County profile · official public datasets

Russell County, KY

46 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 21.7% rated Good, 69.6% Fair, 8.7% Poor.

46
Public bridges: 21.7%
Good condition: 8.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

84th
of 120 on Poor share: 8.7%
Poor-condition share: 46
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Russell County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Russell County ranks #84 of 120 Kentucky counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.7%). Russell County, Kentucky contains 46 public highway bridges. Roughly 21.7% are rated “Good,” 69.6% “Fair,” and 8.7% “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 Russell County

Good condition

21.7%

10 of 46 rated 7-9

Fair condition

69.6%

32 of 46 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.7%

4 of 46 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#84 of 120

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

Condition distribution

Share of 46 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

21.7% (10)

Fair

69.6% (32)

Poor

8.7% (4)

Russell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,425 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 606 crossings a day against 552 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 46 of 46 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

69.6% of Russell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

32 of the 46 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 21.7% 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 46% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

KY-910 over IRVIN BRANCH, built 1935, carries 1,116 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 4-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,425 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

3
1940s

1
1950s

14
1960s

1
1970s

13
1980s

1
1990s

2
2000s

5
2010s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 14 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Kentucky average (1978).

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

The 5 Kentucky counties nearest Russell County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.7% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is 8 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Russell County and the 5 Kentucky counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Simpson County	50	36%	58%	6%	1991
Bracken County	49	30.6%	51%	18.4%	1983
Menifee County	49	34.7%	65.3%	0%	1976
Russell County (this page)	46	21.7%	69.6%	8.7%	1974
Trimble County	44	11.4%	79.5%	9.1%	1985
Lee County	42	35.7%	57.1%	7.1%	1977

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside KY (46 bridges here).

Butts County, GA · 46 bridges
Marion County, GA · 46 bridges
Towns County, GA · 46 bridges
Somerset County, MD · 46 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside KY (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 46 Good 10 Fair 32 Poor 4

All bridges (46)

Sort:

Russell County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Russell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,425 vehicle crossings a day

69.6% of Russell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 46% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Russell 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 (46)

MOUNT PLEASANT RD

US-127 X

BLANKENSHIP RD

AIRPORT RD

KY-379

KY-619

KY-619

KY-619

MILLER CEMETERY RD

US 127-US00127-0

KY-76

NORTH GRIDER RD

Riverview Drive

KY-430

KY-910

US-127

Pattie Ridge Road

KY-92

KY-379

KY-619

KY-76

KY-910

KY-92

KY-1729

KY-379

CROCUS RD

Mt Eden Road

DECATUR RD

KY-2283

KY-80

KY-1545

LN-9008

BLANKENSHIP RD

J.W. HARRIS RD

KY-1058

KY 76

US 127

Clear Springs Road

Mt. Eden Road

KY-1058

KY 3280

Manntown Road

KY-92

KY-3281

KY-379

KY-910

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