County profile · official public datasets

Cole County, MO

227 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 27.3% rated Good, 63.9% Fair, 8.8% Poor.

227
Public bridges: 27.3%
Good condition: 8.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

60th
of 115 on Poor share: 8.8%
Poor-condition share: 227
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Cole County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cole County ranks #60 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.8%). Cole County, Missouri contains 227 public highway bridges. Roughly 27.3% are rated “Good,” 63.9% “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

227

Public highway bridges in Cole County

Good condition

27.3%

62 of 227 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.9%

145 of 227 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.8%

20 of 227 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#60 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 227 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

27.3% (62)

Fair

63.9% (145)

Poor

8.8% (20)

Cole County's Poor-condition bridges carry 60,093 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5% 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 3,005 crossings a day against 4,088 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 227 of 227 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

34.4% of Cole County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

78 of the 227 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 27.3% 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 18.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 54 E over NEIGHORN BR, built 1941, carries 10,929 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 20-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 60,093 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1920s

1
1930s

7
1940s

7
1950s

13
1960s

41
1970s

13
1980s

35
1990s

67
2000s

20
2010s

16
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 67 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Cole 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 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cole County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Saline County	230	33.9%	53%	13%	1976
Butler County	227	49.3%	42.3%	8.4%	1981
Cole County (this page)	227	27.3%	63.9%	8.8%	1982
Pike County	225	34.7%	56.9%	8.4%	1981
Sullivan County	224	56.3%	36.6%	7.1%	1990
Daviess County	222	27.5%	48.2%	24.3%	1970

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (227 bridges here).

Yell County, AR · 227 bridges
McHenry County, IL · 227 bridges
LaPorte County, IN · 227 bridges
Rush County, IN · 227 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges
Broward County, FL · avg 1982 · 686 bridges

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

All 227 Good 62 Fair 145 Poor 20

Good-condition bridges (62)

Sort:

Cole County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Cole County's Poor-condition bridges carry 60,093 vehicle crossings a day

34.4% of Cole County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 18.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Cole 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

Good-condition bridges (62)

MARSHALL ST

BODE FERRY RD

US 50 E

UPPER BOTTOM RD

CHESTNUT ST S

RP US54E TO BU50 E

RP BU50 TO US54E E

OLD STAGE RD

WALNUT ACRES RD

US 63 S

SCOTT STATION RD

BALD HILL RD

SOUTH BEND RD

TANNER BRIDGE RD

MILLBROOK RD

ENON RD

MT CARMEL RD

CLARK FORK RD

DEER RUN RD

BOIS BRULE RD

TAVERN CREEK RD

W MAIN ST

MCCARTY ST

APACHE TRAIL

US 54 E

OLD BASS RD

PENNY HOLLOW RD

CHRISTY DR

OLD FORGE ROAD

RP US50E TO LAFAYE

NINE HILLS RD

E MCCARTY ST E

MO 179 S

RT C E

MO 179 S

RT D S

S LIBERTY RD

W HIGH ST E

RP LAFAYETTE ST TO

LIBERTY RD

RT A E

RT D S

IDLEWOOD RD S

JACKSON ST S

TELLMAN RD

BU 50 E

MODOT DR S

JEFFERSON ST E

MILITIA DR S

RT J S

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