Total bridges
322
Public highway bridges in Lafayette County
County profile · official public datasets
322 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.7% rated Good, 47.5% Fair, 7.8% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Lafayette County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lafayette County ranks #20 of 64 Louisiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.8%). Lafayette County, Louisiana contains 322 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.7% are rated “Good,” 47.5% “Fair,” and 7.8% “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
322
Public highway bridges in Lafayette County
Good condition
44.7%
144 of 322 rated 7-9
Fair condition
47.5%
153 of 322 rated 5-6
Poor condition
7.8%
25 of 322 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#20 of 64
Among Louisiana counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 322 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 3.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,998 crossings a day against 8,168 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 322 of 322 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
102 of the 322 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 44.7% 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.
JOHNSTON STREET over COULEE MINE BR, built 1958, carries 29,320 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 25-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 99,956 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
322 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1920–1929
1 bridges
1930–1939
4 bridges
1940–1949
4 bridges
1950–1959
17 bridges
1960–1969
39 bridges
1970–1979
70 bridges
1980–1989
67 bridges
1990–1999
27 bridges
2000–2009
42 bridges
2010–2019
45 bridges
2020–2029
6 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 70 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1986) matches the Louisiana average (1982).
The 5 Louisiana counties nearest Lafayette County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.8% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 63 Louisiana counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon County | 341 | 57.8% | 34.6% | 7.6% | 1989 |
| Ouachita County | 337 | 27.9% | 59.3% | 12.8% | 1981 |
| Lafayette County (this page) | 322 | 44.7% | 47.5% | 7.8% | 1986 |
| St. Landry County | 317 | 43.2% | 49.2% | 7.6% | 1980 |
| Natchitoches County | 313 | 46% | 38.7% | 15.3% | 1983 |
| Washington County | 285 | 44.2% | 44.2% | 11.6% | 1979 |
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 Lafayette County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Lafayette County, both outside Louisiana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside LA (322 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside LA (1986 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: COULEE
0.3 MI W of LA 3168, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
.8 Mi E of St Esprit Rd, Lafayette, LA
Over: Indian Bayou Lateral
0.35 MI. N. LA 342, Lafayette, LA
Over: DARBY COULEE
2.7 MI SE of LA 92, Lafayette, LA
Over: MINE BRANCH COULEE
0.76 Mi SW of LA 182, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
1.2 Mi E of Verot Sch Rd, Lafayette, LA
Over: DRAIN
.3 Mi S of LA 182, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.1 MI N. of La 3073, Lafayette, LA
Over: GASTON COULEE
0.02 Mi E of LA 182, Lafayette, LA
Over: VERMILION RIVER
1.23 MI EAST OF US 167, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
1.5 MI S of LA 724, Lafayette, LA
Over: ILE DES CANNES COULEE
0.4 Mi W of US 167, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.64 Mi W of LA 3184, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.45 Mi East of LA 339, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
.75 MI SW of LA 98, Lafayette, LA
Over: VERMILION R @ MILTON
1.2 MI WEST OF LA 733, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.40 MI. N. LA182-US90, Lafayette, LA
Over: DRAINAGE CANAL
0.75 Mi SW of I-49, Lafayette, LA
Over: TORTUE BAYOU
2.60 Mi NW of LA 96, Lafayette, LA
Over: VERMILION RIVER
0.56 Mi N of i-10, Lafayette, LA
Over: DES POCHES COULEE
0.6 Mi. SW of US 90, Lafayette, LA
Over: ANSELM COULEE
.4 Mi E of Kalist Saloom, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.1 Mi E of LA 182, Lafayette, LA
Over: ROMERO CANAL
0.46 MI WEST OF LA 88, Lafayette, LA
Over: ANSLEM COULEE
0.04 MI N of LA 92, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
.01 Miles N Leblanc Rd, Lafayette, LA
Over: ILE DES CANNES COULEE
0.8 Mi W. of US 167, Lafayette, LA
Over: VERMILION RIVER
1.34 Mi NW of LA 98, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.06 Mi NE of LA 182, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.20 Mi N of LA 93, Lafayette, LA
Over: PARC PERDU BAYOU
0.78 Mi SW of LA 89, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.10 Mi W of Birch Dr, Lafayette, LA
Over: MINE BRANCH COULEE
0.65 MI W. LA182, Lafayette, LA
Over: DRAINAGE COULEE
0.58 Mi E of I-49, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE MINE
1.1 MI W OF W. PINHOOK RD, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.6 Miles NE of La 3073, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.25 Mi W of US 167, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.1 Mi S of Ombrage Rd, Lafayette, LA
Over: Bayou Carencro
1.2 MI N OF LA 1252, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.4 Mi W of LA 93, Lafayette, LA
Over: ANSEIM COUIEE
1.2 MI EAST OF LA 733, Lafayette, LA
Over: DES POCHES COULEE
0.8 Mi SW of US 90, Lafayette, LA
Over: ILE DES CANNES COULEE
1 Mi North of Congress St, Lafayette, LA
Over: COULEE
0.18 Mi E of LA 182, Lafayette, LA
Over: CREEK
0.2 MI EAST OF LA 719, Lafayette, LA
Over: Coulee
.1 M W of I49 S Srvce Rd, Lafayette, LA
Over: LASALLE COULEE
1.88 Mi W of US 90, Lafayette, LA
Over: VERMILION RIVER
0.8 MI EAST OF US 90, Lafayette, LA
Over: QUEUE DE TORTUE BAYOU
0.25 Mi S of US 90, Lafayette, LA
Over: ILE DES CANNES COULEE
1.5 Mi NW of LA 342, Lafayette, LA
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.