Total bridges
26
Public highway bridges in Deaf Smith County
County profile · official public datasets
Deaf Smith County, TX
26 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 46.2% rated Good, 50% Fair, 3.8% Poor.
- 26
- Public bridges
- 46.2%
- Good condition
- 3.8%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Deaf Smith County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
- 229th
- of 247 on Poor share
- 3.8%
- Poor-condition share
- 26
- public highway bridges
- 1961
- 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.
Deaf Smith County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Deaf Smith County ranks #229 of 247 Texas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.8%). Deaf Smith County, Texas contains 26 public highway bridges. Roughly 46.2% are rated “Good,” 50% “Fair,” and 3.8% “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.
Good condition
46.2%
12 of 26 rated 7-9
Fair condition
50%
13 of 26 rated 5-6
Poor condition
3.8%
1 of 26 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#229 of 247
Among Texas counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 26 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 46.2% (12)
Fair 50% (13)
Poor 3.8% (1)
Deaf Smith County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,626 vehicle crossings a day
That is 2.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,626 crossings a day against 2,996 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 26 of 26 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
88.5% of Deaf Smith County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
23 of the 26 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 46.2% 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
FM 1259 over Tierra Blanca Creek, built 1959, carries 1,626 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 1,626 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Deaf Smith County's bridges were built
26 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s
1930–1939
4 bridges
- 1940s 2
1940–1949
2 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
9 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
6 bridges
- 1970s 2
1970–1979
2 bridges
- 2010s 3
2010–2019
3 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 9 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 34.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1961, 19 years older than the Texas average of 1980.
How Deaf Smith County compares with Texas's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Texas counties nearest Deaf Smith County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.8% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1961 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 10 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 246 Texas counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasscock County | 28 | 42.9% | 57.1% | 0% | 1978 |
| Reagan County | 28 | 42.9% | 57.1% | 0% | 1974 |
| Edwards County | 26 | 69.2% | 30.8% | 0% | 1972 |
| Moore County | 26 | 23.1% | 76.9% | 0% | 1959 |
| Parmer County | 26 | 73.1% | 23.1% | 3.8% | 1973 |
| Deaf Smith County (this page) | 26 | 46.2% | 50% | 3.8% | 1961 |
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 Deaf Smith 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 Deaf Smith County, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside TX (26 bridges here).
- Mineral County, CO · 26 bridges
- Webster County, GA · 26 bridges
- St. James County, LA · 26 bridges
- Garfield County, MT · 26 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside TX (1961 here).
- Westchester County, NY · avg 1961 · 774 bridges
- Tehama County, CA · avg 1961 · 450 bridges
- Berkshire County, MA · avg 1961 · 450 bridges
- Schuylkill County, PA · avg 1961 · 368 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Good-condition bridges (12)
IH 40 NFR
GoodOver: Drain
0.1 MI SE of BI 40, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1973 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 10
US 385
GoodOver: Draw
1.9 Mi N of FM 2587, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1969 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 2,513
FM 809
GoodOver: N Palo Duro Creek
2.6 Mi S of FM 2587, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1959 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 1,075
FM 809
GoodOver: Palo Duro Creek
4.5 Mi S of FM 2587, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1959 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 1,075
FM 1259
GoodOver: Frio Creek
1.6 Mi E of FM 2943, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1951 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 604
FM 2587
GoodOver: N Palo Duro Creek
1.2 Mi W of FM 809, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1968 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 307
US 60
GoodOver: Draw
4.7 Mi W of US 385, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1935 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 5,775
US 60
GoodOver: Drain
0.3 Mi E of FM 2943, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1934 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 11,485
BI 40
GoodOver: IH 40
0.5 MI E OF N MEXICO S/L, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 1973 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 50
US 60
GoodOver: Tierra Blanca Creek
0.95 Mi SW of US 385, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 2010 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 9,589
US 385
GoodOver: Frio Draw
4.35 MI S OF US 60, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 2010 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,171
SH 214
GoodOver: Tierra Blanca Creek
4.65 MI S OF FM 1058, Deaf Smith, TX
Built 2010 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 295
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.