County profile · official public datasets

Ray County, MO

185 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 36.2% rated Good, 51.4% Fair, 12.4% Poor.

185
Public bridges: 36.2%
Good condition: 12.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

87th
of 115 on Poor share: 12.4%
Poor-condition share: 185
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Ray County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Ray County ranks #87 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.4%). Ray County, Missouri contains 185 public highway bridges. Roughly 36.2% are rated “Good,” 51.4% “Fair,” and 12.4% “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

185

Public highway bridges in Ray County

Good condition

36.2%

67 of 185 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.4%

95 of 185 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.4%

23 of 185 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#87 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 185 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

36.2% (67)

Fair

51.4% (95)

Poor

12.4% (23)

Ray County's Poor-condition bridges carry 14,166 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 616 crossings a day against 1,357 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 185 of 185 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

41.6% of Ray County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

77 of the 185 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 36.2% 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 34.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

LEXINGTON RD over NS RR NS RR FIRST ST, built 1946, carries 4,852 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 23-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 14,166 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

3
1910s

6
1920s

5
1930s

8
1940s

29
1950s

14
1960s

9
1970s

3
1980s

9
1990s

31
2000s

35
2010s

28
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 35 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Ray County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.4% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Ray County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Grundy County	187	54%	34.8%	11.2%	1992
Marion County	186	37.1%	53.8%	9.1%	1977
Livingston County	185	34.1%	50.3%	15.7%	1978
Polk County	185	31.9%	47.6%	20.5%	1966
Ray County (this page)	185	36.2%	51.4%	12.4%	1977
Scott County	182	39.6%	53.8%	6.6%	1978

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (185 bridges here).

Chambers County, AL · 185 bridges
Maui County, HI · 185 bridges
Lawrence County, IL · 185 bridges
Saline County, IL · 185 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges

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

All 185 Good 67 Fair 95 Poor 23

All bridges (185)

Sort:

Ray County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Ray County's Poor-condition bridges carry 14,166 vehicle crossings a day

41.6% of Ray County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 34.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Ray 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 (185)

E 154 ST

BUFFALO RD

CHRISTIAN RD

W 60 ST

E 112 ST

BOBWHITE RD

W 188 ST

ST CLOUD RD

W 206 ST

W 216 ST

FRAZIER RD

W 196 ST

E 128 ST

W 84 ST

ALBANY RD

MARKHAM RD

ALBANY RD

W 84 ST

PROFITT RD

DAUGHERTY RD

COON BRANCH RD

E 188 ST

E 192 ST

KING RD

W 108 ST

VASSMER RD

WOOD RD

HARPER RD

E 156 ST

CARDINAL RD

RT J S

RT B S

DAUGHERTY RD

W 160TH ST

BATHGATE RD

RT T E

W 230 RD

SIBLEY RD

W 92 ST

MO 10 E

RT T E

RT B S

W 180 ST

ROCK FALLS RD

RT K E

RT K E

E 176 ST

ROCKINGHAM RD

E 155 ST

RT B S

Related