Total bridges
208
Public highway bridges in Caldwell County
County profile · official public datasets
208 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 39.9% rated Good, 49.5% Fair, 10.6% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Caldwell 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, Caldwell County ranks #75 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.6%). Caldwell County, Missouri contains 208 public highway bridges. Roughly 39.9% are rated “Good,” 49.5% “Fair,” and 10.6% “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
208
Public highway bridges in Caldwell County
Good condition
39.9%
83 of 208 rated 7-9
Fair condition
49.5%
103 of 208 rated 5-6
Poor condition
10.6%
22 of 208 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#75 of 115
Among Missouri counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 208 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 0.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 44 crossings a day against 195 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 208 of 208 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
99 of the 208 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 39.9% 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.
RT U E over TOM CR, built 1958, carries 196 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 22-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 968 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
208 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1900–1909
6 bridges
1920–1929
5 bridges
1930–1939
31 bridges
1940–1949
3 bridges
1950–1959
36 bridges
1960–1969
17 bridges
1970–1979
4 bridges
1980–1989
17 bridges
1990–1999
29 bridges
2000–2009
31 bridges
2010–2019
24 bridges
2020–2029
5 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 36 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Missouri average (1979).
The 5 Missouri counties nearest Caldwell County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1983 is 8 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 114 Missouri counties eligible for comparison.
| 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 | 211 | 42.2% | 47.9% | 10% | 1977 |
| Caldwell County (this page) | 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 Caldwell County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Caldwell County, both outside Missouri so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside MO (208 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1975 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: LOG CR
S 11 T 55 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: PLUM CR
S 17 T 56 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: TOM CR
S 35 T 57 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BR OF PANTHER CR
S 26 T 57 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: TOM CR
S 35 T 57 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: COTTONWOOD CR
S 5 T 56 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: SOUTH FORK OF MUD
S 27 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: DEAD OAK CR
S 2 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BR OF PANTHER CR
S 24 T 57 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: LONG BR
S 16 T 57 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BRUSHY CR
S 17 T 57 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: STEVENSON CR
S 29 T 55 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: PLUM CR
S 30 T 56 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BR OF LICK FK CR
S 5 T 57 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BRUSH CR
S 36 T 56 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: TUB CR
S 25 T 56 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: LONG CR
S 20 T 55 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: LONG CR
S 20 T 55 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: US 36
S 24 T 57 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BR OF LOG CR
S 12 T 55 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: N FK MUD CR
S 22 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: WILLOW CR
S 23 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: S FK MUD CR
S 22 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: DEAD OAK BR
S 21 T 56 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: DEAD OAK CR
S 32 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: MILL CR
S 8 T 56 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BR OF N MUD CR
S 28 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: N MUD CR
S 8 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BR OF SHOAL CR
S 19 T 56 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BRUSHY CR
S 17 T 57 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BR OF SHOAL CR
S 6 T 56 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: SHOAL CR
S 19 T 56 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: LIT OTTER CR
S 21 T 57 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: OTTER CR
S 24 T 57 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: PANTHER CR
S 21 T 57 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: WOLF BR
S 23 T 57 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: OTTER CR
S 11 T 56 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BRUSHY CR BR
S 18 T 57 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: N MUD CR BR
S 18 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: LONG BR
S 17 T 57 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: BR OF LICK FK CR
S 9 T 57 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: UP RR
S 23 T 57 N R 27 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: TOM CR
S 22 T 57 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: W SHEEP CR
S 14 T 57 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: MILL CR
S 17 T 57 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: GOOSE CR
S 27 T 56 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: N MUD CR
S 14 T 55 N R 26 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: LONG CR
S 34 T 56 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: WEST SHEEP CR
S 14 T 57 N R 29 W, Caldwell, MO
Over: TOM CR
S 15 T 57 N R 28 W, Caldwell, MO
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.