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.

When Graves County's bridges were built

380 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

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).

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

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 Poor
Graves County (this page) 380 9.5%
Pike County 331 13.6%
Christian County 300 4%
Daviess County 282 5.7%
Harlan County 252 15.9%
Hopkins County 251 9.2%

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).

Similar average build year

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

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)

JC-9003

Good

Over: P&L RAILWAY

NBL .20 MI E OF US45N NTR, Graves, KY

Built 1967 Load: 56.3 t ADT: 4,086

US-45

Good

Over: CANE CREEK

.20 MI. N JCT KY 399, Graves, KY

Built 1998 Load: 56.3 t ADT: 2,998

KY-381

Good

Over: BACON CREEK

1.2 MI.S. JCT KY 97, Graves, KY

Built 1998 Load: 57.0 t ADT: 962

KY 97

Good

Over: Torian Creek

1 Mile N of KY 1890, Graves, KY

Built 2014 Load: 57.3 t ADT: 3,182

US 45

Good

Over: I-69

.8 miles south of KY 80, Graves, KY

Built 2015 Load: 57.3 t ADT: 6,207

KY-131

Good

Over: BEAR CREEK OVERFLOW

.7 MI.S JCT. SYMSONIA, Graves, KY

Built 1992 Load: 58.6 t ADT: 2,189

KY. 80

Good

Over: MINNOW BRANCH

.51 MI WEST OF KY. 1124, Graves, KY

Built 2007 Load: 58.7 t ADT: 3,117

KY. 80

Good

Over: MINNOW BRANCH

.51 MI WEST OF KY 1124, Graves, KY

Built 2007 Load: 58.7 t ADT: 3,117

KY 80

Good

Over: Kess Creek

West of KY 97 intersect., Graves, KY

Built 2012 Load: 59.2 t ADT: 3,242

KY303_

Good

Over: UNNAMED STREAM_

1. MI. NORTH JCT. KY 385_, Graves, KY

Built 2022 Load: 59.6 t ADT: 250

HAYES SCHOOL RD.

Good

Over: OVER LITTLE MAYFIELD CR.

.3 MI S. OF KY 121 / 80, Graves, KY

Built 2008 Load: 60.5 t ADT: 204

White Mountian Rd.

Good

Over: IC RAILROAD

0.7 MI. W. KY 2151, Graves, KY

Built 2013 Load: 61.1 t ADT: 19

DEWARD RD/CR-1154

Good

Over: VULTON CREEK

0.4 MI S OF KY 464, Graves, KY

Built 2019 Load: 64.2 t ADT: 20

KY-339

Good

Over: MCCLANE CREEK

1.4 MI. S JCT KY 1680, Graves, KY

Built 1999 Load: 64.6 t ADT: 363

KY-121

Good

Over: KESS CREEK

.05 MI. N. JCT KY 121, Graves, KY

Built 1999 Load: 65.1 t ADT: 10,079

KY-121

Good

Over: RED DUCK CREEK

.17 MI. N JCT KY 464, Graves, KY

Built 1999 Load: 65.2 t ADT: 12,092

KY-131

Good

Over: BEAR CREEK OVERFLOW

.6 MI.OF SYMSONIA, Graves, KY

Built 1992 Load: 65.7 t ADT: 2,189

SULLIVAN RD.

Good

Over: W. FK MAYFIELD CREEK

1.1 MI N. KY 80, Graves, KY

Built 2017 Load: 65.8 t ADT: 147

KY-58

Good

Over: MAYFIELD CREEK

.1 MI E. JCT KY 121 BYP, Graves, KY

Built 1928 Load: 66.6 t ADT: 6,064

BEECH GROVE RD.

Good

Over: BR. OF TERRAPIN CREEK

.6 MI S. OF JCT KY 94, Graves, KY

Built 2018 Load: 67.7 t ADT: 66

KY-303

Good

Over: Kess Creek

.90 MI South of JCT 121, Graves, KY

Built 2012 Load: 68.9 t ADT: 5,320

KY-2192

Good

Over: Tributary of Mayfield Cr

2.4 miles North of KY1241, Graves, KY

Built 2011 Load: 71.3 t ADT: 273

PADUCAH ROAD

Good

Over: OAK GROVE CREEK

.5 MI. S JCT JACKSON PK, Graves, KY

Built 1999 Load: 73.1 t ADT: 13,592

KY 2194

Good

Over: UNNAMED STREAM

1.5 miles east KY 945, Graves, KY

Built 2019 Load: 73.5 t ADT: 119

US-45

Good

Over: OVER P & L RAILROAD

.52 MI N. OF JCT 58/80, Graves, KY

Built 2003 Load: 73.7 t ADT: 8,525

KY 849

Good

Over: Branch-Bush Creek

0.12 MI. E. KY 339, Graves, KY

Built 2018 Load: 78.7 t ADT: 386

KY. 80

Good

Over: UNNAMED STREAM

.54 MI WEST OF KY. 1124, Graves, KY

Built 2007 Load: 83.9 t ADT: 12,060

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

Related

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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.