County profile · official public datasets

Clay County, KY

160 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 21.9% rated Good, 63.8% Fair, 14.4% Poor.

160
Public bridges
21.9%
Good condition
14.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

115th
of 120 on Poor share
14.4%
Poor-condition share
160
public highway bridges
1978
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.

Clay County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clay County ranks #115 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 14.4%). Clay County, Kentucky contains 160 public highway bridges. Roughly 21.9% are rated “Good,” 63.8% “Fair,” and 14.4% “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

160

Public highway bridges in Clay County

Good condition

21.9%

35 of 160 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.8%

102 of 160 rated 5-6

Poor condition

14.4%

23 of 160 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#115 of 120

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

Condition distribution

Share of 160 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
21.9% (35)
Fair
63.8% (102)
Poor
14.4% (23)

Clay County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,942 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 14.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 258 crossings a day against 607 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 160 of 160 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

51.9% of Clay County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

83 of the 160 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 21.9% 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 20.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US-421 over SPENCERS BRANCH, built 1936, carries 1,224 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 23-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,942 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Clay County's bridges were built

160 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 27 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the Kentucky average (1978).

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Clay County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 14.4% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1979 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Clay County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Floyd County 161 8.7%
Greenup County 161 1.9%
Clay County (this page) 160 14.4%
Madison County 154 3.9%
Harrison County 153 5.9%
Muhlenberg County 152 4.6%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (160 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1978 here).

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

All 160 Good 35 Fair 102 Poor 23

Poor-condition bridges (23)

FRANK BOWLING ROAD

Poor

Over: REDBIRD RIVER

N @JCT KY 66 @PEABODY, Clay, KY

Built 1935 Load: 0.1 t ADT: 104

MILL CREEK ROAD

Poor

Over: MILL CREEK

.5 MI S OF JCT KY 1524, Clay, KY

Built 1960 Load: 0.1 t ADT: 52

CR-1150

Poor

Over: RED BIRD

NEAR 28 M/P OF 66, Clay, KY

Built 2010 Load: 0.1 t ADT: 50

CR 1577

Poor

Over: Goose Creek

Oneida, Clay, KY

Built 1950 Load: 0.1 t ADT: 60

CR-1155

Poor

Over: MILL CREEK

.1 MI W OF JCT CR 5154, Clay, KY

Built 1984 Load: 2.8 t ADT: 52

PV

Poor

Over: ELK CREEK

50 SE OF US 421, Clay, KY

Built 1940 Load: 6.9 t ADT: 52

POWDER HORN BRANCH

Poor

Over: MILL CREEK

.05 MI SE OF JCT CR 5154, Clay, KY

Built 1960 Load: 8.2 t ADT: 21

CR-1286

Poor

Over: LITTLE GOOSE CR

URBAN CK OFF KY 687, Clay, KY

Built 1940 Load: 11.0 t ADT: 247

ARNETTS FORK ROAD

Poor

Over: DOUBLE CREEK

.1 MI W OF JCT CR 5116, Clay, KY

Built 1935 Load: 11.9 t ADT: 52

CR-1363

Poor

Over: SEXTON CREEK

.1 MI S OF JCT KY 1350, Clay, KY

Built 1958 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 179

KY-66

Poor

Over: JACKS CREEK

1.5 MI SE OF JCT KY 149, Clay, KY

Built 1958 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 564

KY-3478

Poor

Over: ROBINSON CREEK

.1 MI S OF JCT US 421, Clay, KY

Built 1967 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 312

LONG BRANCH ROAD

Poor

Over: BULLSKIN CREEK

.1 MI S OF JCT KY 1482, Clay, KY

Built 1965 Load: 22.2 t ADT: 26

US-421

Poor

Over: RICE BRANCH

1.7 MI SW OF S-JCT KY 66, Clay, KY

Built 1934 Load: 25.2 t ADT: 748

US-421

Poor

Over: SPENCERS BRANCH

.75 MI WEST OF LESLIE CL, Clay, KY

Built 1936 Load: 27.9 t ADT: 1,224

CR1366

Poor

Over: Sextons Creek

638East of KY 1350, Clay, KY

Built 2011 Load: 28.2 t ADT: 398

KY-1482

Poor

Over: LITTLE BULLSKIN CREEK

1.7 MI EAST OF JCT KY 66, Clay, KY

Built 1976 Load: 28.5 t ADT: 323

CS-1002

Poor

Over: HORSE CREEK

.05 MI E OF JCT KY 80, Clay, KY

Built 1960 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 209

KY-11

Poor

Over: COLLINS FORK--GOOSE CREE

3.0 MI NOR. OF KNOX CL, Clay, KY

Built 1946 Load: 31.9 t ADT: 1,016

CR1708

Poor

Over: ELK CREEK

50 SE OF US 421, Clay, KY

Built 1940 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 41

LAUREL BRANCH ROAD

Poor

Over: GOOSE CREEK

.3 MI NE OF JCT KY 11, Clay, KY

Built 1978 Load: 38.3 t ADT: 52

CR-1267E

Poor

Over: HORSE CREEK

.10 MI SO OF JCT KY 80, Clay, KY

Built 1955 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 104

CR-1266

Poor

Over: HORSE CREEK

.10 MI SE OF JCT KY 80, Clay, KY

Built 1960 Load: 45.5 t ADT: 56

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.