County profile · official public datasets

Lewis County, KY

149 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 28.9% rated Good, 67.1% Fair, 4% Poor.

149
Public bridges: 28.9%
Good condition: 4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Lewis County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 22%
lowest Poor share in state: 4%
Poor-condition share: 149
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Lewis County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lewis County ranks #26 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4%). Lewis County, Kentucky contains 149 public highway bridges. Roughly 28.9% are rated “Good,” 67.1% “Fair,” and 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

149

Public highway bridges in Lewis County

Good condition

28.9%

43 of 149 rated 7-9

Fair condition

67.1%

100 of 149 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6 of 149 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#26 of 120

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

Condition distribution

Share of 149 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

28.9% (43)

Fair

67.1% (100)

Poor

4% (6)

Lewis County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,146 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 191 crossings a day against 554 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 149 of 149 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

38.9% of Lewis County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

58 of the 149 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 28.9% 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 34% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

KY-59 over TRIB OF KINNICONICK CREE, built 1935, carries 390 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,146 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

7
1940s

12
1950s

25
1960s

4
1970s

14
1980s

14
1990s

25
2000s

22
2010s

22
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 25 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the Kentucky average (1978).

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

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Lewis County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is 8 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lewis County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Muhlenberg County	152	12.5%	82.9%	4.6%	1967
Nelson County	151	40.4%	51.7%	7.9%	1974
Marion County	149	53%	39.6%	7.4%	1981
Whitley County	149	24.8%	69.1%	6%	1974
Lewis County (this page)	149	28.9%	67.1%	4%	1982
Barren County	147	12.9%	83.7%	3.4%	1974

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (149 bridges here).

Tallapoosa County, AL · 149 bridges
Drew County, AR · 149 bridges
Madison County, AR · 149 bridges
Walker County, GA · 149 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges

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

All 149 Good 43 Fair 100 Poor 6

Good-condition bridges (43)

Sort:

Lewis County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Lewis County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,146 vehicle crossings a day

38.9% of Lewis County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 34% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Lewis 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 (43)

Little Sulphur Rd.

CR-1009

CR-1063

BRIERY CREEK ROAD

KY-9

BUTLER BR CR-1137

BILL CHAIN ROAD

TAR FORK

LAUREL CREEK

KY-989

STAMPER BRANCH

TOLLER BRANCH ROAD

LOWER KINNEY ROAD

KY-59

KY-344

KY-344

KY-57

CABIN CREEK ROAD

MUD LICK ROAD

SARGENT BRANCH

BRACKMAN HOL. 1307

MCDOWELLS CREEK RO

CR 1111

KY-10

KY-1068

KY 3311

Laurel Creek Rd.

Spy Run CR-1034

KY-984

KY-57

Browns Run Road

KY-8

Hackworth Hollow

KY-9

STRAIGHT FORK ROAD

SKIDMORE DRIVE

Rock Run Cr1002

RIBOLTEPWORTH 1249

Quicks Run Rd 1306

Buck Lick BR 1233

Buck Lick Br 1233

Straight Fk 1127

KY-9

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