Total bridges
210
Public highway bridges in Polk County
County profile · official public datasets
210 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.1% rated Good, 46.2% Fair, 5.7% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Polk County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Polk County ranks #242 of 247 Texas counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.7%). Polk County, Texas contains 210 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.1% are rated “Good,” 46.2% “Fair,” and 5.7% “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
210
Public highway bridges in Polk County
Good condition
48.1%
101 of 210 rated 7-9
Fair condition
46.2%
97 of 210 rated 5-6
Poor condition
5.7%
12 of 210 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#242 of 247
Among Texas counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 210 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 2.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,588 crossings a day against 2,030 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 210 of 210 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
74 of the 210 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 48.1% 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.
US 190 over KICKAPOO CREEK, built 1969, carries 12,306 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 12-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 19,051 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
210 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1920–1929
6 bridges
1930–1939
8 bridges
1940–1949
20 bridges
1950–1959
15 bridges
1960–1969
20 bridges
1970–1979
17 bridges
1980–1989
22 bridges
1990–1999
34 bridges
2000–2009
16 bridges
2010–2019
46 bridges
2020–2029
6 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 46 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the Texas average (1980).
The 5 Texas counties nearest Polk County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 8 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 246 Texas counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin County | 214 | 63.1% | 34.1% | 2.8% | 1992 |
| Gregg County | 214 | 37.9% | 62.1% | 0% | 1972 |
| Medina County | 214 | 60.3% | 37.9% | 1.9% | 1972 |
| Reeves County | 213 | 52.6% | 45.5% | 1.9% | 1966 |
| Comanche County | 212 | 45.3% | 52.8% | 1.9% | 1974 |
| Polk County (this page) | 210 | 48.1% | 46.2% | 5.7% | 1983 |
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 Polk County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Polk County, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside TX (210 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside TX (1983 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: PINEY CREEK
1.85 MI N OF FM 352, Polk, TX
Over: PINEY CREEK
1.95 MI N OF FM 352, Polk, TX
Over: Piney Creek
1.55 Mi N of FM 352, Polk, TX
Over: Piney Creek
1.60 Mi N of FM 352, Polk, TX
Over: Neches River Tributary
0.7 Mi E of FM 1987, Polk, TX
Over: North Trib of McManus Cr
0.9 Mi S of US 287, Polk, TX
Over: South Trib of McManus Cr
1.10 Mi S of US 287, Polk, TX
Over: Bundix Branch
1.90 Mi E of US 59, Polk, TX
Over: Kennedy Creek
1.00 Mi E OF US 59, Polk, TX
Over: Kennedy Creek
0.35 Mi E OF US 59, Polk, TX
Over: KENNEDY CREEK
1.60 MI E OF US 59, Polk, TX
Over: HICKMAN CREEK
0.8 MI W OF FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: LIME BRANCH CREEK
1.7 MI W OF FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: TRIB OF BIG SANDY CREEK
2.70 MI W OF FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: BEAR CREEK
1.2 Mi SE of FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: WOODS CREEK
2.0 MI NW OF US 190, Polk, TX
Over: DABBS CREEK
1.3 MI S OF FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: WOODS CREEK
1.0 MI E OF US 190, Polk, TX
Over: HICKORY CREEK
4.05 MI NE OF FM 1276, Polk, TX
Over: MENARD CREEK RELIEF
3.35 MI NE OF US 190, Polk, TX
Over: Menard Creek
4.2 Mi NE of US 190, Polk, TX
Over: BEACH CREEK
1.45 MI NE OF US 190, Polk, TX
Over: Bluff Creek
2.0 Mi NE of US 190, Polk, TX
Over: Menard Creek
3.20 Mi NE of SH 146, Polk, TX
Over: Bluff Creek
1.5 Mi SE of Duff Road, Polk, TX
Over: DOUBLE BRANCH
4.8 Mi S of FM 1276, Polk, TX
Over: BIG SANDY TRIB
6.3 MI S OF FM 1276, Polk, TX
Over: MENARD CREEK
10.1 MI SE OF FM 943, Polk, TX
Over: BLUE BRANCH
5.2 MI SE OF FM 943, Polk, TX
Over: SALLY CREEK
0.70 MI SE OF FM 2665, Polk, TX
Over: Dry Branch
1.3 Mi NE of SH 146, Polk, TX
Over: TURKEY CREEK
1.65 MI NE OF SH 146, Polk, TX
Over: WEST SPRING BRANCH
2.81 MI E OF SH 146, Polk, TX
Over: Choates Creek
0.14 Mi S of US 190, Polk, TX
Over: BEAR CREEK
0.5 MI N OF B FRANKLIN, Polk, TX
Over: Draw
0.15 Mi N of US 190, Polk, TX
Over: CHOATES CREEK
0.03 MI S OF US 190, Polk, TX
Over: MUD CREEK
1.70 MI N OF FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: LONG KING CREEK
0.75 MI W OF LP 393, Polk, TX
Over: MILTON CREEK
5.25 MI N OF US 190, Polk, TX
Over: DRY CREEK
0.65 MI S OF FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: WILLS CREEK
3.00 MI N OF FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: MUD CREEK
1.70 MI N OF FM 942, Polk, TX
Over: SALT CREEK
5.35 MI W OF US 59, Polk, TX
Over: PACES CREEK
3.65 MI W OF US 59, Polk, TX
Over: MCMANUS CREEK
4.10 MI E OF US 59, Polk, TX
Over: BOGGY SLOUGH
4.00 MI E OF US 59, Polk, TX
Over: BIG SANDY CREEK
1.3 MI SW OF FM 2500, Polk, TX
Over: TRIB OF MCMANUS CRK
0.75 MI N OF US 287, Polk, TX
Over: CANEY CREEK
0.50 MI SW OF FM 1745, Polk, TX
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.