County profile · official public datasets

Scott County, MO

182 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 39.6% rated Good, 53.8% Fair, 6.6% Poor.

182
Public bridges: 39.6%
Good condition: 6.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 31%
lowest Poor share in state: 6.6%
Poor-condition share: 182
public highway bridges: 1978
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.

Scott County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Scott County ranks #36 of 115 Missouri counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.6%). Scott County, Missouri contains 182 public highway bridges. Roughly 39.6% are rated “Good,” 53.8% “Fair,” and 6.6% “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

182

Public highway bridges in Scott County

Good condition

39.6%

72 of 182 rated 7-9

Fair condition

53.8%

98 of 182 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.6%

12 of 182 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#36 of 115

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

Condition distribution

Share of 182 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

39.6% (72)

Fair

53.8% (98)

Poor

6.6% (12)

Scott County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,997 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,000 crossings a day against 1,814 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 182 of 182 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

50.5% of Scott County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

92 of the 182 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 39.6% 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 39.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MO 77 S over DRAIN DTCH NO 1, built 1930, carries 4,733 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 12-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 11,997 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

2
1910s

1
1920s

5
1930s

14
1940s

7
1950s

9
1960s

49
1970s

10
1980s

6
1990s

22
2000s

18
2010s

35
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 49 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the Missouri average (1979).

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

The 5 Missouri counties nearest Scott County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.6% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Scott County and the 5 Missouri counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
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	185	36.2%	51.4%	12.4%	1977
Scott County (this page)	182	39.6%	53.8%	6.6%	1978
Clark County	178	38.2%	53.9%	7.9%	1986

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MO (182 bridges here).

Logan County, CO · 182 bridges
Ida County, IA · 182 bridges
Wright County, IA · 182 bridges
Pulaski County, KY · 182 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MO (1978 here).

Orange County, CA · avg 1978 · 1,164 bridges
Sumner County, KS · avg 1978 · 659 bridges
Allen County, IN · avg 1978 · 613 bridges
Livingston County, IL · avg 1978 · 579 bridges

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

All 182 Good 72 Fair 98 Poor 12

Fair-condition bridges (98)

Sort:

Scott County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Scott County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,997 vehicle crossings a day

50.5% of Scott County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 39.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Scott 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

Fair-condition bridges (98)

COUNTY RD 313

COUNTY RD 220

COUNTY RD 216

COUNTY RD 204

COUNTY RD 268

COUNTY RD 443

COUNTY RD 472

COUNTY RD 538

COUNTY RD 268

RT AA S

COUNTY RD 210

MAIN ST

COUNTY RD 530

COUNTY RD 480

CR 430-N. MESSMER

COUNTY RD 476

COUNTY RD 432

MO 114 E

MO 77 S

RT M E

NUNN RD

COUNTY RD 470

RT Y E

COUNTY RD 325

COUNTY RD 452

COUNTY RD 418

RT AB E

MO 114 E

MO 77 S

COUNTY RD 532

COUNTY RD 416

IS 55 S

RT Y E

RT A E

US 62 E

MO 77 S

RT U E

COUNTY RD 476

OR 55 S

BU 61 S

IS 55 N

COUNTY RD 480

RT N S

MO 77 S

IS 55 S

IS 55 N

IS 55 S

IS 55 N

IS 55 S

IS 55 N

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