Hereford Rd.

Apache Rd

Grouse RD.

COYOTE RD.

RS1125 Indian Rd

US-54 HWY

US 75 HWY

DEER RD.

DEER RD.

RS 552 Jay Rd

US54 HWY

165th RD.

PRAIRIE RD

Indian RD.

20th RD.

LYNX RD

TADPOLE RD.

80th Rd

65th RD.

K105 HWY

20th RD.

145th RD.

Kanza Rd.

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