County profile · official public datasets

Pettis County, MO

243 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 43.6% rated Good, 45.3% Fair, 11.1% Poor.

243
Public bridges: 43.6%
Good condition: 11.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

80th
of 115 on Poor share: 11.1%
Poor-condition share: 243
public highway bridges: 1975
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.

Pettis County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Pettis County ranks #80 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.1%). Pettis County, Missouri contains 243 public highway bridges. Roughly 43.6% are rated “Good,” 45.3% “Fair,” and 11.1% “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

243

Public highway bridges in Pettis County

Good condition

43.6%

106 of 243 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.3%

110 of 243 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.1%

27 of 243 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#80 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 243 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

43.6% (106)

Fair

45.3% (110)

Poor

11.1% (27)

Pettis County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,387 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 792 crossings a day against 453 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 243 of 243 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

47.7% of Pettis County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

116 of the 243 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 43.6% 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 40.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 50 E over MUDDY CR, built 1972, carries 8,593 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 21,387 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1910s

5
1920s

29
1930s

15
1940s

7
1950s

16
1960s

26
1970s

25
1980s

9
1990s

24
2000s

32
2010s

36
2020s

16

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 36 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 14.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Pettis County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.1% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1984 is 9 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Pettis County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Buchanan County	246	34.1%	58.1%	7.7%	1981
Gentry County	246	52%	33.3%	14.6%	1992
Pettis County (this page)	243	43.6%	45.3%	11.1%	1975
St. Louis city County	240	31.3%	58.8%	10%	1982
Lafayette County	238	31.9%	65.5%	2.5%	1980
DeKalb County	237	35%	56.5%	8.4%	1985

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (243 bridges here).

Talladega County, AL · 243 bridges
Newton County, MS · 243 bridges
Gloucester County, NJ · 243 bridges
Columbia County, NY · 243 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1975 here).

San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges

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

All 243 Good 106 Fair 110 Poor 27

All bridges (243)

Sort:

Pettis County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Pettis County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,387 vehicle crossings a day

47.7% of Pettis County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 40.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Pettis 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 (243)

MO 52 E

RT E S

US 65 S

MO 127 S

RT D E

RT M S

CLONEY RD

MO 52 E

RT CC E

RT ZZ S

RT K S

US 65 S

RT BB E

US 65 N

US 65 S

RT H S

US 65 N

RT M S

US 65 N

WALK RD

SMASAL RD

ELM BRANCH RD

US 50 W

DILTHY RD

HAZEL HILL RD

BUNKER HILL RD

HICKORY POINT RD

BLUHM RD

WESTMORELAND RD

RT Y E

RT T N

CRYSTAL SPRINGS RD

US 50 E

RT Y E

FOWLER RD

WOODLAND

PRICE RD

HILLVIEW RD

MO 127 S

MO 127 S

MO 52 E

RT Y E

MALTSBARGER RD

RT HH E

MO 52 E

RT Y E

LEE RD

RT V E

RT J S

US 65 S

Related