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.

Total bridges

303

Public highway bridges in Callaway County

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.

1900s

3
1910s

12
1920s

13
1930s

9
1940s

7
1950s

19
1960s

41
1970s

26
1980s

34
1990s

65
2000s

54
2010s

16
2020s

4

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Callaway County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
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.

All 303 Good 119 Fair 165 Poor 19

All bridges (303)

Sort:

Callaway County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Callaway County's Poor-condition bridges carry 18,389 vehicle crossings a day

36.3% of Callaway County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 68.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Callaway 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 (303)

COUNTY RD 101

RT N S

US 54 E

COUNTY RD 245

E 10TH ST

RT F E

BU 54 E

RT MM E

COUNTY RD 338

MO 94 E

COUNTY RD 166

S SUMMIT DR S

US 54 W

RT O E

MO 94 E

US 54 W

IS 70 W

US 54 E

COUNTY RD 4031

RT O E

RT B E

COUNTY RD 480

COUNTY RD 170

COUNTY RD 195

OR 70 E

US 63 N

US 54 E

MO 94 E

PVT BRIDGE T1012 S

RT AA E

RT H E

US 54 W

CENTER ST E

COUNTY RD 2000

COUNTY RD 299

COUNTY RD 391

COUNTY RD 486

COUNTY RD 456

COUNTY RD 459

COUNTY RD 457

COUNTY RD 156

COUNTY RD 1034

COUNTY RD 1005

COUNTY RD 430

IS 70 E

US 63 N

VINE ST

IS 70 E

RT F E

COUNTY RD 4055

Related