County profile · official public datasets

Jefferson County, TX

457 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.4% rated Good, 50.1% Fair, 1.5% Poor.

457
Public bridges
48.4%
Good condition
1.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

161st
of 247 on Poor share
1.5%
Poor-condition share
457
public highway bridges
1977
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.

Jefferson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Jefferson County ranks #161 of 247 Texas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.5%). Jefferson County, Texas contains 457 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.4% are rated “Good,” 50.1% “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

457

Public highway bridges in Jefferson County

Good condition

48.4%

221 of 457 rated 7-9

Fair condition

50.1%

229 of 457 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.5%

7 of 457 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#161 of 247

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

Condition distribution

Share of 457 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
48.4% (221)
Fair
50.1% (229)
Poor
1.5% (7)

Jefferson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 134,131 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 19,162 crossings a day against 9,568 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 457 of 457 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

54.7% of Jefferson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

250 of the 457 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 48.4% 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 66.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IH 10 over 11TH ST, built 1958, carries 89,604 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 7-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 134,131 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Jefferson County's bridges were built

457 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 137 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Texas average (1980).

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Texas counties nearest Jefferson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.5% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jefferson County and the 5 Texas counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Pecos County 470 0.4%
Jefferson County (this page) 457 1.5%
Hunt County 456 0.7%
Kaufman County 452 1.1%
Smith County 427 1.4%
Taylor County 419 0.7%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TX (457 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TX (1977 here).

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

Fair-condition bridges (229)

IH 10 EB

Fair

Over: DRAINAGE DITCH

0.6 MI E OF FM 365, Jefferson, TX

Built 1961 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 22,590

IH 10 EB

Fair

Over: WILLOW MARSH BAYOU

0.6 MI NE OF FM 364, Jefferson, TX

Built 1961 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 23,884

US 90 EB

Fair

Over: JCDD #6/202-C

0.5 MI W OF FM 364, Jefferson, TX

Built 1967 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 10,423

COLLEGE STREET

Fair

Over: BNSF; LONG; HARRISON AVE

0.5 MI S OF IH 10, Jefferson, TX

Built 1967 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 6,460

COLLEGE STREET

Fair

Over: BNSF; LONG; HARRISON AVE

0.5 MI S OF IH 10, Jefferson, TX

Built 1967 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 11,739

US 69-96-287 NB

Fair

Over: US 69 SB CONN TO IH 10EB

2.0 MI N OF US 90, Jefferson, TX

Built 1966 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 35,662

SH 347 WB

Fair

Over: KCS Railroad

3.4MI SE OF FM 366 INTERS, Jefferson, TX

Built 1965 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 17,969

SH 347 EB

Fair

Over: KCS Railroad

3.4MI SE OF FM 366 INTERS, Jefferson, TX

Built 1965 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 8,080

CONN-69NB TO 10WB

Fair

Over: CONN - IH10WB TO US69SB

US 69 @ IH 10, Jefferson, TX

Built 1962 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 31,730

FM 365

Fair

Over: RHODAIR GULLY

1.4 MI W OF UP RR, Jefferson, TX

Built 1953 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 5,021

SH 87 SB

Fair

Over: TAFT AVE & CANAL

0.45 MI SW OF FM 366, Jefferson, TX

Built 1972 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 7,841

SH 87 WB

Fair

Over: SH 73

0.6 MI SW OF FM 366, Jefferson, TX

Built 1972 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 11,040

SH 73 EB

Fair

Over: SH 347

1.80 MI NE OF US 96, Jefferson, TX

Built 1968 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 16,146

US 69 NB

Fair

Over: BNSF RR

0.5 MI SE OF IH 10, Jefferson, TX

Built 1962 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 21,860

US 69 SB

Fair

Over: BNSF RR

0.5 MI SE OF IH 10, Jefferson, TX

Built 1962 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 21,684

US 69 NB

Fair

Over: SH 347 SB

0.80 MI S OF SP 380, Jefferson, TX

Built 1969 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 31,418

US 69 SB

Fair

Over: SH 347 SB

0.80 MI S OF SP 380, Jefferson, TX

Built 1969 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 14,591

US 69 NB CONN

Fair

Over: MAIN A CANAL

0.2 MI S OF SH 73, Jefferson, TX

Built 1961 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 2,030

SH 73 EB CONN

Fair

Over: MAIN A CANAL

0.2 MI SE OF SH 73, Jefferson, TX

Built 1960 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 13,420

SH 73

Fair

Over: SPUR 215

1.20 MI SW OF US 69, Jefferson, TX

Built 1960 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 23,757

SH 73 EB

Fair

Over: MAIN A CANAL

0.25 MI NE OF US 69, Jefferson, TX

Built 1961 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 13,645

SH 73 WB

Fair

Over: MAIN A CANAL

0.25 MI NE OF US 69, Jefferson, TX

Built 1961 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 14,530

SPUR 215

Fair

Over: MAIN OUTFALL CANAL

0.1 MI SE OF SH 73, Jefferson, TX

Built 1961 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 9,055

SPUR 215

Fair

Over: ALLIGATOR BAYOU

1.1 MI SE OF SH 73, Jefferson, TX

Built 1961 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 9,055

SH 326

Fair

Over: PINE ISLAND BAYOU RELIEF

4.0 MI N OF US 90, Jefferson, TX

Built 1989 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 4,141

IH 10 EB FR

Fair

Over: WILLOW MARSH BAYOU

0.6 MI NE OF FM 364, Jefferson, TX

Built 1990 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 1,127

IH 10 WB FR

Fair

Over: WILLOW MARSH BAYOU

0.6 MI NE OF FM 364, Jefferson, TX

Built 2003 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 1,440

BOONDOCKS RD

Fair

Over: S FORK TAYLORS BAYOU

3.10 MI S OF CR 264, Jefferson, TX

Built 1979 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 427

25TH ST

Fair

Over: ZAWALLE OUTFALL

0.8 MI SW OF US 69, Jefferson, TX

Built 1978 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 3,940
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.