County profile · official public datasets

Carter County, KY

189 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 21.2% rated Good, 72.5% Fair, 6.3% Poor.

189
Public bridges: 21.2%
Good condition: 6.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 43%
lowest Poor share in state: 6.3%
Poor-condition share: 189
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Carter County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Carter County ranks #51 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.3%). Carter County, Kentucky contains 189 public highway bridges. Roughly 21.2% are rated “Good,” 72.5% “Fair,” and 6.3% “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

189

Public highway bridges in Carter County

Good condition

21.2%

40 of 189 rated 7-9

Fair condition

72.5%

137 of 189 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.3%

12 of 189 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#51 of 120

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

Condition distribution

Share of 189 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

21.2% (40)

Fair

72.5% (137)

Poor

6.3% (12)

Carter County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,040 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 920 crossings a day against 952 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 189 of 189 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

59.8% of Carter County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

113 of the 189 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 21.2% 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 19.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

KY-3297 over UPPER STINSON CREEK, built 1970, carries 2,156 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 11,040 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

2
1930s

11
1940s

12
1950s

30
1960s

40
1970s

25
1980s

5
1990s

29
2000s

12
2010s

17
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Kentucky average (1978).

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

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Carter County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.3% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1981 is 7 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Carter County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Fayette County	200	22.5%	70%	7.5%	1980
Carter County (this page)	189	21.2%	72.5%	6.3%	1974
Henderson County	184	8.2%	87%	4.9%	1978
Scott County	183	28.4%	61.7%	9.8%	1985
Pulaski County	182	19.8%	74.7%	5.5%	1980
Letcher County	179	36.3%	52.5%	11.2%	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 Carter 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 Carter County, both outside Kentucky so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (189 bridges here).

Butler County, AL · 189 bridges
Chilton County, AL · 189 bridges
Jasper County, IN · 189 bridges
Chase County, KS · 189 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 189 Good 40 Fair 137 Poor 12

All bridges (189)

Sort:

Carter County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Carter County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,040 vehicle crossings a day

59.8% of Carter County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 19.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Carter 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 (189)

HICKORY FLATS

OATS HILL CIR

CR-1324E

KY-1910

KY-1910

LESLIE RD

KY-3297

CS-2065

LESLIE RD CR1037

US-60

US-60

US 60

KY-6231

US-60

KY-773

KY-773

KY-2

US-60

US 60

REEVES HLW CR-1167

Mallard Dr CR1920

KY 1959

CR1517

KY-474

HAMMERTIGHT RD.

KY-1947

STINSON CK RD 1095

SMOKY CREEK RD

ALLIS CHALMERS DR.

CR-1053

KY-174

TACKETTS DR CR1821

KY-2

KY-3297

CR-1053

KY-1

KY-1

KY-1

KY-1626

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