County profile · official public datasets

Benton County, MO

135 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 11.9% rated Good, 67.4% Fair, 20.7% Poor.

135
Public bridges
11.9%
Good condition
20.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Benton County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

112th
of 115 on Poor share
20.7%
Poor-condition share
135
public highway bridges
1964
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.

Benton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Benton County ranks #112 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 20.7%). Benton County, Missouri contains 135 public highway bridges. Roughly 11.9% are rated “Good,” 67.4% “Fair,” and 20.7% “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

135

Public highway bridges in Benton County

Good condition

11.9%

16 of 135 rated 7-9

Fair condition

67.4%

91 of 135 rated 5-6

Poor condition

20.7%

28 of 135 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#112 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 135 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
11.9% (16)
Fair
67.4% (91)
Poor
20.7% (28)

Benton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,992 vehicle crossings a day

That is 6.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 20.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 321 crossings a day against 556 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 135 of 135 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

60.7% of Benton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

82 of the 135 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 11.9% 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 28.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MO 7 S over TURKEY CR, built 1939, carries 2,540 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 28-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 8,992 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Benton County's bridges were built

135 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1920s, when 22 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 95 to 104 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1964, 15 years older than the Missouri average of 1979.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Benton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 20.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1964 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is 10 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Benton County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
St. Clair County 139 19.4%
Ralls County 138 7.2%
Mercer County 137 19%
Benton County (this page) 135 20.7%
Howard County 133 8.3%
Wright County 131 11.5%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (135 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1964 here).

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

All 135 Good 16 Fair 91 Poor 28

Poor-condition bridges (28)

GRAY AVE

Poor

Over: BARKERS CR

S 30 T 43 N R 23 W, Benton, MO

Built 1940 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 30

HASTAIN AVE

Poor

Over: DEER CR

S 19 T 40 N R 20 W, Benton, MO

Built 1920 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 30

WARNER RD

Poor

Over: FLAT CR

S 14 T 43 N R 23 W, Benton, MO

Built 1920 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 35

LANGE RD

Poor

Over: COLE CAMP CR

S 3 T 42 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1900 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 30

BECKI LN

Poor

Over: BARKERS CR

S 30 T 43 N R 23 W, Benton, MO

Built 1920 Load: 5.4 t ADT: 5

CENTERLINE RD

Poor

Over: COLE CAMP CR

S 8 T 42 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1902 Load: 7.2 t ADT: 80

FITZPATRICK AVE

Poor

Over: DURAN CR

S 13 T 41 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1960 Load: 7.2 t ADT: 25

RT AA E

Poor

Over: BIG TURKEY CR

S 5 T 38 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1957 Load: 7.2 t ADT: 191

WHITE RD

Poor

Over: BARKERS CR

S 31 T 43 N R 23 W, Benton, MO

Built 1920 Load: 8.1 t ADT: 40

WILSHUSEN RD

Poor

Over: COLE CAMP CR

S 10 T 41 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1930 Load: 8.1 t ADT: 30

FIVE BRIDGES AVE

Poor

Over: WILLIAMS CR

S 11 T 42 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1962 Load: 9.9 t ADT: 60

JACKMAN AVE

Poor

Over: BIG TURKEY CR

S 21 T 39 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1960 Load: 9.9 t ADT: 30

WIENBERG AVE

Poor

Over: S FLAT CR

S 23 T 43 N R 11 W, Benton, MO

Built 1920 Load: 10.8 t ADT: 30

FIVE BRIDGES AVE

Poor

Over: BR OF WILLIAMS CR

S 35 T 43 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1940 Load: 12.6 t ADT: 100

RT JJ E

Poor

Over: LAKE CR

S 9 T 43 N R 20 W, Benton, MO

Built 1963 Load: 14.4 t ADT: 253

KEUPER RD

Poor

Over: S FLAT CR

S 27 T 43 N R 22 W, Benton, MO

Built 1910 Load: 18.9 t ADT: 15

BUTTERFIELD TRAIL

Poor

Over: DURAN CR

S 13 T 41 N R 22 W, Benton, MO

Built 1924 Load: 18.9 t ADT: 40

INDIAN CREEK RD

Poor

Over: INDIAN CR

S 22 T 39 N R 20 W, Benton, MO

Built 1920 Load: 18.9 t ADT: 20

FIVE BRIDGES AVE

Poor

Over: BR OF INDIAN CR

S 35 T 42 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1962 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 50

MORA RD

Poor

Over: TRIB OF SPRING FK

S 2 T 43 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1950 Load: 22.5 t ADT: 30

RT AB E

Poor

Over: BRUSHY CR

S 5 T 40 N R 20 W, Benton, MO

Built 1962 Load: 22.5 t ADT: 223

RT E S

Poor

Over: BARKER CR

S 17 T 39 N R 20 W, Benton, MO

Built 1947 Load: 25.2 t ADT: 1,120

MO 7 S

Poor

Over: TURKEY CR

S 1 T 39 N R 22 W, Benton, MO

Built 1939 Load: 27.0 t ADT: 2,540

FEASTER BRANCH RD

Poor

Over: FEASTER BR

S 31 T 41 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1920 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 100

RT WW E

Poor

Over: BIG BUFFALO CR

S 23 T 41 N R 20 W, Benton, MO

Built 1958 Load: 33.3 t ADT: 128

RT C E

Poor

Over: CLEAR CR

S 27 T 42 N R 23 W, Benton, MO

Built 1932 Load: 35.1 t ADT: 2,054

RT C E

Poor

Over: CLEAR CR

S 27 T 42 N R 23 W, Benton, MO

Built 1932 Load: 43.2 t ADT: 1,653

FIVE BRIDGES AVE

Poor

Over: INDIAN CR

S 35 T 42 N R 21 W, Benton, MO

Built 1994 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 50

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.