County profile · official public datasets

McDonald County, MO

145 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 25.5% rated Good, 63.4% Fair, 11% Poor.

145
Public bridges: 25.5%
Good condition: 11%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

78th
of 115 on Poor share: 11%
Poor-condition share: 145
public highway bridges: 1976
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.

McDonald County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, McDonald County ranks #78 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11%). McDonald County, Missouri contains 145 public highway bridges. Roughly 25.5% are rated “Good,” 63.4% “Fair,” and 11% “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

145

Public highway bridges in McDonald County

Good condition

25.5%

37 of 145 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.4%

92 of 145 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11%

16 of 145 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#78 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 145 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

25.5% (37)

Fair

63.4% (92)

Poor

11% (16)

McDonald County's Poor-condition bridges carry 16,760 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,048 crossings a day against 3,365 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 145 of 145 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

51% of McDonald County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

74 of the 145 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 25.5% 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 26.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MO 90 E over YARNELL BR, built 1930, carries 4,423 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 16-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 16,760 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

6
1930s

22
1940s

5
1950s

13
1960s

27
1970s

2
1980s

4
1990s

21
2000s

23
2010s

14
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 27 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest McDonald County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for McDonald County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Taney County	151	31.1%	58.9%	9.9%	1985
Warren County	151	31.8%	64.2%	4%	1986
McDonald County (this page)	145	25.5%	63.4%	11%	1976
Gasconade County	143	32.2%	62.9%	4.9%	1972
Miller County	142	40.1%	49.3%	10.6%	1971
St. Clair County	139	25.2%	55.4%	19.4%	1972

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (145 bridges here).

Dearborn County, IN · 145 bridges
Floyd County, IN · 145 bridges
Lenoir County, NC · 145 bridges
Washington County, RI · 145 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1976 here).

Marion County, IN · avg 1976 · 958 bridges
Mohave County, AZ · avg 1976 · 641 bridges
Comanche County, OK · avg 1976 · 593 bridges
Prince George's County, MD · avg 1976 · 576 bridges

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

All 145 Good 37 Fair 92 Poor 16

All bridges (145)

Sort:

McDonald County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

McDonald County's Poor-condition bridges carry 16,760 vehicle crossings a day

51% of McDonald County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 26.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How McDonald 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 (145)

MO 90 E

BU 71 S

MO 90 E

US 71 S

BLACKSTOCK

UPPER MILL CR RD

RT U S

MO 76 E

MO 76 E

RT EE E

COWAN RIDGE RD

US 71 S

US 71 N

US 71 S

US 71 N

US 71 N

IS 49 N

MO 43 S

MO 76 E

IS 49 N

IS 49 S

IS 49 N

IS 49 S

IS 49 N

IS 49 S

IS 49 N

IS 49 S

RT KK S

BIG SUGAR CR RD

JEFFERSON ST S

IS 49 N

IS 49 S

OSCAR TALLEY RD

US 71 S

RT JJ S

RT JJ S

IS 49 N

GOFF RIDGE RD

SPLITLOG RD E

MO 59 S

ELK SPRINGS RD

RT CC E

RT O E

RT EE E

RT U S

RT F E

CREEK SIDE RD

COOK RD E

RT KK S

MO 76 E

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