Total bridges
303
Public highway bridges in Callaway County
County profile · official public datasets
Callaway County, MO
303 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 39.3% rated Good, 54.5% Fair, 6.3% Poor.
- 303
- Public bridges
- 39.3%
- Good condition
- 6.3%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Callaway County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- Top 30%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 6.3%
- Poor-condition share
- 303
- public highway bridges
- 1978
- 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.
Callaway County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Callaway County ranks #34 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.3%). Callaway County, Missouri contains 303 public highway bridges. Roughly 39.3% are rated “Good,” 54.5% “Fair,” and 6.3% “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.
Good condition
39.3%
119 of 303 rated 7-9
Fair condition
54.5%
165 of 303 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6.3%
19 of 303 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#34 of 115
Among Missouri counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 303 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 39.3% (119)
Fair 54.5% (165)
Poor 6.3% (19)
Callaway County's Poor-condition bridges carry 18,389 vehicle crossings a day
That is 2.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 968 crossings a day against 1,712 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 303 of 303 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
36.3% of Callaway County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
110 of the 303 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 39.3% 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 68.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
US 63 S over KATY TRAIL, built 1924, carries 12,571 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 19-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 18,389 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Callaway County's bridges were built
303 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 3
1900–1909
3 bridges
- 1910s 12
1910–1919
12 bridges
- 1920s 13
1920–1929
13 bridges
- 1930s 9
1930–1939
9 bridges
- 1940s 7
1940–1949
7 bridges
- 1950s 19
1950–1959
19 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
41 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
26 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
34 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
65 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
54 bridges
- 2010s 16
2010–2019
16 bridges
- 2020s 4
2020–2029
4 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 65 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the Missouri average (1979).
How Callaway County compares with Missouri's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Missouri counties nearest Callaway County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.3% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1985 is 7 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 114 Missouri counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audrain County | 314 | 41.4% | 53.8% | 4.8% | 1987 |
| Linn County | 313 | 39% | 43.5% | 17.6% | 1980 |
| Callaway County (this page) | 303 | 39.3% | 54.5% | 6.3% | 1978 |
| Adair County | 301 | 60.8% | 32.6% | 6.6% | 1992 |
| Newton County | 300 | 39% | 54.3% | 6.7% | 1978 |
| Macon County | 291 | 42.6% | 49.8% | 7.6% | 1986 |
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 Callaway 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 Callaway County, both outside Missouri so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside MO (303 bridges here).
- Pottawatomie County, KS · 303 bridges
- Custer County, NE · 303 bridges
- Sandusky County, OH · 303 bridges
- Prince William County, VA · 303 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1978 here).
- Orange County, CA · avg 1978 · 1,164 bridges
- Sumner County, KS · avg 1978 · 659 bridges
- Allen County, IN · avg 1978 · 613 bridges
- Livingston County, IL · avg 1978 · 579 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Poor-condition bridges (19)
OLD HWY 54
PoorOver: AUXVASSE CR
S 2 T 48 N R 9 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1921 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 500
COUNTY RD 389
PoorOver: BR OF CEDAR CR
S 32 T 46 N R 11 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1912 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 15
COUNTY RD 382
PoorOver: CLIFTON CR
S 15 T 45 N R 11 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1935 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 10
COUNTY RD 445
PoorOver: CLABBER CR
S 11 T 45 N R 9 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1900 Load: 8.1 t ADT: 50
COUNTY RD 373
PoorOver: CLIFTON CR
S 2 T 45 N R 11 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1913 Load: 9.0 t ADT: 10
RT J S
PoorOver: MILLERS CR
S 13 T 47 N R 11 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1959 Load: 9.0 t ADT: 1,117
RT H E
PoorOver: MIDDLE RVR
S 26 T 47 N R 10 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1964 Load: 13.5 t ADT: 1,323
COUNTY RD 338
PoorOver: HILLERS CR
S 17 T 46 N R 10 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1935 Load: 16.2 t ADT: 80
RT BB S
PoorOver: AUXVASSE CR
S 36 T 45 N R 10 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1968 Load: 18.0 t ADT: 430
RT B E
PoorOver: HARRISON CR
S 20 T 49 N R 8 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1959 Load: 22.5 t ADT: 1,101
RT A S
PoorOver: BACHELOR CR
S 23 T 49 N R 8 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1954 Load: 23.4 t ADT: 307
OR 63 S
PoorOver: TURKEY CR
S 9 T 44 N R 11 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1940 Load: 26.1 t ADT: 585
US 63 S
PoorOver: KATY TRAIL
S 32 T 45 N R 11 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1924 Load: 28.8 t ADT: 12,571
COUNTY RD 391
PoorOver: BR OF TURKEY CR
S 34 T 45 N R 11 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1956 Load: 29.7 t ADT: 65
COUNTY RD 409
PoorOver: YOUNG CR
S 34 T 47 N R 9 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1974 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 35
COUNTY RD 1053
PoorOver: LOUTRE RVR
S 14 T 49 N R 7 W, Callaway, MO
Built 2001 Load: 35.1 t ADT: 20
COUNTY RD 456
PoorOver: GALLONS CR
S 18 T 45 N R 9 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1987 Load: 36.0 t ADT: 35
COUNTY RD 4055
PoorOver: SMALL CR
S 27 T 46 N R 7 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1996 Load: 50.4 t ADT: 35
INDUSTRIAL ST
PoorOver: SMITH CR
S 5 T 47 N R 9 W, Callaway, MO
Built 1930 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 100
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.