County profile · official public datasets

Marion County, KY

149 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 53% rated Good, 39.6% Fair, 7.4% Poor.

149
Public bridges: 53%
Good condition: 7.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

61st
of 120 on Poor share: 7.4%
Poor-condition share: 149
public highway bridges: 1981
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.

Marion County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Marion County ranks #61 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.4%). Marion County, Kentucky contains 149 public highway bridges. Roughly 53% are rated “Good,” 39.6% “Fair,” and 7.4% “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 Marion County

Good condition

53%

79 of 149 rated 7-9

Fair condition

39.6%

59 of 149 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.4%

11 of 149 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#61 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

53% (79)

Fair

39.6% (59)

Poor

7.4% (11)

Marion County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,985 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 544 crossings a day against 635 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.

33.6% of Marion County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

50 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 53% 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 25.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

KY-208 over ROLLING FORK OF SALT RIV, built 1953, carries 1,540 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 11-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,985 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

5
1930s

12
1940s

6
1950s

15
1960s

7
1970s

7
1980s

11
1990s

50
2000s

11
2010s

23
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 50 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 33.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Kentucky average (1978).

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

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Marion County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.4% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is 7 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Marion 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
Lewis County	149	28.9%	67.1%	4%	1982
Whitley County	149	24.8%	69.1%	6%	1974
Marion County (this page)	149	53%	39.6%	7.4%	1981
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 Marion 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 Marion 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 (1981 here).

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

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

All 149 Good 79 Fair 59 Poor 11

Good-condition bridges (79)

Sort:

Marion County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Marion County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,985 vehicle crossings a day

33.6% of Marion County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 25.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Marion 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 (79)

WARDS BRANCH RD.

KY-412

Craintown Rd.

Mullins Branch Rd.

U.S. 68

POPES CRK RD

PLEASANT VALLEY RD

_KY 2741

KY 49

US 68

POPES CRK RD

ED SULLIVAN RD

KY-49

PENICK TATUM LOOP

KY-327

KEDRON RD

KY-49

KY 49

KY-337

Dry Fork Rd

Beech Fork Rd.

KY-49

RALEY RD

Craintown Rd.

Helm Schoolhouse

Jed Gaddie Road

Hwy. 2154

KY-337

KY-49

Related