County profile · official public datasets

Ralls County, MO

138 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.9% rated Good, 60.9% Fair, 7.2% Poor.

138
Public bridges: 31.9%
Good condition: 7.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 37%
lowest Poor share in state: 7.2%
Poor-condition share: 138
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.

Ralls County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Ralls County ranks #43 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.2%). Ralls County, Missouri contains 138 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.9% are rated “Good,” 60.9% “Fair,” and 7.2% “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

138

Public highway bridges in Ralls County

Good condition

31.9%

44 of 138 rated 7-9

Fair condition

60.9%

84 of 138 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.2%

10 of 138 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#43 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 138 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

31.9% (44)

Fair

60.9% (84)

Poor

7.2% (10)

Ralls County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,023 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 902 crossings a day against 1,529 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 138 of 138 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

43.5% of Ralls County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

60 of the 138 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 31.9% 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 92.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 61 S over SALT RVR, built 1983, carries 8,333 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 10-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 9,023 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

3
1920s

7
1930s

12
1940s

4
1950s

11
1960s

18
1970s

12
1980s

16
1990s

20
2000s

14
2010s

15
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 20 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 14.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Ralls County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.2% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Ralls County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
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
Ralls County (this page)	138	31.9%	60.9%	7.2%	1976
Mercer County	137	44.5%	36.5%	19%	1976
Benton County	135	11.9%	67.4%	20.7%	1964

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (138 bridges here).

Santa Cruz County, AZ · 138 bridges
Hancock County, IA · 138 bridges
Boone County, KY · 138 bridges
Scurry County, TX · 138 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 138 Good 44 Fair 84 Poor 10

Good-condition bridges (44)

Sort:

Ralls County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Ralls County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,023 vehicle crossings a day

43.5% of Ralls County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 92.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Ralls 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

Good-condition bridges (44)

FLINTHILL RD 077

RT P S

RT A E

DEMOSS RD 006

US 61 N

RT B S

RT P S

US 61 N

US 24 W

MEXICO RD 255

NEVILLE RD 272

PLUM CR RD

HUMMINGBIRD LN

OREGON DRIVE

MO State Highway J

SPENCER CHURCH LN

RT P S

INDIANA LANE

RT V E

SPENCER CR LN

CAMP CREEK LN

RT J S

MO 19 S

US 61 N

RT F N

RT B S

BAILEY BRIDGE RD

BORDER LN 244

RT HH E

MO 154 E

WISCONSIN LN 262

MO 154 E

US 61 S

MADISONVILLE RD 22

GARDEN GROVE LN

US 61 S

MO 19 N

SYDNEY RD

WARREN BARRETT DR

MALARUNI RD

RT E E

MALARUNI RD

FLORIDA RD 205

HUMMINGBIRD LN 238

Related