County profile · official public datasets

Putnam County, MO

213 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.8% rated Good, 35.7% Fair, 15.5% Poor.

213
Public bridges: 48.8%
Good condition: 15.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

99th
of 115 on Poor share: 15.5%
Poor-condition share: 213
public highway bridges: 1985
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.

Putnam County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Putnam County ranks #99 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 15.5%). Putnam County, Missouri contains 213 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.8% are rated “Good,” 35.7% “Fair,” and 15.5% “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

213

Public highway bridges in Putnam County

Good condition

48.8%

104 of 213 rated 7-9

Fair condition

35.7%

76 of 213 rated 5-6

Poor condition

15.5%

33 of 213 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#99 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 213 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

48.8% (104)

Fair

35.7% (76)

Poor

15.5% (33)

Putnam County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,273 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 15.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 39 crossings a day against 123 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 213 of 213 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

29.1% of Putnam County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

62 of the 213 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 48.8% 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 31.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MO 129 S over N BLACKBIRD CR, built 1947, carries 396 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 33-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,273 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

15
1930s

8
1940s

12
1950s

13
1960s

12
1970s

2
1980s

6
1990s

50
2000s

45
2010s

41
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 50 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1985, 6 years newer than the Missouri average of 1979.

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Putnam County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 15.5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is 9 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Putnam County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Daviess County	222	27.5%	48.2%	24.3%	1970
Dunklin County	214	43%	50.5%	6.5%	1977
Putnam County (this page)	213	48.8%	35.7%	15.5%	1985
Barton County	211	42.2%	47.9%	10%	1977
Caldwell County	208	39.9%	49.5%	10.6%	1975
Pemiscot County	206	34.5%	56.3%	9.2%	1980

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (213 bridges here).

Bonneville County, ID · 213 bridges
Floyd County, IA · 213 bridges
Calhoun County, MI · 213 bridges
Alcorn County, MS · 213 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1985 here).

Hillsborough County, FL · avg 1985 · 840 bridges
Lancaster County, NE · avg 1985 · 661 bridges
Nueces County, TX · avg 1985 · 528 bridges
Grayson County, TX · avg 1985 · 513 bridges

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

All 213 Good 104 Fair 76 Poor 33

All bridges (213)

Sort:

Putnam County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Putnam County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,273 vehicle crossings a day

29.1% of Putnam County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 31.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Putnam 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 (213)

265TH RD

175TH RD

168TH ST

125TH ST

ELM TRAIL

260TH RD

135TH RD

190TH ST

CHERRY TRAIL

275TH RD

115TH ST

130TH ST

160TH ST

MALLOW TRAIL

210TH ST

123RD ST

RT W E

RT W E

OLIVE TRAIL

243RD RD

MO 129 S

HYACINTH TRAIL

MO 149 S

IVY TRAIL

200TH ST

DEERWOOD TRAIL

GINGER TRAIL

MO 129 S

US 136 E

RT YY S

457TH RD

RT YY S

RT E E

AGAVE TRAIL

RT Y S

110TH ST

ORCHID TRAIL

190TH ST

HEMLOCK TRAIL

COUNTY RD 340

RT W E

MO 129 S

190TH RD

457TH RD

283RD RD

CALAMINT TRAIL

170TH ST

RT M E

RT YY S

RT EE S

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