Total bridges
257
Public highway bridges in District of Columbia County
County profile · official public datasets
257 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 34.6% rated Good, 63.4% Fair, 1.9% Poor.
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.
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, 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
Share of 257 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
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.
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.
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.
257 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
Built before 1900
1 bridges
1900–1909
13 bridges
1910–1919
4 bridges
1920–1929
2 bridges
1930–1939
21 bridges
1940–1949
33 bridges
1950–1959
47 bridges
1960–1969
86 bridges
1970–1979
7 bridges
1980–1989
2 bridges
1990–1999
3 bridges
2000–2009
3 bridges
2010–2019
21 bridges
2020–2029
14 bridges
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).
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.
Nearest county inventories outside DC (257 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside DC (1961 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: KENILWORTH AVE-B&O R
BENNING RD&KENILWORTH, District of Columbia, DC
Over: PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASS
SO.CAPITOL ST.& SW FR, District of Columbia, DC
Over: WATTS BRANCH
OVER WATTS BRANCH N.E., District of Columbia, DC
Over: PINEY BRANCH PARKWAY
OVER PINEY BR PKWY N.W., District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK & BEACH D
ROCK CREEK & BEACH DR, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK & POTOMAC PKW
OVER ROCK CREEK N.W., District of Columbia, DC
Over: EAST CAPITOL ST
MINNESOTA AVE OVER E CAP, District of Columbia, DC
Over: Potomac River & Ohio Dr.
I-395 Over Potomac R., District of Columbia, DC
Over: HALF ST TO 2ND ST SW
SOUTHWEST FRWY &2ND S, District of Columbia, DC
Over: D STREET S.W.
10th Street S.W., District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK AND BEACH DRI
EAST END OF ZOO, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK
1.0 MILES FROM P STREET, District of Columbia, DC
Over: BROAD BRANCH
0.1 MILES FROM BROAD BRAN, District of Columbia, DC
Over: WHITEHURST FRWY
WHITEHURST FRWY, District of Columbia, DC
Over: STORAGE YD NEAR POTOMAC
KEY BRIDGE OVER POTOMAC R, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK
P ST.OVER ROCK CREEK, District of Columbia, DC
Over: K STREET N.W.
22ND ST OVER K ST NW, District of Columbia, DC
Over: 12TH STREET EXPRESSWAY
The National Mall, District of Columbia, DC
Over: PENN RR YARDS S.E.
ANACOST FRWY OVER RR, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK
BROAD BRANCH ROAD INTERSE, District of Columbia, DC
Over: C&O CANAL N.W.
RAMP OVER C&O CANAL, District of Columbia, DC
Over: PEDESTRIAN WALK
Ind. Ave. over Ped. Walk, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ANACOSTIA RIVER
NEW YORK AV-ANACOSTIA RIV, District of Columbia, DC
Over: LITTLE R & GW PKWY
T ROOSEVELT BR. TO RT. 50, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK & PARK DR
OVER ROCK CREEK N.W., District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK &POT PARK
MASS AVE OVER ROCK CREE5, District of Columbia, DC
Over: LITTLE RIVER & GW PK
T ROOSEVELT BR. FROM US50, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK
OVER ROCK CREEK, District of Columbia, DC
Over: PEDESTRIAN WALK
RAMP A-B OVER PED. WALK, District of Columbia, DC
Over: 9TH ST EXPWAY
C ST OVER 9TH ST EXPWAY, District of Columbia, DC
Over: CSX RAILROAD & METRO
NEW HAMPSHIRE OVER CSX RR, District of Columbia, DC
Over: CSX RR & VA AVE
NEW JERSEY AVE OVER RR, District of Columbia, DC
Over: 4TH STREET S.E.
SE FRWY OVER 4TH ST SE, District of Columbia, DC
Over: CENTER LEG INNER LOOP
HST OVER INNERLOOP I-395, District of Columbia, DC
Over: CENTER LEG INNERLOOP I39
MASS. AVE. OVER INNERLOOP, District of Columbia, DC
Over: LITTLE RIVER
T ROOSEVELT BR TP GW PKWY, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK
0.3 MILES FROM HARVARD ST, District of Columbia, DC
Over: POTOMAC R. & C&O
OVER POTOMAC RIVER N.W., District of Columbia, DC
Over: WATTS BRANCH
KENILWORTH OVER WATTS BR, District of Columbia, DC
Over: Convention Center Parkin
9th Street N.W., District of Columbia, DC
Over: PINEY BRANCH PKWY
OVER PINEY BRANCH PKWY NW, District of Columbia, DC
Over: Anacostia River Outlet
Near Benning Road, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK
Q ST. OVER ROCK CREEK, District of Columbia, DC
Over: SOUTH CAPITOL STREET
S CAPITOL ST & SW FRE, District of Columbia, DC
Over: LANE C & C1 I-395
14TH ST NB&SB OVER I-, District of Columbia, DC
Over: LANE A-1 NB I-395
14TH ST OVER LANE A-1, District of Columbia, DC
Over: SB EXIT RMP 3 TO SB I-95
CENTER LEG INNER LOOP, District of Columbia, DC
Over: ROCK CREEK
PIERCE MILL & ROCK CR, District of Columbia, DC
Over: OXON RUN
WHEELER ROAD OVER OXON RN, District of Columbia, DC
Over: B&O RAILROAD
FRNKLIN ST NE OVER B&, District of Columbia, DC
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.