County profile · official public datasets

Chatham County, GA

265 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 75.8% rated Good, 23% Fair, 1.1% Poor.

265
Public bridges: 75.8%
Good condition: 1.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Chatham County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

86th
of 159 on Poor share: 1.1%
Poor-condition share: 265
public highway bridges: 1985
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.

Chatham County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chatham County ranks #86 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.1%). Chatham County, Georgia contains 265 public highway bridges. Roughly 75.8% are rated “Good,” 23% “Fair,” and 1.1% “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

265

Public highway bridges in Chatham County

Good condition

75.8%

201 of 265 rated 7-9

Fair condition

23%

61 of 265 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.1%

3 of 265 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#86 of 159

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

Condition distribution

Share of 265 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

75.8% (201)

Fair

23% (61)

Poor

1.1% (3)

Chatham County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,620 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,207 crossings a day against 27,553 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 265 of 265 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

32.1% of Chatham County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

85 of the 265 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 75.8% 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 54.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

HOULIHAN BRIDGE over SAVANNAH RIVER, built 1922, carries 5,240 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 9,620 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

2
1930s

6
1940s

4
1950s

6
1960s

45
1970s

66
1980s

20
1990s

46
2000s

31
2010s

22
2020s

17

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 66 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1985, 8 years newer than the Georgia average of 1977.

How Chatham County compares with Georgia's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Georgia counties nearest Chatham County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is 7 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 158 Georgia counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chatham County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Gwinnett County	317	89.3%	10.7%	0%	1989
Chatham County (this page)	265	75.8%	23%	1.1%	1985
Bibb County	220	76.4%	23.6%	0%	1974
Bartow County	219	67.1%	30.6%	2.3%	1977
Muscogee County	208	84.6%	15.4%	0%	1974
Floyd County	202	57.4%	39.1%	3.5%	1975

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (265 bridges here).

Rock County, MN · 265 bridges
Henry County, OH · 265 bridges
McCurtain County, OK · 265 bridges
Lawrence County, PA · 265 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1985 here).

Hillsborough County, FL · avg 1985 · 840 bridges
Lancaster County, NE · avg 1985 · 661 bridges
Nueces County, TX · avg 1985 · 528 bridges
Grayson County, TX · avg 1985 · 513 bridges

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

All 265 Good 201 Fair 61 Poor 3

All bridges (265)

Sort:

Chatham County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Chatham County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,620 vehicle crossings a day

32.1% of Chatham County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 54.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Chatham County compares with Georgia's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (265)

ROSE DHU ISLAND DR

OLEARY ROAD

US 80 SR 26

US 80 SR 26

I-516 (NBL)

LOUISVILLE ROAD

OSTEEN ROAD

I-516 (NBL)

RODGERS ST.

US 80/SR26

SR 204

I-16 (WBL) - US 17

MARKET STREET

SR 21 NBL

US 80

US 80

MILLS LANE

MONTGOMERY CROSS

I-516 (SBL)

I-516 (SBL)

US 80/SR26

LITTLE NECK ROAD

SALLIE MOOD DR.

I-516 (SBL)

SR 204 WBL

I-16 (WBL) - US 17

SULLIVAN ROAD

LOTTS ISLAND ROAD

JOHNNY MERCER BLVD

I-16 (EBL) - US 17

SR 30

QUACCO ROAD

WHITE BLUFF ROAD

I-516 (NBL)

I-516 (NBL)

SR 204

I-516 (NBL)

I-95

OCEAN HIGHWAY

WILLSHIRE BLVD.

OCEAN HIGHWAY

US 17/ SR 25

SR 204

I-95

LAROACH ROAD

I-95

TALMADGE MEMORIAL

CATALINA ROAD

POOLER PARKWAY

TIBET AVE.

Related