County profile · official public datasets

Putnam County, TN

167 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 50.9% rated Good, 46.7% Fair, 2.4% Poor.

167
Public bridges: 50.9%
Good condition: 2.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Putnam County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 23%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.4%
Poor-condition share: 167
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.

Putnam County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Putnam County ranks #22 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.4%). Putnam County, Tennessee contains 167 public highway bridges. Roughly 50.9% are rated “Good,” 46.7% “Fair,” and 2.4% “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

167

Public highway bridges in Putnam County

Good condition

50.9%

85 of 167 rated 7-9

Fair condition

46.7%

78 of 167 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.4%

4 of 167 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#22 of 95

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

Condition distribution

Share of 167 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

50.9% (85)

Fair

46.7% (78)

Poor

2.4% (4)

Putnam County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,890 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,473 crossings a day against 4,326 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 167 of 167 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

43.1% of Putnam County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

72 of the 167 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 50.9% 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 50.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAS 135 over DRY CREEK, built 1940, carries 2,958 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 4-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,890 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

2
1930s

4
1940s

10
1950s

7
1960s

41
1970s

17
1980s

51
1990s

12
2000s

15
2010s

7
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 51 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.5% 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 Putnam County compares with Tennessee's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest Putnam County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.4% Poor share is the 3rd-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 94 Tennessee counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Putnam County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Macon County	169	69.8%	25.4%	4.7%	1983
Stewart County	168	56.5%	43.5%	0%	1977
Crockett County	167	44.9%	54.5%	0.6%	1985
Putnam County (this page)	167	50.9%	46.7%	2.4%	1976
Unicoi County	161	46%	49.1%	5%	1984
Warren County	160	48.1%	48.1%	3.8%	1976

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (167 bridges here).

Cherokee County, AL · 167 bridges
Garfield County, CO · 167 bridges
Mitchell County, IA · 167 bridges
Ness County, KS · 167 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 167 Good 85 Fair 78 Poor 4

Good-condition bridges (85)

Sort:

Putnam County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Putnam County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,890 vehicle crossings a day

43.1% of Putnam County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 50.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Putnam 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

Good-condition bridges (85)

I40

NFA A525 (SA 7114)

FAU 135

NFA 1016 349053S

NFA 1165 (SA 7110)

FAP 401 (SR 24)

FAP 62

FAP 62

FAP 111

FAS 135

FAS 136

SR 291

FAU 3528

NFA A176

NFA A341

NFA A443

NFA A499

NFA 3520

NFA A029

NFA A161

NFA A225

NFA A294

NFA 2216 (SA 7108)

FAP 111

NFA A059

NFA A062

NFA A062

NFA A763

FAP 84

NFA B286

NFA A199

FAS 290

NFA A056

FAP 111

FAP 62

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