County profile · official public datasets

Graves County, KY

380 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 33.4% rated Good, 57.1% Fair, 9.5% Poor.

380
Public bridges: 33.4%
Good condition: 9.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

92nd
of 120 on Poor share: 9.5%
Poor-condition share: 380
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.

Graves County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Graves County ranks #92 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.5%). Graves County, Kentucky contains 380 public highway bridges. Roughly 33.4% are rated “Good,” 57.1% “Fair,” and 9.5% “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

380

Public highway bridges in Graves County

Good condition

33.4%

127 of 380 rated 7-9

Fair condition

57.1%

217 of 380 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.5%

36 of 380 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#92 of 120

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

Condition distribution

Share of 380 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

33.4% (127)

Fair

57.1% (217)

Poor

9.5% (36)

Graves County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,926 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 609 crossings a day against 2,175 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 379 of 380 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.4% of Graves County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

199 of the 380 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 33.4% 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 29.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SOUTH 9TH STREET over RED DUCK CREEK, built 1920, carries 6,394 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 36-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 21,926 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

21
1930s

16
1940s

10
1950s

52
1960s

82
1970s

37
1980s

42
1990s

49
2000s

31
2010s

29
2020s

11

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 82 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.6% 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 Graves County compares with Kentucky's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Graves County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.5% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Graves County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Graves County (this page)	380	33.4%	57.1%	9.5%	1976
Pike County	331	26.9%	59.5%	13.6%	1984
Christian County	300	23.7%	72.3%	4%	1981
Daviess County	282	18.4%	75.9%	5.7%	1979
Harlan County	252	25.8%	58.3%	15.9%	1980
Hopkins County	251	10.4%	80.5%	9.2%	1967

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (380 bridges here).

Lincoln County, MS · 380 bridges
Baldwin County, AL · 381 bridges
Lehigh County, PA · 381 bridges
Obion County, TN · 381 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 380 Good 127 Fair 217 Poor 36

Good-condition bridges (127)

Sort:

Graves County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Graves County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,926 vehicle crossings a day

52.4% of Graves County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 29.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Graves 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

Good-condition bridges (127)

HICKORY ROAD

JULIAN M CAROLL PA

Duffy Rd.(CR-1046)

Alben Barkley Road

Kingston CR1299

LESTER ROAD

JULIAN M CAROLL PA

JC-9003

JULIAN M CAROLL PA

JC-9003

JULIAN M CAROLL PA

JC-9003

LOWES ROAD

KY-131

KY-131

KY-384

KY-2422

KY-408

KY-1213

KY 534

SHAW-BOAZ ROAD

KY-408

KY-943

KY-97

KY 80

KY 1124

KY 80

KY 97

KY 1124

JC-9003

JULIAN M CAROLL PA

DAVE MILLER ROAD

KY-339

_KY-945

JEFF DAVIS ROAD

KY 1820_

KY-94

US-45

US-45

JULIAN M CAROLL PA

KY. 80

KY. 80

KY-131

JC-9003

KY-97

KY-1890

KY-131

JULIAN M CAROLL PA

JC-9003

JULIAN M CAROLL PA

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