Total bridges
527
Public highway bridges in New Castle County
County profile · official public datasets
New Castle County, DE
527 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.9% rated Good, 64.1% Fair, 0.9% Poor.
- 527
- Public bridges
- 34.9%
- Good condition
- 0.9%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
New Castle County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across large county bridge inventory.
- Top 33%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 0.9%
- Poor-condition share
- 527
- 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.
New Castle County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, New Castle County ranks #1 of 3 Delaware counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0.9%). New Castle County, Delaware contains 527 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.9% are rated “Good,” 64.1% “Fair,” and 0.9% “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
34.9%
184 of 527 rated 7-9
Fair condition
64.1%
338 of 527 rated 5-6
Poor condition
0.9%
5 of 527 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#1 of 3
Among Delaware counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 527 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 34.9% (184)
Fair 64.1% (338)
Poor 0.9% (5)
New Castle County's Poor-condition bridges carry 16,646 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 0.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,329 crossings a day against 13,982 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 527 of 527 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
46.1% of New Castle County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
243 of the 527 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 34.9% 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 63.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
DUPONT PKW/US13 SB over BLACKBIRD CREEK, built 1920, carries 10,619 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 16,646 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When New Castle County's bridges were built
527 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- pre-1900 3
Built before 1900
3 bridges
- 1900s 6
1900–1909
6 bridges
- 1910s 7
1910–1919
7 bridges
- 1920s 21
1920–1929
21 bridges
- 1930s 25
1930–1939
25 bridges
- 1940s 10
1940–1949
10 bridges
- 1950s 31
1950–1959
31 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
103 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
88 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
42 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
91 bridges
- 2000s 28
2000–2009
28 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
60 bridges
- 2020s 12
2020–2029
12 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 103 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Delaware average (1977).
How New Castle County compares with Delaware's closest counties by inventory size
The 2 Delaware counties nearest New Castle County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0.9% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 3. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1979 is in line with the group.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Castle County (this page) | 527 | 34.9% | 64.1% | 0.9% | 1976 |
| Kent County | 192 | 55.7% | 42.7% | 1.6% | 1983 |
| Sussex County | 153 | 40.5% | 57.5% | 2% | 1974 |
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 New Castle 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 New Castle County, both outside Delaware so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside DE (527 bridges here).
- Merced County, CA · 528 bridges
- LaSalle County, IL · 528 bridges
- Nueces County, TX · 528 bridges
- Marathon County, WI · 530 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside DE (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.
Fair-condition bridges (338)
SALEM CHURCH RD
FairOver: MUDDY RUN
S/E OF NEWARK, New Castle, DE
Built 1958 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 6,297
SR 9
FairOver: SILVER RUN
N.E. OF ODESSA, New Castle, DE
Built 1989 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 840
MARROWS RD
FairOver: AMTRAK
NEWARK, New Castle, DE
Built 1976 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 11,422
I 495 NB
FairOver: NORFOLK SOUTHERN&AMTRAK
S. OF BELLEFONTE, New Castle, DE
Built 1976 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 69,555
HARMONY RD
FairOver: WHITE CLAY CREEK
NORTH OF OGLETOWN, New Castle, DE
Built 1973 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 15,557
RAMP 6047
FairOver: SR 273/CHRISTIANA RD.
EAST OF NEWARK, New Castle, DE
Built 1970 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 15,462
EIGHTEENTH STREET
FairOver: I 95
WILMINGTON-SALESIANUM HS, New Castle, DE
Built 1966 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 4,233
WOODDALE RD
FairOver: MILL RACE
ASHLAND, New Castle, DE
Built 1982 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 1,949
MITCH RD / SR4
FairOver: RED CLAY CREEK
STANTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1967 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 14,182
MILLTOWN RD
FairOver: MILL CREEK
MILLTOWN, New Castle, DE
Built 1959 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 7,875
SR 9
FairOver: BLACKBIRD CREEK
TAYLORS BRIDGE, New Castle, DE
Built 1964 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 675
EDGEMOOR RD / SR3
FairOver: NORFOLK SOUTHERN&AMTRAK
EDGEMOOR, New Castle, DE
Built 1989 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 8,220
DELAWARE AVE
FairOver: I 95 & RAMP 6167
WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1964 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 19,077
CHRISTIANA BYPASS
FairOver: CHRISTINA RIVER
W. OF NEW CASTLE AIRPORT, New Castle, DE
Built 1981 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 17,840
MLK BLD TO I 95 N
FairOver: SECOND ST & ADAMS ST
WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1976 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 5,929
CLARKS CORNER RD.
FairOver: DRAGON CREEK
W. OF DELAWARE CITY, New Castle, DE
Built 1970 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 622
SR141 & RAMP
FairOver: SR 2 KIRKWOOD HWY.
PRICES CORNER, New Castle, DE
Built 1972 Load: 47.2 t ADT: 45,289
BEAVER DAM RD.
FairOver: BEAVER VALLEY CREEK
N/E OF CENTERVILLE, New Castle, DE
Built 1988 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 1,867
JFK MEM HGWY/I95
FairOver: SHELLPOT CREEK
N. OF BELLEFONTE, New Castle, DE
Built 1966 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 46,639
I 95 SB
FairOver: SILVERSIDE RD
S. OF ARDEN, New Castle, DE
Built 1967 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 29,763
KIRKWOOD HWY/SR2
FairOver: RED CLAY CREEK & RR
CRANSTON HEIGHTS, New Castle, DE
Built 1940 Load: 48.3 t ADT: 21,576
I 95
FairOver: CHRISTINA RIVER
SOUTH OF WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1965 Load: 48.3 t ADT: 65,707
VIETNAM VET MEM HY
FairOver: NORFOLK SOUTHERN
EAST WILMINGTON/EDGEMOOR, New Castle, DE
Built 1975 Load: 48.3 t ADT: 44,783
CHRISTIANA BYPASS
FairOver: CHRISTINA RIVER
W. OF NEW CASTLE AIRPORT, New Castle, DE
Built 1981 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 17,839
SNUFF MILL RD
FairOver: BARROWS RUN
N/E OF YORKLYN, New Castle, DE
Built 1939 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 1,332
AIRPORT RD
FairOver: NONESUCH CREEK
N. OF NEW CASTLE AIRPORT, New Castle, DE
Built 1979 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 3,840
SR1
FairOver: EAGLE RUN
CHRISTIANA, New Castle, DE
Built 1992 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 44,586
RAMP 6048
FairOver: SR 273
EAST OF OGLETOWN, New Castle, DE
Built 1972 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 9,095
I 95 NB
FairOver: SILVERSIDE RD
SOUTH OF NAAMANS, New Castle, DE
Built 1967 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 59,526
SR1
FairOver: EAGLE RUN
CHRISTIANA, New Castle, DE
Built 1992 Load: 49.6 t ADT: 44,586
OLD MILLTOWN RD.
FairOver: MILL CREEK
MILLTOWN, New Castle, DE
Built 1913 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 11,553
ELKTON RD/SR2
FairOver: CHRISTINA CREEK
S/W OF NEWARK, New Castle, DE
Built 1968 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 25,936
I 95 NB
FairOver: GLENROCK DRIVE
S/E OF ARDEN, New Castle, DE
Built 1966 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 20,209
WIGGINS MILL RD.
FairOver: CATTAIL BRANCH
N. TOWNSEND LIMITS, New Castle, DE
Built 1998 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 1,151
NINTH ST
FairOver: CSX
N/W WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 2006 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 99
I 95 NB
FairOver: SHIPLEY RD
N.E. OF WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1968 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 32,346
KOREAN VET MEM HWY
FairOver: PINE TREE RD
N/E OF TOWNSEND, New Castle, DE
Built 2003 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 28,060
CHESAPEAKE CITY RD
FairOver: US301/SR896
JUST N. OF SUMMIT BRIDGE, New Castle, DE
Built 1959 Load: 50.5 t ADT: 2,559
DARLEY RD
FairOver: NAAMANS CREEK
CLAYMONT, New Castle, DE
Built 1964 Load: 50.9 t ADT: 6,438
MLK BLVD
FairOver: MONROE ST & MADISON ST
WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1976 Load: 51.5 t ADT: 12,803
GOV. PRINTZ BLVD
FairOver: HOLLYOAK CREEK
EAST OF WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1935 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 5,255
I95 SB/JFK MEM HGY
FairOver: CHRISTINA CREEK
SOUTH NEWARK, New Castle, DE
Built 1962 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 58,828
SR 1
FairOver: US 40
EAST OF BEAR, New Castle, DE
Built 1990 Load: 52.5 t ADT: 46,484
16TH ST
FairOver: BRANDYWINE RIVER
WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1925 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 99
I 95 NB
FairOver: CHRISTINA CREEK
S.W. OF NEWPORT, New Castle, DE
Built 1962 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 102,970
I 95 SB
FairOver: CHRISTINA CREEK
S.W. OF NEWPORT, New Castle, DE
Built 1962 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 108,883
SR 1
FairOver: SCHOOL BELL RD
N. BEAR LIMITS, New Castle, DE
Built 1990 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 46,484
MLK BLD TO I 95 S
FairOver: SR 4 MARYLAND AVE.
WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1980 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 9,300
I 95 SB
FairOver: GLENROCK DRIVE
S/E OF ARDEN, New Castle, DE
Built 1966 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 20,210
MILLER RD.
FairOver: MATSON RUN
NORTH WILMINGTON, New Castle, DE
Built 1980 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 2,675
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.