County profile · official public datasets

Adair County, KY

143 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 17.5% rated Good, 74.8% Fair, 7.7% Poor.

143
Public bridges: 17.5%
Good condition: 7.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Adair County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

66th
of 120 on Poor share: 7.7%
Poor-condition share: 143
public highway bridges: 1975
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.

Adair County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Adair County ranks #66 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.7%). Adair County, Kentucky contains 143 public highway bridges. Roughly 17.5% are rated “Good,” 74.8% “Fair,” and 7.7% “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 Adair County

Good condition

17.5%

25 of 143 rated 7-9

Fair condition

74.8%

107 of 143 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.7%

11 of 143 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#66 of 120

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

Condition distribution

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

Good

17.5% (25)

Fair

74.8% (107)

Poor

7.7% (11)

Adair County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,664 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 697 crossings a day against 1,777 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.

56.6% of Adair County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

81 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 17.5% 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 35.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

KY-80 over RUSSELL CREEK, built 1933, carries 2,699 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 11-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 7,664 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

7
1930s

15
1940s

4
1950s

18
1960s

9
1970s

30
1980s

11
1990s

10
2000s

25
2010s

13
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Kentucky average (1978).

How Adair County compares with Kentucky's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Adair County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.7% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 119 Kentucky counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Adair County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Barren County	147	12.9%	83.7%	3.4%	1974
Webster County	144	9%	80.6%	10.4%	1969
Casey County	143	14.7%	77.6%	7.7%	1976
Adair County (this page)	143	17.5%	74.8%	7.7%	1975
Kenton County	142	39.4%	52.8%	7.7%	1978
Boone County	138	40.6%	55.1%	4.3%	1981

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (143 bridges here).

Franklin County, AR · 143 bridges
San Francisco County, CA · 143 bridges
Woodson County, KS · 143 bridges
Iberia County, LA · 143 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1975 here).

San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges

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

All 143 Good 25 Fair 107 Poor 11

All bridges (143)

Sort:

KY-80

Fair

Over: LN-9008

BTWN N&S JCTS KY 768, Adair, KY

Built 1971 Load: 73.9 t ADT: 836

CHESTNUT GROVE RD

Fair

Over: BR. OF LEATHERWOOD CR

0.25 MI. SW. OF JCT KY 80, Adair, KY

Built 2005 Load: 76.2 t ADT: 57

Barnetts Creek RD

Fair

Over: Branch of Barnetts Creek

100 E of Scott Hill RD, Adair, KY

Built 2018 Load: 79.2 t ADT: 108

LN-9008 & CR-1320

Fair

Over: RICHARDS BRANCH

2.8 MI EAST OF KY 80 OP, Adair, KY

Built 1971 Load: 96.3 t ADT: 4,857

LN-9008

Fair

Over: Middle Prong Creek

2.5 MI EAST OF KY 80 OP, Adair, KY

Built 1971 Load: 99.8 t ADT: 4,857

LN-9008

Fair

Over: BUTLERS FORK

2.0 MI WEST OF KY 61 OP, Adair, KY

Built 1972 Load: 99.8 t ADT: 4,857

KY-55

Fair

Over: BUTLERS BRANCH

.05 MI NOR. OF JCT KY 551, Adair, KY

Adair County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Adair County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,664 vehicle crossings a day

56.6% of Adair County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 35.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Adair County compares with Kentucky'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)

KY-80

CHESTNUT GROVE RD

Barnetts Creek RD

LN-9008 & CR-1320

LN-9008

LN-9008

KY-55

Leatherwood Ch. Rd

KY-531

KY-768

KY-551

KY 80

KY-206

KY 55

KY-768

CANE VALLEY RD

KY-55

KY-767

KY-3491

KY 61

KY 61

KY-61 KY-55

OLD GRADYVILLE RD

GENTRY MILL RD

LASLEY RD

KY-704

KY-55

KY 92

LN-9008

Old Glensfork Road

Rollin Coomer Rd

KY-55X and KY-206

WIDS ROAD

ALLEN SCHOOLHOUSE

NELSON WALKUP RD

OLD GRADYVILLE RD

ABRELL RD

ARNOLDS LANDING RD

DUNNVILLE RD

KY-551

KY-551

KY-80

LITTLE CAKE RD

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