County profile · official public datasets

Cass County, MO

377 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 36.3% rated Good, 54.9% Fair, 8.8% Poor.

377
Public bridges: 36.3%
Good condition: 8.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

59th
of 115 on Poor share: 8.8%
Poor-condition share: 377
public highway bridges: 1983
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.

Cass County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cass County ranks #59 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.8%). Cass County, Missouri contains 377 public highway bridges. Roughly 36.3% are rated “Good,” 54.9% “Fair,” and 8.8% “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

377

Public highway bridges in Cass County

Good condition

36.3%

137 of 377 rated 7-9

Fair condition

54.9%

207 of 377 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.8%

33 of 377 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#59 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 377 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

36.3% (137)

Fair

54.9% (207)

Poor

8.8% (33)

Cass County's Poor-condition bridges carry 24,433 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 740 crossings a day against 2,054 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 377 of 377 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39% of Cass County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

147 of the 377 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 36.3% 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 42.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MO 7 S over IS 49, built 1965, carries 10,317 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 33-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 24,433 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

10
1910s

6
1920s

13
1930s

16
1940s

14
1950s

18
1960s

53
1970s

19
1980s

8
1990s

53
2000s

83
2010s

70
2020s

14

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 83 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Cass County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.8% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1983 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cass County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Jefferson County	411	33.6%	63%	3.4%	1981
Vernon County	401	35.4%	60.3%	4.2%	1988
Nodaway County	396	48%	37.6%	14.4%	1992
Cass County (this page)	377	36.3%	54.9%	8.8%	1983
Cape Girardeau County	374	35.8%	59.1%	5.1%	1978
Carroll County	371	25.9%	56.1%	18.1%	1975

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (377 bridges here).

Monterey County, CA · 377 bridges
Ogle County, IL · 377 bridges
Butler County, OH · 377 bridges
Butler County, PA · 378 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1983 here).

Dallas County, TX · avg 1983 · 3,230 bridges
Bexar County, TX · avg 1983 · 2,342 bridges
Sedgwick County, KS · avg 1983 · 1,333 bridges
Will County, IL · avg 1983 · 649 bridges

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

All 377 Good 137 Fair 207 Poor 33

Fair-condition bridges (207)

Sort:

Cass County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Cass County's Poor-condition bridges carry 24,433 vehicle crossings a day

39% of Cass County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 42.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Cass 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

Fair-condition bridges (207)

E 299TH ST

FOX RIDGE DR

OR 49 S

OR 49 S

TIMBERVIEW RD

BRUSH COLLEGE RD

FAMULINER RD

163 ST

COUNTY RD 191 ST

ANDERSON RD

RT ZZ N

RT B E

HOOVER RD

STATE LINE RD

BUFORD RD

RT D S

307 ST

307 ST

LAKE RD

FOX RIDGE DR

FOX RIDGE DR

SILVER TOP DR

HUBACH HILL RD

FOXRIDGE DR

WALKER RD

RT K S

SCHOOL RD

163RD ST

PARRIS RD

287TH ST

EASTERN AVE

215TH ST

MO 58 E

215 ST

POLLARD RD

COUNTY RD 251 ST

RT J S

COUNTY RD 179 ST

COUNTY RD 331

MO 7 S

THORN GROVE

195 ST

IS 49 S

IS 49 N

MO 58 E

CLEVELAND AVE

RT B E

RT A E

MO 7 S

IS 49 S

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