County profile · official public datasets

Pulaski County, MO

104 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 21.2% rated Good, 68.3% Fair, 10.6% Poor.

104
Public bridges: 21.2%
Good condition: 10.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

76th
of 115 on Poor share: 10.6%
Poor-condition share: 104
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.

Pulaski County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Pulaski County ranks #76 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.6%). Pulaski County, Missouri contains 104 public highway bridges. Roughly 21.2% are rated “Good,” 68.3% “Fair,” and 10.6% “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

104

Public highway bridges in Pulaski County

Good condition

21.2%

22 of 104 rated 7-9

Fair condition

68.3%

71 of 104 rated 5-6

Poor condition

10.6%

11 of 104 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#76 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 104 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

21.2% (22)

Fair

68.3% (71)

Poor

10.6% (11)

Pulaski County's Poor-condition bridges carry 44,967 vehicle crossings a day

That is 10.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,088 crossings a day against 1,699 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 104 of 104 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

47.1% of Pulaski County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

49 of the 104 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 21.2% 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 34.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IS 44 E over BIG PINEY RVR, built 1976, carries 15,506 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 11-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 44,967 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1920s

3
1930s

2
1940s

7
1950s

14
1960s

18
1970s

12
1980s

4
1990s

21
2000s

9
2010s

10
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 21 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Pulaski County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.6% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Pulaski County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Shelby County	108	28.7%	56.5%	14.8%	1977
Morgan County	105	28.6%	61%	10.5%	1964
Ste. Genevieve County	104	38.5%	51%	10.6%	1972
Pulaski County (this page)	104	21.2%	68.3%	10.6%	1975
Osage County	100	37%	45%	18%	1970
Mississippi County	99	26.3%	62.6%	11.1%	1969

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (104 bridges here).

Nassau County, FL · 104 bridges
Brooks County, GA · 104 bridges
Grady County, GA · 104 bridges
Bonner County, ID · 104 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 104 Good 22 Fair 71 Poor 11

All bridges (104)

Sort:

Pulaski County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Pulaski County's Poor-condition bridges carry 44,967 vehicle crossings a day

47.1% of Pulaski County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 34.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Pulaski 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 (104)

MINNESOTA/NEBRASKA

RAPID RD

RAWLINS RD

CAVE RD

GOLF CRSE RD FLW26

REPORTER RD

SKAGWAY RD

MO 17 S

BELLE RD

BROOKLYN RD

RAWLINS RD

HOLTZMAN DR

SPRING RD

RT T S

RT Z E

RIO RD N

BURLINGTON RD

LAKE PERIMETER RD

RT HH E

TULSA ROAD

RIVER SIDE RD

TEAR DROP RD

MO 133 S

RT O S

ROSE FINCH RD

RT H S

LP 44 E

LP 44 W

RT TT S

BROOKLYN RD

IS 44 W

RT U S

MO 133 S

RT Y N

RT Y S

TEXAS RD

MO 28 E

MO 28 E

MO 7 S

POLLA RD.

Journal Road

1ST STREET

MICHIGAN ST.

ROCHESTER RD

IS 44 E

IS 44 E

IS 44 W

BOSTON RD

SOUTH BEND RD

RT U S

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