County profile · official public datasets

Bell County, KY

205 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 15.6% rated Good, 76.1% Fair, 8.3% Poor.

205
Public bridges: 15.6%
Good condition: 8.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

78th
of 120 on Poor share: 8.3%
Poor-condition share: 205
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Bell County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Bell County ranks #78 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.3%). Bell County, Kentucky contains 205 public highway bridges. Roughly 15.6% are rated “Good,” 76.1% “Fair,” and 8.3% “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

205

Public highway bridges in Bell County

Good condition

15.6%

32 of 205 rated 7-9

Fair condition

76.1%

156 of 205 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.3%

17 of 205 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#78 of 120

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

Condition distribution

Share of 205 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

15.6% (32)

Fair

76.1% (156)

Poor

8.3% (17)

Bell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 31,222 vehicle crossings a day

That is 10.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,837 crossings a day against 511 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 205 of 205 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

36.6% of Bell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

75 of the 205 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 15.6% 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 60.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US-25E over LITTLE YELLOW CREEK, built 1989, carries 18,996 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 31,222 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1930s

14
1940s

9
1950s

28
1960s

13
1970s

26
1980s

56
1990s

40
2000s

5
2010s

7
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 56 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Kentucky average (1978).

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

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Bell County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.3% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Bell County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Calloway County	210	26.7%	62.4%	11%	1978
Marshall County	208	40.4%	54.8%	4.8%	1976
Bell County (this page)	205	15.6%	76.1%	8.3%	1977
McCracken County	201	43.3%	50.7%	6%	1979
Fayette County	200	22.5%	70%	7.5%	1980
Carter County	189	21.2%	72.5%	6.3%	1974

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (205 bridges here).

Geneva County, AL · 205 bridges
Russell County, AL · 205 bridges
Wilson County, KS · 205 bridges
Carroll County, MD · 205 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges

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

All 205 Good 32 Fair 156 Poor 17

Fair-condition bridges (156)

Sort:

Bell County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Bell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 31,222 vehicle crossings a day

36.6% of Bell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 60.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Bell 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

Fair-condition bridges (156)

KY-1344

KY-535

US-25E

CR-1720

CR-1044C

SIMS FRK RD

CR-1323

US-25E

CR-1344C

CR 1205A

SKYLAND ROAD

SIMS FRK RD

KY-225

JEROME CALDWELL RO

KY-987

KY-66

US-25E-10

US-25E

CR-1321D

SLUSHER LOOP

CR-1249

US-25E

CR-1321H

KY-190

WEST CUMBERLAND AV

CR-1072

KY-66

BEANS FRK RD

KY-516

KY-221

KY-66

US-25E-10

US-25E

LITTLE CLEAR CRK R

CS-2184

MILL CRK RD

CR-1113C

KY-190

KY-190

KY-74

KY-66

KY-1344

KY-988

KY-987

KY-74

KY-74

BELT LINE ROAD

KY-66

KY-441

U.S. ROUTE 25E SOU

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