County profile · official public datasets

Lawrence County, MO

233 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 46.4% rated Good, 42.1% Fair, 11.6% Poor.

233
Public bridges: 46.4%
Good condition: 11.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Lawrence 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.

86th
of 115 on Poor share: 11.6%
Poor-condition share: 233
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.

Lawrence County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lawrence County ranks #86 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.6%). Lawrence County, Missouri contains 233 public highway bridges. Roughly 46.4% are rated “Good,” 42.1% “Fair,” and 11.6% “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

233

Public highway bridges in Lawrence County

Good condition

46.4%

108 of 233 rated 7-9

Fair condition

42.1%

98 of 233 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.6%

27 of 233 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#86 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 233 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

46.4% (108)

Fair

42.1% (98)

Poor

11.6% (27)

Lawrence County's Poor-condition bridges carry 34,301 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,270 crossings a day against 3,116 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 233 of 233 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.4% of Lawrence County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

122 of the 233 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 46.4% 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 33.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 60 E over MNA RR, built 1961, carries 11,513 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 27-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 34,301 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1900s

5
1910s

3
1920s

23
1930s

40
1940s

9
1950s

9
1960s

30
1970s

2
1980s

10
1990s

32
2000s

19
2010s

28
2020s

22

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1971, 8 years older than the Missouri average of 1979.

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Lawrence County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1981 is 10 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Lawrence County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Lafayette County	238	31.9%	65.5%	2.5%	1980
DeKalb County	237	35%	56.5%	8.4%	1985
Lawrence County (this page)	233	46.4%	42.1%	11.6%	1971
Saline County	230	33.9%	53%	13%	1976
Butler County	227	49.3%	42.3%	8.4%	1981
Cole County	227	27.3%	63.9%	8.8%	1982

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (233 bridges here).

Pickens County, AL · 233 bridges
Washington County, IL · 233 bridges
Oswego County, NY · 233 bridges
Mayes County, OK · 233 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 233 Good 108 Fair 98 Poor 27

Fair-condition bridges (98)

Sort:

Lawrence County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Lawrence County's Poor-condition bridges carry 34,301 vehicle crossings a day

52.4% of Lawrence County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 33.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Lawrence 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 (98)

COUNTY RD 1230

RT AA S

RT P S

MO 97 S

MO 97 S

COUNTY RD 1120

RT AA S

1010 S

MO 39 S

IS 44 E

IS 44 W

RT T S

IS 44 E

IS 44 W

COUNTY RD 1000

MO 39 S

RT H S

COUNTY RD 1030

COUNTY RD 1050

RT Z S

IS 44 E

RT W S

RT M S

RT H S

BU 60 E

BU 60 E

MO 97 S

MO 174 E

IS 44 E

MO 39 S

BU 60 E

MO 39 S

RT K S

IS 44 E

RT P S

MO 97 S

MO 96 E

RT H S

RT H S

RT ZZ E

BU 60 E

MO 174 E

BU 39 S

MO 97 S

MO 14 E

RT H S

US 60 E

IS 44 E

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