County profile · official public datasets

Chariton County, MO

288 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 53.5% rated Good, 35.1% Fair, 11.5% Poor.

288
Public bridges: 53.5%
Good condition: 11.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

85th
of 115 on Poor share: 11.5%
Poor-condition share: 288
public highway bridges: 1976
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.

Chariton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chariton County ranks #85 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.5%). Chariton County, Missouri contains 288 public highway bridges. Roughly 53.5% are rated “Good,” 35.1% “Fair,” and 11.5% “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

288

Public highway bridges in Chariton County

Good condition

53.5%

154 of 288 rated 7-9

Fair condition

35.1%

101 of 288 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.5%

33 of 288 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#85 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 288 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

53.5% (154)

Fair

35.1% (101)

Poor

11.5% (33)

Chariton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,549 vehicle crossings a day

That is 9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 138 crossings a day against 147 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 288 of 288 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

38.5% of Chariton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

111 of the 288 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 53.5% 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 23.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MO 11 S over SALT CR, built 1953, carries 1,074 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 4,549 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

17
1910s

15
1920s

18
1930s

5
1940s

8
1950s

18
1960s

28
1970s

7
1980s

22
1990s

58
2000s

52
2010s

31
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 58 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Chariton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.5% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1985 is 9 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chariton County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
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
Chariton County (this page)	288	53.5%	35.1%	11.5%	1976
Platte County	285	38.9%	55.1%	6%	1985
New Madrid County	282	53.2%	44.7%	2.1%	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 Chariton 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 Chariton County, both outside Missouri so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (288 bridges here).

York County, SC · 288 bridges
Rockingham County, VA · 288 bridges
Union County, AR · 289 bridges
Butler County, IA · 289 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1976 here).

Marion County, IN · avg 1976 · 958 bridges
Mohave County, AZ · avg 1976 · 641 bridges
Comanche County, OK · avg 1976 · 593 bridges
Prince George's County, MD · avg 1976 · 576 bridges

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

All 288 Good 154 Fair 101 Poor 33

All bridges (288)

Sort:

Chariton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Chariton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,549 vehicle crossings a day

38.5% of Chariton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 23.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Chariton 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 (288)

SHELDON AVE

MENEFEE RD

RT O E

BARNES RD

EAST FORK AVE

ST JOSEPH AVE

RT U S

NORFOLK RD

RODEO AVE

POWELL AVE

TWICHELL RD

MO 11 S

MO 139 S

PEDEN CHAPEL RD

MO 129 S

OSAGE RD

SNAKE AVE

MO 5 S

MO 5 S

RT E E

RT E E

WESTVILLE RD

HOG RIDGE AVE

MO 129 S

US 24 E

RT E E

RT M E

PECAN AVE

BETHEL RD

CAZELL RD

BUFFALO RD

ST JOSEPH AVE

RT DD S

RT JJ S

MO 11 S

RT CC S

MCDONALD RD

ALMOND AVE

OBRYAN AVE

MO 5 S

MO 129 S

RT DD S

RT O E

POWELL AVE

COYOTE AVE

RT TT S

RT J S

BETHEL RD

SHELBY AVE

CAL HUBARD AVE

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