County profile · official public datasets

Saline County, MO

230 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 33.9% rated Good, 53% Fair, 13% Poor.

230
Public bridges: 33.9%
Good condition: 13%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

89th
of 115 on Poor share: 13%
Poor-condition share: 230
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.

Saline County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Saline County ranks #89 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 13%). Saline County, Missouri contains 230 public highway bridges. Roughly 33.9% are rated “Good,” 53% “Fair,” and 13% “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

230

Public highway bridges in Saline County

Good condition

33.9%

78 of 230 rated 7-9

Fair condition

53%

122 of 230 rated 5-6

Poor condition

13%

30 of 230 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#89 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 230 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

33.9% (78)

Fair

53% (122)

Poor

13% (30)

Saline County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,833 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 13% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 328 crossings a day against 365 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 230 of 230 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

43.9% of Saline County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

101 of the 230 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 33.9% 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 40.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 65 S over BLACKWATER RVR, built 1985, carries 3,956 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 30-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 9,833 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

7
1910s

8
1920s

13
1930s

8
1940s

11
1950s

8
1960s

34
1970s

20
1980s

16
1990s

33
2000s

33
2010s

30
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 34 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 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Saline County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 13% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1981 is 5 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Saline County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Lawrence County	233	46.4%	42.1%	11.6%	1971
Saline County (this page)	230	33.9%	53%	13%	1976
Butler County	227	49.3%	42.3%	8.4%	1981
Cole County	227	27.3%	63.9%	8.8%	1982
Pike County	225	34.7%	56.9%	8.4%	1981
Sullivan County	224	56.3%	36.6%	7.1%	1990

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (230 bridges here).

Clark County, IL · 230 bridges
Johnson County, IN · 230 bridges
Greer County, OK · 230 bridges
Saline County, AR · 231 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 230 Good 78 Fair 122 Poor 30

All bridges (230)

Sort:

Saline County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Saline County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,833 vehicle crossings a day

43.9% of Saline County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

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

How Saline 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 (230)

ADAIR AVE

150TH RD

RT H E

RT F E

IS 70 W

US 65 S

RT TT E

250TH RD

205TH RD

120TH RD

US 65 S

RT F E

246TH TRL

US 65 N

LEMON TRL

PECAN AVE

RT T S

US 65 S

ALPINE AVE

MO 127 S

250TH RD

185TH RD

FAIRGROUND RD

WILDCAT RD

293RD LN

LINCOLN AVE

MO 41 S

BLUEBELL AVE

GLADIOLA AVE

RT WW E

WILDCAT RD

RT YY S

DAYBREAK AVE

BASIL AVE

OLEANDER AVE

MO 41 S

US 65 N

MO 127 S

IS 70 E

IS 70 W

RT P E

160TH RD

230TH RD

170TH RD

GARLAND AVE

250TH RD

260TH RD

US 65 S

MOUNT OLIVE RD

MO 41 S

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