County profile · official public datasets

Johnson County, KY

99 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 27.3% rated Good, 69.7% Fair, 3% Poor.

99
Public bridges: 27.3%
Good condition: 3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Johnson County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 12%
lowest Poor share in state: 3%
Poor-condition share: 99
public highway bridges: 1983
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.

Johnson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Johnson County ranks #14 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3%). Johnson County, Kentucky contains 99 public highway bridges. Roughly 27.3% are rated “Good,” 69.7% “Fair,” and 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

Public highway bridges in Johnson County

Good condition

27.3%

27 of 99 rated 7-9

Fair condition

69.7%

69 of 99 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3 of 99 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#14 of 120

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

Condition distribution

Share of 99 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

27.3% (27)

Fair

69.7% (69)

Poor

3% (3)

Johnson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,466 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 489 crossings a day against 1,005 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 99 of 99 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

29.3% of Johnson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

29 of the 99 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 27.3% 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 75.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

KY-825 over Jennys Creek, built 1975, carries 1,101 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,466 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

3
1940s

5
1950s

13
1960s

7
1970s

11
1980s

8
1990s

30
2000s

13
2010s

8
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1983, 5 years newer than the Kentucky average of 1978.

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

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Johnson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is 7 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Johnson County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Lawrence County	103	19.4%	72.8%	7.8%	1983
Bullitt County	99	10.1%	81.8%	8.1%	1980
Johnson County (this page)	99	27.3%	69.7%	3%	1983
Butler County	98	9.2%	81.6%	9.2%	1971
Mason County	97	33%	58.8%	8.2%	1980
Fulton County	95	26.3%	62.1%	11.6%	1965

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (99 bridges here).

Washington County, FL · 99 bridges
Crisp County, GA · 99 bridges
Harris County, GA · 99 bridges
Newton County, GA · 99 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1983 here).

Dallas County, TX · avg 1983 · 3,230 bridges
Bexar County, TX · avg 1983 · 2,342 bridges
Sedgwick County, KS · avg 1983 · 1,333 bridges
Will County, IL · avg 1983 · 649 bridges

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

All 99 Good 27 Fair 69 Poor 3

All bridges (99)

Sort:

KY-321

Fair

Over: Paint Creek

.05 MI S of JCT KY-40, Johnson, KY

Built 1987 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 12,825

Tick Vanhoose Br

Fair

Over: Toms Creek

50 N of JCT KY 201, Johnson, KY

Built 1998 Load: 50.4 t ADT: 952

ASA CREEK RD

Fair

Over: JENNYS CREEK

.1 MI W OF JCT KY 825, Johnson, KY

Built 1977 Load: 52.0 t ADT: 328

KY-321X

Fair

Over: Paint Creek

0.15 MI N of JCT KY 321, Johnson, KY

Built 1936 Load: 52.1 t ADT: 4,693

Campbell Branch Rd

Fair

Over: Sycamore Fork

0.1 MI W of JCT US 23, Johnson, KY

Built 1982 Load: 52.2 t ADT: 655

KY-2040

Fair

Over: GREASY CREEK

0.10 MI NW of JCT KY 40, Johnson, KY

Built 2006 Load: 55.8 t ADT: 396

KY-469

Fair

Over: KEATON FORK

1.3 MI SW OF JCT KY 1092, Johnson, KY

Built 1975 Load: 55.9 t ADT: 219

KY-40

Fair

Over: PAINT CREEK

.043 MI. W JCT KY 580, Johnson, KY

Built 1997 Load: 56.8 t ADT: 1,324

US-23

Fair

Over: KY-825/Lick Fork

@ JCT KY 825, Johnson, KY

Built 1996 Load: 58.7 t ADT: 4,687

Rocky Knob Branch

Fair

Over: Mudlick Creek

@ JCT of KY 172, Johnson, KY

Built 1986 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 257

US-460

Fair

Over: Paint Creek

0.5 MI W of Jct US 23, Johnson, KY

Built 1978 Load: 60.1 t ADT: 4,749

KY-40

Fair

Over: Levisa Fork

0.1 MI E of JCT KY 581, Johnson, KY

Built 1958 Load: 62.5 t ADT: 7,395

KY-825

Fair

Over: JENNYS CREEK

.63 MI. E. JCT KY 2039, Johnson, KY

Built 1994 Load: 65.0 t ADT: 573

KY-3390

Fair

Over: Hammonds Creek

2.5 MI N OF JCT KY 40, Johnson, KY

Built 2015 Load: 65.2 t ADT: 156

KY-40

Fair

Over: STATE ROAD FORK

2.95MI. E. JCT KY 580, Johnson, KY

Built 1997 Load: 65.7 t ADT: 1,530

US-23 NC

Fair

Over: Toms Creek

0.1 MI E of JCT KY 1559, Johnson, KY

Built 1982 Load: 66.3 t ADT: 4,082

US-23

Fair

Over: Toms Creek

0.1 MI E of JCT KY 1559, Johnson, KY

Built 1969 Load: 69.9 t ADT: 4,082

KY-2378

Fair

Over: PAINT CREEK

JCT KY321BY-PASS, Johnson, KY

Built 1979 Load: 72.8 t ADT: 3,585

KY-1092

Fair

Over: UPPER LAUREL CREEK

1.2 MI NW OF W-JCT KY 689, Johnson, KY

Johnson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Johnson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,466 vehicle crossings a day

29.3% of Johnson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 75.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Johnson 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 (99)

KY-321

Tick Vanhoose Br

ASA CREEK RD

KY-321X

Campbell Branch Rd

KY-2040

KY-469

KY-40

US-23

Rocky Knob Branch

US-460

KY-40

KY-825

KY-3390

KY-40

US-23 NC

US-23

KY-2378

KY-1092

Highlands School

KY-1092

Walters Branch Rd

PANTHER BR RTFK RD

L BROWN RD

KY-1145

McCarty Branch Rd

KY-201

KY-201

KY-40

KY-40

Riceville Rd

KY-825

KY-3224

KY-1428

SWAMP BRANCH RD

KY-40

KY-1559

KY-40

Pigeon Creek Rd

BJ Daniels Rd

US-23 NC

Church Dr

KY-825

KY-825

Stonecoal Rd

KY-40

Dry Branch Rd

KY-825

KY-469

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