County profile · official public datasets

Laclede County, MO

119 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.1% rated Good, 58.8% Fair, 10.1% Poor.

119
Public bridges: 31.1%
Good condition: 10.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Laclede County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

70th
of 115 on Poor share: 10.1%
Poor-condition share: 119
public highway bridges: 1971
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.

Laclede County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Laclede County ranks #70 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.1%). Laclede County, Missouri contains 119 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.1% are rated “Good,” 58.8% “Fair,” and 10.1% “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

119

Public highway bridges in Laclede County

Good condition

31.1%

37 of 119 rated 7-9

Fair condition

58.8%

70 of 119 rated 5-6

Poor condition

10.1%

12 of 119 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#70 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 119 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

31.1% (37)

Fair

58.8% (70)

Poor

10.1% (12)

Laclede County's Poor-condition bridges carry 29,236 vehicle crossings a day

That is 8.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,436 crossings a day against 2,331 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 119 of 119 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

56.3% of Laclede County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

67 of the 119 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 31.1% 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 51.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IS 44 W over GASCONADE RVR OVRF, built 1956, carries 15,050 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 12-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 29,236 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

4
1920s

3
1930s

11
1940s

12
1950s

20
1960s

10
1970s

12
1980s

7
1990s

12
2000s

10
2010s

15
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 20 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1971, 8 years older than the Missouri average of 1979.

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Laclede County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Laclede County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Christian County	121	41.3%	51.2%	7.4%	1978
Perry County	120	27.5%	55%	17.5%	1965
Schuyler County	120	65.8%	30.8%	3.3%	1989
Laclede County (this page)	119	31.1%	58.8%	10.1%	1971
Crawford County	118	28.8%	63.6%	7.6%	1970
Madison County	118	33.1%	47.5%	19.5%	1965

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (119 bridges here).

Carroll County, AR · 119 bridges
Grant County, AR · 119 bridges
Stafford County, KS · 119 bridges
Grayson County, KY · 119 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1971 here).

Wayne County, MI · avg 1971 · 1,026 bridges
Baltimore County, MD · avg 1971 · 783 bridges
Washington County, PA · avg 1971 · 655 bridges
Linn County, OR · avg 1971 · 566 bridges

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

All 119 Good 37 Fair 70 Poor 12

All bridges (119)

Sort:

Laclede County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Laclede County's Poor-condition bridges carry 29,236 vehicle crossings a day

56.3% of Laclede County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 51.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Laclede 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 (119)

LIVINGSTON DR

NATION DR

MEMPHIS DR

VIOLET DR

BOBCAT RD

NEBRASKA DR

ARBOR RD

MO 32 E

RT J E

JEWEL RD

MILL CREEK RD

ORCHID DR

MILLER DR

ATHENS RD

OLATHE RD

RT W E

NEOSHO DR

RT O E

RT F S

RT AC E

RT AD S

EQUESTRIAN RD

IS 44 E

RT C E

RT AA S

MO 64A E

RT N S

FINCH RD

RT J E

DOVE RD E

IS 44 E

ELM ST

RT J E

MO 32 E

RT MM E

RT N S

RT N S

RT O E

RT Z S

MO 32 E

RT C E

RT B S

RT J E

EQUESTRIAN RD

KEEPSAKE RD

RIPLEY RD

NATION DR

RT FF E

RT ZZ S

MO 64A E

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