County profile · official public datasets

McMinn County, TN

219 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.8% rated Good, 58.4% Fair, 2.7% Poor.

219
Public bridges: 38.8%
Good condition: 2.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 33%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.7%
Poor-condition share: 219
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.

McMinn County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, McMinn County ranks #31 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.7%). McMinn County, Tennessee contains 219 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.8% are rated “Good,” 58.4% “Fair,” and 2.7% “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

219

Public highway bridges in McMinn County

Good condition

38.8%

85 of 219 rated 7-9

Fair condition

58.4%

128 of 219 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.7%

6 of 219 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#31 of 95

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

Condition distribution

Share of 219 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

38.8% (85)

Fair

58.4% (128)

Poor

2.7% (6)

McMinn County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,802 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,634 crossings a day against 7,165 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 219 of 219 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

53.9% of McMinn County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

118 of the 219 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 38.8% 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 35.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAS 39 over MIDDLE CREEK, built 1951, carries 5,610 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 15,802 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

5
1930s

13
1940s

3
1950s

9
1960s

13
1970s

85
1980s

46
1990s

23
2000s

16
2010s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 85 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 38.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Tennessee average (1977).

How McMinn County compares with Tennessee's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest McMinn County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.7% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 94 Tennessee counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for McMinn County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Hardeman County	223	30%	67.3%	2.7%	1980
McMinn County (this page)	219	38.8%	58.4%	2.7%	1976
McNairy County	218	34.9%	62.4%	2.8%	1985
Coffee County	217	24.4%	66.4%	9.2%	1964
Blount County	215	63.7%	33.5%	2.8%	1974
Lawrence County	211	53.6%	44.5%	1.9%	1979

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (219 bridges here).

Faulkner County, AR · 219 bridges
Bartow County, GA · 219 bridges
Bibb County, GA · 220 bridges
Decatur County, IN · 220 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TN (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 219 Good 85 Fair 128 Poor 6

All bridges (219)

Sort:

McMinn County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

McMinn County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,802 vehicle crossings a day

53.9% of McMinn County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 35.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How McMinn County compares with Tennessee'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 (219)

NFA 1198 (SA 5418)

FAS 309

NFA 1233

NFA 1233 (SA 5419)

NFA 2323 (SA 5404)

FAU 3676

NFA A029

NFA A045

NFA A049

NFA A051

NFA A632

NFA A091

NFA A105

NFA A127 (SA 5421)

NFA A168

NFA A183

NFA A202

NFA A221

NFA A298 (SA 5437)

NFA A300

NFA A361

NFA A378

NFA A381

NFA A390

NFA A417

NFA A421

NFA A430

NFA A454

NFA A454

NFA A486

NFA A507

NFA A523

NFA A538

NFA A612

NFA A859

NFA A531 (SA 5414)

NFA A962

NFA A631

NFA A108

I75 NBL

I75 SBL

I75 NBL

I75 NBL

I75 SBL

I75

I75 NBL

I75 SBL

I75

FAS 309

NFA A068

Related