County profile · official public datasets

Morgan County, TN

120 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.3% rated Good, 45% Fair, 6.7% Poor.

120
Public bridges: 48.3%
Good condition: 6.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

79th
of 95 on Poor share: 6.7%
Poor-condition share: 120
public highway bridges: 1981
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.

Morgan County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Morgan County ranks #79 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.7%). Morgan County, Tennessee contains 120 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.3% are rated “Good,” 45% “Fair,” and 6.7% “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

120

Public highway bridges in Morgan County

Good condition

48.3%

58 of 120 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45%

54 of 120 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.7%

8 of 120 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#79 of 95

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

Condition distribution

Share of 120 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

48.3% (58)

Fair

45% (54)

Poor

6.7% (8)

Morgan County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,169 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,021 crossings a day against 1,308 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 120 of 120 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

32.5% of Morgan County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

39 of the 120 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 48.3% 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 52.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAP 29 over CROOKED FORK CREEK, built 1928, carries 4,266 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 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 8,169 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

9
1930s

7
1940s

4
1950s

7
1960s

4
1970s

12
1980s

28
1990s

14
2000s

14
2010s

17
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 28 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Tennessee average (1977).

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

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest Morgan County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 6 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Morgan County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Chester County	127	38.6%	57.5%	3.9%	1983
Jefferson County	122	13.9%	74.6%	11.5%	1966
Morgan County (this page)	120	48.3%	45%	6.7%	1981
Hamblen County	119	17.6%	79.8%	2.5%	1976
Houston County	118	45.8%	50.8%	3.4%	1978
Loudon County	117	53%	45.3%	1.7%	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 Morgan 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 Morgan County, both outside Tennessee so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (120 bridges here).

Matanuska-Susitna County, AK · 120 bridges
Indian River County, FL · 120 bridges
Perry County, MO · 120 bridges
Schuyler County, MO · 120 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TN (1981 here).

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

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

All 120 Good 58 Fair 54 Poor 8

Fair-condition bridges (54)

Sort:

Morgan County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Morgan County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,169 vehicle crossings a day

32.5% of Morgan County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 52.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Morgan 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

Fair-condition bridges (54)

NFA 0A351

NFA A263 (SA 6509)

NFA 0A366

NFA A490

FAS 328

FAS 328

FAP 62

NFA A104

FAP 29

FAU 2390

NFA A261

FAP 29

FAP 29

FAP 29

FAP 62

FAP 62

NFA A111

NFA A018

NFA 2394 (SA 6512)

FAP 29

NFA A409

NFA 1234 (SA 6509)

NFA 2378 841859X

NFA 2378 (SA 6502)

NFA 2378 (SA 6502)

NFA 2380 (SA 6503)

NFA 2382

NFA 2388 (SA 6508)

NFA 2394 (SA 6512)

NFA 2396 (SA 6513)

NFA A013

NFA A111

NFA A156

NFA A224 841853G

NFA A253

NFA A278

NFA A283

NFA A325

NFA A337

NFA A338

NFA A342

FAS 299

NFA 916 (SA 6511)

FAP 29

FAP 29

FAP 29

FAP 29

FAP 29

FAS 328

FAP 62

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