County profile · official public datasets

Van Buren County, TN

37 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 54.1% rated Good, 43.2% Fair, 2.7% Poor.

37
Public bridges: 54.1%
Good condition: 2.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Van Buren County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 29%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.7%
Poor-condition share: 37
public highway bridges: 1986
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.

Van Buren County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Van Buren County ranks #28 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.7%). Van Buren County, Tennessee contains 37 public highway bridges. Roughly 54.1% are rated “Good,” 43.2% “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

Public highway bridges in Van Buren County

Good condition

54.1%

20 of 37 rated 7-9

Fair condition

43.2%

16 of 37 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.7%

1 of 37 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#28 of 95

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

Condition distribution

Share of 37 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

54.1% (20)

Fair

43.2% (16)

Poor

2.7% (1)

Van Buren County's Poor-condition bridges carry 388 vehicle crossings a day

That is 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 388 crossings a day against 398 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 37 of 37 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

16.2% of Van Buren County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

6 of the 37 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 54.1% 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 100% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAS 285 over GLADE CREEK, built 1986, carries 388 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 1-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 388 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1950s

2
1960s

2
1970s

3
1980s

12
1990s

11
2000s

4
2010s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 12 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 32.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1986, 9 years newer than the Tennessee average of 1977.

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

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest Van Buren County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.7% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1985 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Van Buren County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Hancock County	61	47.5%	50.8%	1.6%	1985
Union County	61	37.7%	57.4%	4.9%	1979
Fentress County	55	30.9%	52.7%	16.4%	1981
Van Buren County (this page)	37	54.1%	43.2%	2.7%	1986
Lake County	30	63.3%	33.3%	3.3%	1995
Pickett County	30	50%	46.7%	3.3%	1984

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (37 bridges here).

Sitka City and County, AK · 37 bridges
Suwannee County, FL · 37 bridges
Teton County, ID · 37 bridges
Dickinson County, MI · 37 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TN (1986 here).

El Paso County, TX · avg 1986 · 783 bridges
Caddo County, LA · avg 1986 · 682 bridges
Weld County, CO · avg 1986 · 614 bridges
Polk County, IA · avg 1986 · 545 bridges

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

All 37 Good 20 Fair 16 Poor 1

All bridges (37)

Sort:

NFA A129

Fair

Over: CANE CREEK (FCFSP)

1MI FROM BLEDSOE CO LINE, Van Buren, TN

Built 1989 Load: 18.8 t ADT: 570

NFA 1159 (SA 8807)

Fair

Over: CANE CREEK

2MI FROM SR 111, Van Buren, TN

Built 1970 Load: 18.8 t ADT: 220

NFA A015

Fair

Over: LAUREL CREEK

1MI FROM SR 30, Van Buren, TN

Built 1921 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 180

FAP 111

Fair

Over: CANEY FORK RIVER

AT WHITE CO. LINE, Van Buren, TN

Built 1966 Load: 27.9 t ADT: 5,778

NFA 2188 (SA 8806)

Fair

Over: CANEY FORK RIVER

AT WHITE VAN BUREN LINE, Van Buren, TN

Built 1986 Load: 29.8 t ADT: 373

NFA 2185 (SA 8801)

Fair

Over: ROCKY RIVER

2MI FROM WARRE CO LINE, Van Buren, TN

Built 1991 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 262

NFA 2185 (SA 8801)

Fair

Over: ROCKY RIVER

2MI FROM WARREN CO LINE, Van Buren, TN

Built 1950 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 262

NFA A023

Fair

Over: COVE BRANCH

1 MI W OF SR 111, Van Buren, TN

Built 1994 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 50

NFA A183

Fair

Over: DRY FORK CREEK

.3 MI FROM SR 111, Van Buren, TN

Built 1990 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 280

FAS 285

Fair

Over: SPRING CREEK

2 MI.FROM BLEDSOE CO., Van Buren, TN

Built 1989 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 388

FAP 1

Fair

Over: CANEY FORK RIVER

AT WHITE CO. LINE, Van Buren, TN

Built 1995 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 5,696

FAP 1

Fair

Over: CANEY FORK RIVER

AT WHITE CO LINE, Van Buren, TN

Built 1995 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 5,696

FAP 30

Fair

Over: CANE CREEK

4.8 MI.EAST OF SPENCER, Van Buren, TN

Built 1982 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 678

FAP 111

Fair

Over: DRY FORK CREEK

1.23 MI.S.OF SPENCER, Van Buren, TN

Built 1979 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 5,135

FAP 111

Fair

Over: CANEY FORK RIVER

AT WHITE VAN BUREN CO LI, Van Buren, TN

Built 1997 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 5,778

FAS 284

Fair

Over: SR-111

SR-111 INTERSECTION, Van Buren, TN

Van Buren County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Van Buren County's Poor-condition bridges carry 388 vehicle crossings a day

16.2% of Van Buren County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 100% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Van Buren 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 (37)

NFA A129

NFA 1159 (SA 8807)

NFA A015

FAP 111

NFA 2188 (SA 8806)

NFA 2185 (SA 8801)

NFA 2185 (SA 8801)

NFA A023

NFA A183

FAS 285

FAP 1

FAP 1

FAP 30

FAP 111

FAP 111

FAS 284

NFA A090

NFA A079

FAS 284

NFA 1134 (SA 8802)

NFA 2140 (SA 8804)

NFA 2185 (SA 8801)

NFA 2185 (SA 8801)

NFA 2185 (SA 8801)

NFA A070

NFA A075

NFA A078

NFA A085

NFA A111

NFA A176

FAS 285

FAS 285

FAP 30

FAP 30

FAP 30

FAS 285

FAS 285

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