County profile · official public datasets

Macon County, MO

291 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.6% rated Good, 49.8% Fair, 7.6% Poor.

291
Public bridges: 42.6%
Good condition: 7.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Macon County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 40%
lowest Poor share in state: 7.6%
Poor-condition share: 291
public highway bridges: 1986
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.

Macon County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Macon County ranks #46 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.6%). Macon County, Missouri contains 291 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.6% are rated “Good,” 49.8% “Fair,” and 7.6% “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

291

Public highway bridges in Macon County

Good condition

42.6%

124 of 291 rated 7-9

Fair condition

49.8%

145 of 291 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.6%

22 of 291 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#46 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 291 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.6% (124)

Fair

49.8% (145)

Poor

7.6% (22)

Macon County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,083 vehicle crossings a day

That is 6.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 686 crossings a day against 650 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 291 of 291 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

24.7% of Macon County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

72 of the 291 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 42.6% 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 83.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 63 S over US 36, built 1971, carries 12,582 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 22-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 15,083 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

10
1930s

15
1940s

9
1950s

16
1960s

16
1970s

8
1980s

44
1990s

79
2000s

62
2010s

28
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 79 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1986, 7 years newer than the Missouri average of 1979.

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Macon County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1983 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Macon 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 (this page)	291	42.6%	49.8%	7.6%	1986
Chariton County	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 Macon 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 Macon County, both outside Missouri so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (291 bridges here).

Scott County, IA · 291 bridges
Pickens County, SC · 291 bridges
Canyon County, ID · 292 bridges
Hancock County, IL · 292 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1986 here).

El Paso County, TX · avg 1986 · 783 bridges
Caddo County, LA · avg 1986 · 682 bridges
Weld County, CO · avg 1986 · 614 bridges
Polk County, IA · avg 1986 · 545 bridges

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

All 291 Good 124 Fair 145 Poor 22

Fair-condition bridges (145)

Sort:

Macon County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Macon County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,083 vehicle crossings a day

24.7% of Macon County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 83.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Macon 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 (145)

ARTIC RD

MICHIGAN ST

RT Z E

MO 149 S

MO 156 E

RT DD E

MO 149 S

RT J E

KENNEDY ST

FALCON ST

OLD HWY 36

N SANTA FE

MO 3 S

INKWELL ST

RT WW E

ROLLINS ST

RT T E

OLYMPIC AVE

VINE ST

RT M E

RT AX E

ONTARIO RD

IGUANA ST

LAREDO AVE

HEMLOCK RD

BADGER ST

RT C S

MO 149 S

MO 149 S

RT M E

MO 156 E

RT M E

NORTHRIDGE AVE

US 36 E

RT UU S

RT O S

MO 149 S

RT J E

MO 156 E

FOUNTAIN ST

IMPALA ST

IGUANA ST

US 36 W

HIAWATHA ST

MAHOGANY ST

RT PP E

RT F S

MO 3 S

RT J E

OLIVE AVE

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