County profile · official public datasets

Clark County, KY

117 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 27.4% rated Good, 60.7% Fair, 12% Poor.

117
Public bridges: 27.4%
Good condition: 12%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

107th
of 120 on Poor share: 12%
Poor-condition share: 117
public highway bridges: 1976
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.

Clark County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clark County ranks #107 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12%). Clark County, Kentucky contains 117 public highway bridges. Roughly 27.4% are rated “Good,” 60.7% “Fair,” and 12% “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

117

Public highway bridges in Clark County

Good condition

27.4%

32 of 117 rated 7-9

Fair condition

60.7%

71 of 117 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12%

14 of 117 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#107 of 120

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

Condition distribution

Share of 117 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

27.4% (32)

Fair

60.7% (71)

Poor

12% (14)

Clark County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,611 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 901 crossings a day against 2,094 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 117 of 117 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

47% of Clark County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

55 of the 117 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 27.4% 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 49.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US-60 over I-64, built 1959, carries 6,197 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 12,611 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1930s

9
1940s

2
1950s

17
1960s

22
1970s

14
1980s

9
1990s

17
2000s

18
2010s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 22 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Kentucky average (1978).

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

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Clark County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 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 Clark County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Grayson County	119	39.5%	54.6%	5.9%	1972
Fleming County	117	32.5%	62.4%	5.1%	1976
Franklin County	117	13.7%	75.2%	11.1%	1980
Clark County (this page)	117	27.4%	60.7%	12%	1976
Caldwell County	116	12.1%	81%	6.9%	1972
Morgan County	114	50.9%	46.5%	2.6%	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 Clark 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 Clark County, both outside Kentucky so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (117 bridges here).

Franklin County, GA · 117 bridges
Polk County, GA · 117 bridges
Benton County, MN · 117 bridges
Lake County, MT · 117 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1976 here).

Marion County, IN · avg 1976 · 958 bridges
Mohave County, AZ · avg 1976 · 641 bridges
Comanche County, OK · avg 1976 · 593 bridges
Prince George's County, MD · avg 1976 · 576 bridges

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

All 117 Good 32 Fair 71 Poor 14

Fair-condition bridges (71)

Sort:

Clark County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Clark County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,611 vehicle crossings a day

47% of Clark County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 49.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Clark 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 (71)

KY-974

KY-3369

GOOSE CREEK RD

OLD BOONESBOROUGH

WILLS RUPARD RD

KY-89

KY-974

I-64

KY 2888

KY 89

PRETTY RUN RD

KY-418

KY-3368

KY-1961

WEST FULTON ROAD

CROWE RIDGE RD

KY-1923

I-64

WADES MILL RD

KY-974

KY-974

MOUNTAIN PKY NC

KY-1960

KY-974

KY-1961

MOUNTAIN PKY NC

KY-9000 MTN PKWY

LOGAN LICK RD

OLD RUCKERVILLE RD

KY-974

OLD LOG LICK RD

KY-627

KY 89

US-60

KY-1960

JACKSON FERRY RD

KY-646

I-64

KY-627

US-60

US-60

KY-627

ROLLING HILLS LANE

ROLLING HILLS LANE

MOUNTAIN PKY NC

KY-9000

MOUNTAIN PKY NC

MOUNTAIN PKY CARD

KY-1923

GOSHEN RD

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