County profile · official public datasets

Bay County, FL

130 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 30.8% rated Good, 59.2% Fair, 10% Poor.

130
Public bridges: 30.8%
Good condition: 10%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

60th
of 67 on Poor share: 10%
Poor-condition share: 130
public highway bridges: 1984
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.

Bay County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Bay County ranks #60 of 67 Florida counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10%). Bay County, Florida contains 130 public highway bridges. Roughly 30.8% are rated “Good,” 59.2% “Fair,” and 10% “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

130

Public highway bridges in Bay County

Good condition

30.8%

40 of 130 rated 7-9

Fair condition

59.2%

77 of 130 rated 5-6

Poor condition

10%

13 of 130 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#60 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 130 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

30.8% (40)

Fair

59.2% (77)

Poor

10% (13)

Bay County's Poor-condition bridges carry 43,803 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,369 crossings a day against 11,211 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 130 of 130 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

41.5% of Bay County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

54 of the 130 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 30.8% 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 45.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US98 SR30 over East Bay (ICWW), built 1965, carries 19,800 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 43,803 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

1
1940s

5
1950s

19
1960s

9
1970s

26
1980s

13
1990s

20
2000s

21
2010s

7
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 26 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1984) matches the Florida average (1983).

How Bay County compares with Florida's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Florida counties nearest Bay County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1984 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 66 Florida counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Bay County and the 5 Florida counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
St. Johns County	141	61%	37.6%	1.4%	1988
Bay County (this page)	130	30.8%	59.2%	10%	1984
Martin County	129	72.9%	26.4%	0.8%	1983
Gadsden County	121	25.6%	61.2%	13.2%	1980
Indian River County	120	75%	23.3%	1.7%	1989
Alachua County	115	52.2%	47%	0.9%	1971

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside FL (130 bridges here).

Kit Carson County, CO · 130 bridges
Lowndes County, GA · 130 bridges
Whitfield County, GA · 130 bridges
Monroe County, IA · 130 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside FL (1984 here).

Hennepin County, MN · avg 1984 · 936 bridges
El Paso County, CO · avg 1984 · 686 bridges
Bell County, TX · avg 1984 · 660 bridges
Steuben County, NY · avg 1984 · 627 bridges

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.

All 130 Good 40 Fair 77 Poor 13

Good-condition bridges (40)

Sort:

Bay County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Bay County's Poor-condition bridges carry 43,803 vehicle crossings a day

41.5% of Bay County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 45.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Bay County compares with Florida'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 (40)

SR22

SR22

SR22

Churchwell Drive

SR79

13th Street

South Bear Crk Rd

SR77

SR79

SR79

US98 EB On-Ramp

US98 SR30

SR388 EB

US98 SR30 WB

SR388 WB

SR20

SR30 US98 Eastbd

SR30 US98

SR30 US98 WB

Blue Springs Road

US98 SR30 EB

Arthur Drive

US231 SR75

US231 SR75

CR2297

CR 2341-Jenks Ave

Fanning Bayou Dr

Alva Thomas Road

Holiday Inn Tunnel

CR389 S East Ave

US98 WB Off-Ramp

SR77

CR 3031- Thomas Dr

36th Street

Ed Lee Road

US98B SR30

SR77

SR79

SR79

Charco Drive

Related