County profile · official public datasets

Jefferson County, MO

411 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 33.6% rated Good, 63% Fair, 3.4% Poor.

411
Public bridges: 33.6%
Good condition: 3.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Jefferson County posts a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 6%
lowest Poor share in state: 3.4%
Poor-condition share: 411
public highway bridges: 1981
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.

Jefferson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Jefferson County ranks #7 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.4%). Jefferson County, Missouri contains 411 public highway bridges. Roughly 33.6% are rated “Good,” 63% “Fair,” and 3.4% “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

411

Public highway bridges in Jefferson County

Good condition

33.6%

138 of 411 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63%

259 of 411 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.4%

14 of 411 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#7 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 411 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

33.6% (138)

Fair

63% (259)

Poor

3.4% (14)

Jefferson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 27,632 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,974 crossings a day against 5,135 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 411 of 411 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

33.3% of Jefferson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

137 of the 411 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 33.6% 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 29.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 61 S over JOACHIM CR, built 1933, carries 8,249 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 27,632 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

35
1910s

6
1920s

4
1930s

9
1940s

10
1950s

9
1960s

44
1970s

35
1980s

48
1990s

50
2000s

84
2010s

59
2020s

18

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 84 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Jefferson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.4% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1986 is 5 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jefferson County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Clay County	436	38.1%	55%	6.9%	1979
Stoddard County	434	43.1%	53.2%	3.7%	1976
St. Charles County	417	32.4%	64.3%	3.4%	1994
Jefferson County (this page)	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

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (411 bridges here).

Pittsburg County, OK · 411 bridges
Benton County, AR · 410 bridges
Union County, NJ · 409 bridges
Cobb County, GA · 414 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1981 here).

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

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

All 411 Good 138 Fair 259 Poor 14

Fair-condition bridges (259)

Sort:

Jefferson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Jefferson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 27,632 vehicle crossings a day

33.3% of Jefferson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 29.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Jefferson 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 (259)

SANDY CREEK RD

MO 21 S

MO 21 S

IS 55 S

IS 55 N

RT T E

RT A E

MO 110 E

RT V S

RT B S

LEE PYLE RD

IS 55 S

IS 55 N

OLD HWY 21 S

OLD HWY 21

US 61 S

US 61 S

MO 21 S

MILLER RD S

BUTCHER BR RD

13TH ST

RT NN S

MO 30 E

IS 55 S

IS 55 N

RT A E

OLD LEMAY FERRY

OLD LEMAY FERRY RD

PLATTIN RD

MEYER RD

MO 110 E

OR 55 S

RICHARDSON RD E

IS 55 S

MOSS HOLLOW RD

THREE BS RD

HARDIN RD

TENBROOK RD

OLD HWY 141 E

IS 55 S

IS 55 N

SALINE RD

MO 30 W

OLD HWY 21 S

RT B S

OLD LEMAY FERRY RD

FESTUS-HORINE RD

RT P S

FOUNTAIN CITY RD

IS 55 S

Related