County profile · official public datasets

District of Columbia County, DC

257 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.6% rated Good, 63.4% Fair, 1.9% Poor.

257
Public bridges: 34.6%
Good condition: 1.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

1st
of 1 on Poor share: 1.9%
Poor-condition share: 257
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.

District of Columbia County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, District of Columbia County ranks #1 of 1 District of Columbia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.9%). District of Columbia County, District of Columbia contains 257 public highway bridges. Roughly 34.6% are rated “Good,” 63.4% “Fair,” and 1.9% “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.

Total bridges

257

Public highway bridges in District of Columbia County

Good condition

34.6%

89 of 257 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.4%

163 of 257 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.9%

5 of 257 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#1 of 1

Among District of Columbia counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 257 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

34.6% (89)

Fair

63.4% (163)

Poor

1.9% (5)

District of Columbia County's Poor-condition bridges carry 125,050 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 25,010 crossings a day against 29,094 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 257 of 257 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

82.9% of District of Columbia County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

213 of the 257 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 34.6% 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 82.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

T. ROOSEVELT BRID over POT RIVER & POTOMAC, built 1964, carries 103,600 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 125,050 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1900s

13
1910s

4
1920s

2
1930s

21
1940s

33
1950s

47
1960s

86
1970s

7
1980s

2
1990s

3
2000s

3
2010s

21
2020s

14

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 86 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 33.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1961) matches the District of Columbia average (1961).

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Two NBI-derived peer sets for District of Columbia County, both outside District of Columbia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside DC (257 bridges here).

Clark County, IN · 257 bridges
Randolph County, IN · 257 bridges
Linn County, KS · 257 bridges
Walsh County, ND · 257 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside DC (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.

All 257 Good 89 Fair 163 Poor 5

Fair-condition bridges (163)

Sort:

District of Columbia County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

District of Columbia County's Poor-condition bridges carry 125,050 vehicle crossings a day

82.9% of District of Columbia County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 82.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Fair-condition bridges (163)

27th Street N.W.

KENILWORTH TERRACE

ARLINGTON BLVD (U.

BEACH DRIVE

ZOO ACCESS ROAD

WASHINGTON BLVD

ROCK CREEK PARKWAY

WEST BEACH DRIVE

JOYCE ROAD

RAMP C I695 EAST

ROSS DRIVE

14TH STREET S.W.

INDEPENDENCE AVENU

ROCK CREEK & POTOM

WHITEHURST FRWY

WASHINGTON BOULEVA

ROCK CREEK AND POT

SOUTH WATERSIDE DR

BEACH DRIVE

I-66

SB I-395

10th Street N.W.

T.R. Bridge Ramp

K STREET

MEMORIAL AVENUE

TR BRIDGE(RAMPC)

NB I-395

K Street Ramp

D STREET S.W.

BEACH DRIVE

TR BRIDGE(RPS A&am

NORTH CAPITOL ST

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

PENNSYLVANIA AVE

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

ATLANTIC STREET

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

RAMPS TO&FROM

14TH STREET S.W.

TR BRIDGE(RAMP F)

JOYCE ROAD

SOUTHEAST FRWY

I-695

CONNECTICUT AVE.

M STREET S.W.

K Street Ramp

14TH STREET S.W.

14TH STREET S.W.

NINTH STREET N.E.

BROAD BRANCH ROAD

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