County profile · official public datasets

Monroe County, TN

145 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 62.1% rated Good, 33.8% Fair, 4.1% Poor.

145
Public bridges: 62.1%
Good condition: 4.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

55th
of 95 on Poor share: 4.1%
Poor-condition share: 145
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.

Monroe County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Monroe County ranks #55 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.1%). Monroe County, Tennessee contains 145 public highway bridges. Roughly 62.1% are rated “Good,” 33.8% “Fair,” and 4.1% “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

145

Public highway bridges in Monroe County

Good condition

62.1%

90 of 145 rated 7-9

Fair condition

33.8%

49 of 145 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.1%

6 of 145 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#55 of 95

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

Condition distribution

Share of 145 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

62.1% (90)

Fair

33.8% (49)

Poor

4.1% (6)

Monroe County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,962 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,660 crossings a day against 1,600 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 145 of 145 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

38.6% of Monroe County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

56 of the 145 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 62.1% 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 79.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAP 2 over SWEETWATER CREEK, built 1929, carries 7,880 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 9,962 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

8
1930s

9
1940s

4
1950s

6
1960s

13
1970s

21
1980s

36
1990s

23
2000s

14
2010s

6
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 36 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Tennessee average (1977).

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

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest Monroe County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.1% Poor share is the 4th-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 Monroe County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Perry County	153	23.5%	75.2%	1.3%	1979
Benton County	147	33.3%	65.3%	1.4%	1979
Monroe County (this page)	145	62.1%	33.8%	4.1%	1976
Polk County	140	55%	37.1%	7.9%	1979
Campbell County	137	24.8%	71.5%	3.6%	1973
Cumberland County	137	32.8%	48.9%	18.2%	1971

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (145 bridges here).

Dearborn County, IN · 145 bridges
Floyd County, IN · 145 bridges
McDonald County, MO · 145 bridges
Lenoir County, NC · 145 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 145 Good 90 Fair 49 Poor 6

All bridges (145)

Sort:

Monroe County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Monroe County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,962 vehicle crossings a day

38.6% of Monroe County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 79.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Monroe 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 (145)

NFSR 2659

NFA A067

NFSR 210B

NFSR 210

NFSR 217

NFA A363

NFA 1202 (SA 6205)

NFA A149 347816U

FAP 72

FAS 360

NFA A274

NFA A081

NFA A268

NFA A315

FAS 360

NFA 1210

NFA A616

NFSR 210

NFA 1206 (SA 6209)

NFA 1204 (SA 6218)

NFA 1210

NFA A859

FAS 322

FAP 33

NFSR 126

NFA 1241 (SA 6214)

FAP 33

NFSR 210

NFSR 35-1

NFSR 35-1

FAP 2

NFSR 35-1

FAS 360

NFA A100

NFA A224

NFA A318

NFA A417

NFA 1235 (SA 6202)

NFA 1235 (SA 6202)

NFA 1200 (SA 6208)

FAS 322

FAS 322

FAP 72

FAP 72

FAS 165

NFSR 210

NFSR 210

FAP 33

NFSR 332

FAP 72

Related