Total bridges
130
Public highway bridges in Bay County
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.
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.
When Bay County's bridges were built
130 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s 1
1930–1939
1 bridges
- 1940s 5
1940–1949
5 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
19 bridges
- 1960s 9
1960–1969
9 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
26 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
13 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
20 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
21 bridges
- 2010s 7
2010–2019
7 bridges
- 2020s 9
2020–2029
9 bridges
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.
| 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.
Poor-condition bridges (13)
Camp Helen Trail
PoorOver: Phillips Inlet
Camp Helen State Park, Bay, FL
Built 1996 Load: 5.4 t ADT: 10
Scott Road
PoorOver: Econfina Creek
3.0 Mi West US231/SR75, Bay, FL
Built 1957 Load: 10.0 t ADT: 66
Otter Crk Brdg Rd
PoorOver: Otter Creek
0.7 Mi S of Pinelog Road, Bay, FL
Built 1954 Load: 10.0 t ADT: 61
Scotts Ferry Road
PoorOver: Bear Creek
1.8 Miles E of US231/SR75, Bay, FL
Built 1942 Load: 10.8 t ADT: 419
Gainer Road
PoorOver: Moccasin Creek
3.0 Miles South of SR 20, Bay, FL
Built 1972 Load: 13.4 t ADT: 77
S Star Avenue
PoorOver: Callaway Bayou
0.72 Miles South of SR 22, Bay, FL
Built 1973 Load: 16.7 t ADT: 5,100
John Pitts Road
PoorOver: Bayou George Creek
2.7 Mi East of Star Ave., Bay, FL
Built 1979 Load: 17.2 t ADT: 1,300
US98 SR30
PoorOver: East Bay (ICWW)
West end of Tyndall A.F.B, Bay, FL
Built 1965 Load: 17.3 t ADT: 19,800
HWY 2302-Bridge St
PoorOver: Fanning Bayou
0.6 Miles West of SR 77, Bay, FL
Built 1957 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 2,100
CR 2302
PoorOver: Sherretts Branch
0.74 Mi S of Edwards Road, Bay, FL
Built 1934 Load: 20.9 t ADT: 3,500
SR390
PoorOver: Mill Bayou
1.2 Miles West of US231, Bay, FL
Built 1955 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 9,100
Hwy 2302-Bridge St
PoorOver: Fanning Bayou
1.24 Miles West of SR 77, Bay, FL
Built 1957 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 2,100
North Bear Crk Rd
PoorOver: Bear Creek
0.26 Mi East US 231/SR75, Bay, FL
Built 1974 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 170
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.