Total bridges
178
Public highway bridges in Allen County
County profile · official public datasets
Allen County, LA
178 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 15.2% rated Good, 72.5% Fair, 12.4% Poor.
- 178
- Public bridges
- 15.2%
- Good condition
- 12.4%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Allen County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- 39th
- of 64 on Poor share
- 12.4%
- Poor-condition share
- 178
- 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.
Allen County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Allen County ranks #39 of 64 Louisiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.4%). Allen County, Louisiana contains 178 public highway bridges. Roughly 15.2% are rated “Good,” 72.5% “Fair,” and 12.4% “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.
Good condition
15.2%
27 of 178 rated 7-9
Fair condition
72.5%
129 of 178 rated 5-6
Poor condition
12.4%
22 of 178 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#39 of 64
Among Louisiana counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 178 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 15.2% (27)
Fair 72.5% (129)
Poor 12.4% (22)
Allen County's Poor-condition bridges carry 16,229 vehicle crossings a day
That is 4.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 738 crossings a day against 1,829 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 178 of 178 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
33.1% of Allen County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
59 of the 178 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 15.2% 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 24.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
US0190 over WEST CALCASIEU RIVER REL, built 1980, carries 3,923 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 22-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 16,229 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Allen County's bridges were built
178 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 2
1920–1929
2 bridges
- 1930s 11
1930–1939
11 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
16 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
19 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
21 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
24 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
30 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
37 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
17 bridges
- 2020s 1
2020–2029
1 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 37 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the Louisiana average (1982).
How Allen County compares with Louisiana's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Louisiana counties nearest Allen County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.4% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 63 Louisiana counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaSalle County | 195 | 60% | 34.4% | 5.6% | 1983 |
| Webster County | 194 | 21.6% | 53.1% | 25.3% | 1975 |
| Bienville County | 190 | 20% | 51.6% | 28.4% | 1979 |
| Allen County (this page) | 178 | 15.2% | 72.5% | 12.4% | 1983 |
| Lincoln County | 171 | 22.8% | 63.7% | 13.5% | 1982 |
| Jackson County | 163 | 28.2% | 64.4% | 7.4% | 1982 |
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 Allen 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 Allen County, both outside Louisiana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside LA (178 bridges here).
- Webster County, MS · 178 bridges
- Clark County, MO · 178 bridges
- Monroe County, MO · 178 bridges
- Ontario County, NY · 178 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside LA (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.
Poor-condition bridges (22)
CARPENTERS BRDG RD
PoorOver: WHISKEY CHITTO CREEK
7.6 MI S of LA 26, Allen, LA
Built 1965 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 100
ARKADELPHIA RD
PoorOver: SIX MILE CREEK RELIEF
3.97 MI. N. OF LA 377, Allen, LA
Built 1977 Load: 3.4 t ADT: 260
ARKADELPHIA RD
PoorOver: SIX MILE CREEK RELIEF
4.0 MI N OF LA 377, Allen, LA
Built 1970 Load: 5.6 t ADT: 260
CHARLIE KUNTZ RD
PoorOver: KINDER DITCH
0.6 MI N OF LA 3086, Allen, LA
Built 1952 Load: 9.1 t ADT: 150
PARK RD
PoorOver: CREEK
0.1 MI. S OF LA 383, Allen, LA
Built 1965 Load: 9.1 t ADT: 480
REEDS BRIDGE RD
PoorOver: CALCASIEU RIVER RELIEF
1.9 MI WEST OF US 165, Allen, LA
Built 1960 Load: 10.2 t ADT: 132
PAUL BROWN RD
PoorOver: WEST FORK CANEY CREEK
1.0 MI S OF LA 10, Allen, LA
Built 1950 Load: 10.2 t ADT: 10
LA1156
PoorOver: MILL CREEK
0.9 MI E of LA 112, Allen, LA
Built 1966 Load: 11.3 t ADT: 550
POPLAR ST
PoorOver: MILL CREEK
0.2 MI SOUTH OF LA 1156, Allen, LA
Built 1965 Load: 12.3 t ADT: 750
LA0372
PoorOver: CREEK
6.7 MI S OF LA 10, Allen, LA
Built 1962 Load: 13.3 t ADT: 435
TOM QUAVE RD
PoorOver: CHERRYWINCHE CREEK
0.7 MI E of SAM CLOUD RD, Allen, LA
Built 1983 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 10
REEDS BRIDGE RD
PoorOver: CALCASIEU RIVER RELIEF
1.8 MI WEST OF US 165, Allen, LA
Built 1960 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 132
LA0026
PoorOver: CREEK
4.1 MI E of LA 377, Allen, LA
Built 1968 Load: 15.9 t ADT: 2,151
LA0026
PoorOver: CREEK
4.2 MI E OF LA 377, Allen, LA
Built 1968 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 2,151
TOPSY BEL RD
PoorOver: BARNES CREEK
3.7 MI. S. OF US 190, Allen, LA
Built 1972 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 664
BAGGETT RD
PoorOver: CREEK
0.8 MI N of LA 26, Allen, LA
Built 1982 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 60
US0190
PoorOver: WEST CALCASIEU RIVER REL
7.4 MI E OF INT LA 113, Allen, LA
Built 1980 Load: 26.2 t ADT: 3,923
BELL OIL RD
PoorOver: BLUE BAYOU
1.6 MI WEST OF LA 26, Allen, LA
Built 1974 Load: 26.9 t ADT: 77
COTTONGIN CASTOR
PoorOver: CASTOR CREEK
3.6 MI NE OF LA 26, Allen, LA
Built 1982 Load: 29.5 t ADT: 131
BERNARD FONTENOT
PoorOver: MUD CREEK
0.8 MI E of LA 113, Allen, LA
Built 1990 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 58
US0190
PoorOver: BEAR CREEK
1.6 MI. E OF INT LA 113, Allen, LA
Built 1991 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 3,263
LA1151
PoorOver: DRAIN
2.0 W of US 165, Allen, LA
Built 1965 Load: 74.5 t ADT: 482
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.