County profile · official public datasets

Kaufman County, TX

452 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 46.5% rated Good, 52.4% Fair, 1.1% Poor.

452
Public bridges: 46.5%
Good condition: 1.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

135th
of 247 on Poor share: 1.1%
Poor-condition share: 452
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.

Kaufman County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Kaufman County ranks #135 of 247 Texas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.1%). Kaufman County, Texas contains 452 public highway bridges. Roughly 46.5% are rated “Good,” 52.4% “Fair,” and 1.1% “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

452

Public highway bridges in Kaufman County

Good condition

46.5%

210 of 452 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.4%

237 of 452 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.1%

5 of 452 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#135 of 247

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

Condition distribution

Share of 452 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

46.5% (210)

Fair

52.4% (237)

Poor

1.1% (5)

Kaufman County's Poor-condition bridges carry 78,611 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 15,722 crossings a day against 6,367 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 452 of 452 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

49.8% of Kaufman County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

225 of the 452 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 46.5% 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 38.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 80 EB over EAST FORK TRINITY RIVER, built 1955, carries 30,173 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 78,611 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

19
1930s

24
1940s

6
1950s

91
1960s

74
1970s

43
1980s

64
1990s

21
2000s

47
2010s

45
2020s

18

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 91 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Texas average (1980).

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

The 5 Texas counties nearest Kaufman County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Kaufman County and the 5 Texas counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Pecos County	470	62.8%	36.8%	0.4%	1962
Jefferson County	457	48.4%	50.1%	1.5%	1977
Hunt County	456	51.8%	47.6%	0.7%	1981
Kaufman County (this page)	452	46.5%	52.4%	1.1%	1976
Smith County	427	47.1%	51.5%	1.4%	1981
Taylor County	419	45.1%	54.2%	0.7%	1967

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TX (452 bridges here).

Hamilton County, IN · 454 bridges
Forsyth County, NC · 454 bridges
Somerset County, PA · 454 bridges
Tehama County, CA · 450 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TX (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 452 Good 210 Fair 237 Poor 5

Good-condition bridges (210)

Sort:

Kaufman County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Kaufman County's Poor-condition bridges carry 78,611 vehicle crossings a day

49.8% of Kaufman County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 38.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Kaufman 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

Good-condition bridges (210)

FM 148

FM 2860

FM 2860

FM 3396

FM 3396

FM 3396

FM-3396

FM 3396

CR 4006

US 175

CR 126

CR 126

FM 429

FM 1390

CR 324

CR 310

CR 260 (EVANS RD)

DON T CATES DR

COLQUITT RD

FM 2578

FM 741

FM 2757

IH 20 EB

IH 20 WB

FM 740

US 80

US 80 NFR

SH 34

US 80 WBFR (WEST)

US 80 WBFR (EAST)

US 80 EBFR (WEST)

US80 EBFR (EAST)

FORNEY PARKWAY NB

US 80 EB

IH 20 EB

IH 20 WB

IH 20 NFR

HIGH COUNTRY LN

FM 2932

HELMS TRAIL

IH 20 WB

IH 20 EB

IH 20 WB

IH 20 EB

IH 20 EB

SH 34

SH 34

SH 34

SH 34

SH 34

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