County profile · official public datasets

Barton County, MO

211 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.2% rated Good, 47.9% Fair, 10% Poor.

211
Public bridges: 42.2%
Good condition: 10%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

68th
of 115 on Poor share: 10%
Poor-condition share: 211
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Barton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Barton County ranks #68 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10%). Barton County, Missouri contains 211 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.2% are rated “Good,” 47.9% “Fair,” and 10% “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

211

Public highway bridges in Barton County

Good condition

42.2%

89 of 211 rated 7-9

Fair condition

47.9%

101 of 211 rated 5-6

Poor condition

10%

21 of 211 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#68 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 211 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.2% (89)

Fair

47.9% (101)

Poor

10% (21)

Barton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 23,455 vehicle crossings a day

That is 14% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,117 crossings a day against 399 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 211 of 211 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

38.9% of Barton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

82 of the 211 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 42.2% 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 32.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IS 49 S over US 160, built 1972, carries 7,563 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 21-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 23,455 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1910s

1
1920s

11
1930s

18
1940s

7
1950s

15
1960s

12
1970s

30
1980s

26
1990s

35
2000s

25
2010s

21
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 35 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Missouri average (1979).

How Barton County compares with Missouri's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Barton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is 5 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 114 Missouri counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Barton County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Dunklin County	214	43%	50.5%	6.5%	1977
Putnam County	213	48.8%	35.7%	15.5%	1985
Barton County (this page)	211	42.2%	47.9%	10%	1977
Caldwell County	208	39.9%	49.5%	10.6%	1975
Pemiscot County	206	34.5%	56.3%	9.2%	1980
Scotland County	201	35.8%	59.7%	4.5%	1995

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (211 bridges here).

Colusa County, CA · 211 bridges
Charlotte County, FL · 211 bridges
Kemper County, MS · 211 bridges
Pike County, MS · 211 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges

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

All 211 Good 89 Fair 101 Poor 21

All bridges (211)

Sort:

Barton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Barton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 23,455 vehicle crossings a day

38.9% of Barton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 32.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Barton County compares with Missouri'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 (211)

NW 55TH RD

SE 30TH LN

SW 30TH RD

NW 90TH RD

SW 85TH RD

NE 30TH LN

SE 70TH LN

RT F S

RT V E

SW 50TH RD

SW 20TH LN

NW 30TH RD

NE 40TH RD

RT C E

RT J S

MO 126 E

RT C E

NW 40TH RD

SW 30TH RD

SE 30TH RD

SE 30TH RD

SW 85TH RD

SW 85TH RD

NW 150TH LN

NW 30TH LN

NW 160TH LN

NW 120TH LN

NW 120TH LN

NW 40TH RD

SW 15TH LN

SE 40TH RD

SW 85TH RD

SW 70TH LN

RT F S

RT J S

NE 50TH RD

NW 20TH RD

1ST ST

RT EE E

RT KK S

RT K E

NW 20TH LN

NE 90TH RD

NW 1ST LN

US 160 E

MO 126 E

MO 126 E

MO 126 E

RT F S

SW 80TH RD

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