County profile · official public datasets

Newton County, MS

243 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 46.1% rated Good, 49% Fair, 4.9% Poor.

243
Public bridges: 46.1%
Good condition: 4.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

42nd
of 82 on Poor share: 4.9%
Poor-condition share: 243
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Newton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Newton County ranks #42 of 82 Mississippi counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.9%). Newton County, Mississippi contains 243 public highway bridges. Roughly 46.1% are rated “Good,” 49% “Fair,” and 4.9% “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

243

Public highway bridges in Newton County

Good condition

46.1%

112 of 243 rated 7-9

Fair condition

49%

119 of 243 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.9%

12 of 243 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#42 of 82

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

Condition distribution

Share of 243 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

46.1% (112)

Fair

49% (119)

Poor

4.9% (12)

Newton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,255 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 521 crossings a day against 2,053 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 243 of 243 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39.1% of Newton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

95 of the 243 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 46.1% 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 23.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

PINE BLUFF ROAD over DUNNAGIN CREEK, built 2002, carries 1,480 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 12-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 6,255 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

4
1930s

10
1950s

5
1960s

57
1970s

39
1980s

31
1990s

29
2000s

45
2010s

21
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 57 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the Mississippi average (1986).

How Newton County compares with Mississippi's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Mississippi counties nearest Newton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.9% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1986 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 81 Mississippi counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Newton County and the 5 Mississippi counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Marshall County	255	44.7%	47.8%	7.5%	1993
Lowndes County	248	76.2%	21%	2.8%	1987
Chickasaw County	247	57.5%	36%	6.5%	1984
Newton County (this page)	243	46.1%	49%	4.9%	1982
Pearl River County	232	74.6%	22.4%	3%	1986
Panola County	231	28.6%	65.8%	5.6%	1981

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MS (243 bridges here).

Talladega County, AL · 243 bridges
Pettis County, MO · 243 bridges
Gloucester County, NJ · 243 bridges
Columbia County, NY · 243 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MS (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges

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

All 243 Good 112 Fair 119 Poor 12

Fair-condition bridges (119)

Sort:

Newton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Newton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,255 vehicle crossings a day

39.1% of Newton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 23.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Newton County compares with Mississippi's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Fair-condition bridges (119)

TANGLEWOOD ROAD

BETHEL ROBERTS RD

MORGAN FIELD ROAD

OLD 80 ROAD

CONEHATTA PROSPECT

POTTERCHITTO ROAD

POTTERCHITTO ROAD

DECATUR CARTHAGE R

NEESE ROAD

BURNS ROAD

PIERCE ROAD

RUSH ROAD

RUSH ROAD

SR 15

SR 492

THOMPSON ROAD

SR 15

I 20

I 20

HICKORY-FELLOWSHIP

FIFTH AVE

AIRPORT RD

AIRPORT RD

AIRPORT RD

HICKORY LITTLE RCK

GOODHOPE ROAD

TRUELIGHT ROAD

HOPEWELL RD

STRATTON ROAD

BATTLEFIELD ROAD

SAWMILL ROAD

HUDDLESTON ROAD

BLACKWELL ROAD

NORMAN ROAD

MORROW ROAD

DEAN ROAD

MCDONALD ROAD

MCDONALD ROAD

HICKORY-LITTLE RCK

CONEHATTA PROSPECT

MIDWAY BEULAH-HUB

I 20

I 20

CHAPEL HILL ROAD

I 20

I 20

I 20

I 20

I 20

I 20

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