Total bridges
285
Public highway bridges in Washington County
County profile · official public datasets
285 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.2% rated Good, 44.2% Fair, 11.6% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Washington County posts a higher-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, Washington County ranks #38 of 64 Louisiana counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.6%). Washington County, Louisiana contains 285 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.2% are rated “Good,” 44.2% “Fair,” and 11.6% “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
285
Public highway bridges in Washington County
Good condition
44.2%
126 of 285 rated 7-9
Fair condition
44.2%
126 of 285 rated 5-6
Poor condition
11.6%
33 of 285 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#38 of 64
Among Louisiana counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 285 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 4.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 822 crossings a day against 2,176 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 282 of 285 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
142 of the 285 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 44.2% 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.
Penton road over MILE BR., built 1970, carries 3,200 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 33-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 27,114 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
285 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1930–1939
9 bridges
1940–1949
7 bridges
1950–1959
37 bridges
1960–1969
70 bridges
1970–1979
27 bridges
1980–1989
24 bridges
1990–1999
50 bridges
2000–2009
30 bridges
2010–2019
31 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 70 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1979) matches the Louisiana average (1982).
The 5 Louisiana counties nearest Washington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.6% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1979 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Landry County | 317 | 43.2% | 49.2% | 7.6% | 1980 |
| Natchitoches County | 313 | 46% | 38.7% | 15.3% | 1983 |
| Washington County (this page) | 285 | 44.2% | 44.2% | 11.6% | 1979 |
| Acadia County | 282 | 42.9% | 48.2% | 8.9% | 1978 |
| Bossier County | 270 | 30% | 55.2% | 14.8% | 1983 |
| Vermilion County | 261 | 45.6% | 43.3% | 11.1% | 1985 |
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 Washington County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Washington County, both outside Louisiana so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside LA (285 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside LA (1979 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: ICE WATER BRANCH
0.25 MI. SOUTH OF HWY 10, Washington, LA
Over: BETTS CREEK
1.0M NORTH OF LA 1072, Washington, LA
Over: BOGUE LUSA CREEK
1.3 MILES N. OF HWY LA 60, Washington, LA
Over: THOMAS CREEK BRIDGE
6.53 MI W. OF HWY 21, Washington, LA
Over: ARD CREEK BRIDGE
1.6 MI N. OF HWY 438, Washington, LA
Over: LITTLE SILVER CR
LA0450, Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
1.4 MI E OF HWY 430, Washington, LA
Over: SNELL BRANCH
LA0450, Washington, LA
Over: DUMMY BRANCH
1.2 MI N JCT LA 1074&1075, Washington, LA
Over: BROWN BRANCH
0.3 M N OF LA 38, Washington, LA
Over: MILE BRANCH
1.7 MI N LA 10&16TH FRANK, Washington, LA
Over: W BOGUE FALAYA
LA0025, Washington, LA
Over: DANIEL BRANCH
LA0025, Washington, LA
Over: BONNER CREEK
LA0025, Washington, LA
Over: DRAIN
0.3 M S OF LA 16, Washington, LA
Over: BICKHAM BRANCH
LA0025, Washington, LA
Over: MILL CREEK
0.8 M S OF LA 438, Washington, LA
Over: MIDDLE RELIEF
LA0438, Washington, LA
Over: NORTH RELIEF
LA0438, Washington, LA
Over: TOM BRANCH
1.0 M SW OF LA 424, Washington, LA
Over: MEAZELS CREEK
LA0439, Washington, LA
Over: COBURN CREEK
0.4 MILES NORTH OF LA 10, Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
7.4 MILES E OF PARISH LN, Washington, LA
Over: DEERLICK CREEK
2.0M NORTH OF LA 1056, Washington, LA
Over: BONNER CREEK
0.7 MILE WEST OF HWY 25, Washington, LA
Over: LEES CREEK
0.4 M EAST OF LA 1075, Washington, LA
Over: SILVER CREEK
1.7 M SOUTH OF HWY 38, Washington, LA
Over: DEER LICK CREEK
.1 NORTH OF HWY 1055, Washington, LA
Over: HAYS CREEK
1.4 MILES NORTH OF HWY 38, Washington, LA
Over: CRAINS CREEK
0.4 MI NORTH OF HWY 438, Washington, LA
Over: PUSHEPATAPA CREEK
0.5 MI NORTH OF LA 436, Washington, LA
Over: BOGUE LUSA CREEK
LOGMILE 01.18 ON LA 439, Washington, LA
Over: YELLOW BRANCH
3.0 M E OF LA 1075, Washington, LA
Over: BICKHAM BRANCH
1.0 M N OF LA 440, Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
0.5 MI NORTH OF LA 25, Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
0.2 MILES NORTH OF LA 440, Washington, LA
Over: Drain
.78 mi E. of LA 430, Washington, LA
Over: DRAIN
1.7 M N OF LA 38, Washington, LA
Over: LITTLE SILVER CREEK
0.39 MI NORTH OF LA 1056, Washington, LA
Over: BRIDGE OVER HAYS CREEK
0.4 MI W. OF PARISH RD 39, Washington, LA
Over: COBURN CREEK
.1 MI. N OF LA 10, Washington, LA
Over: BOGGY BRANCH
1.5 MILES EAST OF LA 21, Washington, LA
Over: CORURN ROAD
0.5 MILES NORTH OF LA 10, Washington, LA
Over: DRAIN
LA 21, Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
2.4 M NE OF LA 1075, Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
2.7 MI FR PAR LN ON LA 16, Washington, LA
Over: DRAIN
1.9 M NE OF LA 450, Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
0.9 MI E LA 16 INTER., Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
3.5 MI NW ST. TAM. PAR LN, Washington, LA
Over: CREEK
LA 16 1.1 MI SO LA 10, Washington, 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.