County profile · official public datasets

Caldwell County, TX

206 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 62.1% rated Good, 36.4% Fair, 1.5% Poor.

206
Public bridges: 62.1%
Good condition: 1.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

158th
of 247 on Poor share: 1.5%
Poor-condition share: 206
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.

Caldwell County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Caldwell County ranks #158 of 247 Texas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.5%). Caldwell County, Texas contains 206 public highway bridges. Roughly 62.1% are rated “Good,” 36.4% “Fair,” and 1.5% “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

206

Public highway bridges in Caldwell County

Good condition

62.1%

128 of 206 rated 7-9

Fair condition

36.4%

75 of 206 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.5%

3 of 206 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#158 of 247

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

Condition distribution

Share of 206 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

62.1% (128)

Fair

36.4% (75)

Poor

1.5% (3)

Caldwell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 498 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 166 crossings a day against 6,413 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 206 of 206 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

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

67 of the 206 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 53.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

N BLANCO SREET over TOWN CREEK, built 1942, carries 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 498 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

2
1910s

1
1920s

5
1930s

21
1940s

6
1950s

16
1960s

10
1970s

6
1980s

11
1990s

23
2000s

30
2010s

72
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 72 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 35% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1986, 6 years newer than the Texas average of 1980.

How Caldwell County compares with Texas's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Texas counties nearest Caldwell County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.5% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 9 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 246 Texas counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Caldwell County and the 5 Texas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Austin County	214	63.1%	34.1%	2.8%	1992
Reeves County	213	52.6%	45.5%	1.9%	1966
Comanche County	212	45.3%	52.8%	1.9%	1974
Polk County	210	48.1%	46.2%	5.7%	1983
Caldwell County (this page)	206	62.1%	36.4%	1.5%	1986
Coryell County	204	54.4%	45.1%	0.5%	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 Caldwell 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 Caldwell County, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TX (206 bridges here).

Dale County, AL · 206 bridges
Henry County, IN · 206 bridges
Audubon County, IA · 206 bridges
Bourbon County, KS · 206 bridges

Similar average build year

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

Caddo County, LA · avg 1986 · 682 bridges
Weld County, CO · avg 1986 · 614 bridges
Polk County, IA · avg 1986 · 545 bridges
Canadian County, OK · avg 1986 · 493 bridges

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

All 206 Good 128 Fair 75 Poor 3

All bridges (206)

Sort:

Caldwell County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Caldwell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 498 vehicle crossings a day

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

One structure carries 53.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Caldwell County compares with Texas'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 (206)

US183NB to SH130SB

US 183

US 183 SB

US 183 NB

US 183 SB

US 183 NB

US 183

SH 80

SH 142

SH 142

SH 142

SH 142

FM 672

SH130 NBFR/US183NB

SH 130 NB ML

SH 130 SB ML

SH130SBFR/US183SB

FM 86

FM 86

FM 86

FM 86

FM 86

FM 713

FM 1322

FM 1322

FM 1977

FM 1979

SH 130 NB FR

SH 130 NB ML

SH 130 SB FR

SH 130 NB ML

SH 130 SB ML

SH 130 SB FR

SH 130 NB ML

SH 130 SB ML

SH 130 NB ML

SH 130 SB ML

CR 217 / CR 218

SH 130 SB ML

PLUM CREEK T/A

SH 130 NB ML

SH 130 SB ML

SH 130 NB ML

SH 130 SB ML

CR 218/BOGGY CK RD

CR 109

CR 108/BORCHERT LP

SH 130 SB FR

SH 130 SB ML

SH 130 NB ML

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