County profile · official public datasets

Dawson County, GA

45 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 68.9% rated Good, 28.9% Fair, 2.2% Poor.

45
Public bridges: 68.9%
Good condition: 2.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

119th
of 159 on Poor share: 2.2%
Poor-condition share: 45
public highway bridges: 1970
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.

Dawson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Dawson County ranks #119 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.2%). Dawson County, Georgia contains 45 public highway bridges. Roughly 68.9% are rated “Good,” 28.9% “Fair,” and 2.2% “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

Public highway bridges in Dawson County

Good condition

68.9%

31 of 45 rated 7-9

Fair condition

28.9%

13 of 45 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.2%

1 of 45 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#119 of 159

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

Condition distribution

Share of 45 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

68.9% (31)

Fair

28.9% (13)

Poor

2.2% (1)

Dawson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 480 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 480 crossings a day against 2,492 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 45 of 45 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

57.8% of Dawson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

26 of the 45 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 68.9% 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 100% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

ETOWAH RIVER ROAD over RUSSELL CREEK, built 1960, carries 480 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 1-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 480 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

6
1940s

3
1950s

11
1960s

2
1970s

7
1980s

4
1990s

2
2000s

4
2010s

4
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 11 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1970, 7 years older than the Georgia average of 1977.

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

The 5 Georgia counties nearest Dawson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.2% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Dawson County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Butts County	46	54.3%	39.1%	6.5%	1978
Marion County	46	84.8%	13%	2.2%	1969
Towns County	46	65.2%	30.4%	4.3%	1973
Miller County	45	77.8%	22.2%	0%	1977
Twiggs County	45	75.6%	24.4%	0%	1971
Dawson County (this page)	45	68.9%	28.9%	2.2%	1970

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (45 bridges here).

Caribou County, ID · 45 bridges
Hubbard County, MN · 45 bridges
Pamlico County, NC · 45 bridges
Adams County, ND · 45 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1970 here).

Hamilton County, OH · avg 1970 · 783 bridges
Yavapai County, AZ · avg 1970 · 543 bridges
Garfield County, OK · avg 1970 · 504 bridges
San Luis Obispo County, CA · avg 1970 · 401 bridges

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

All 45 Good 31 Fair 13 Poor 1

All bridges (45)

Sort:

SHOAL CREEK ROAD

Fair

Over: ETOWAH RIVER

4.5 MI S OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1950 Load: 12.7 t ADT: 40

STEELBRIDGE ROAD

Fair

Over: AMICALOLA CREEK

6 MI NW OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1980 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 103

SR 53

Fair

Over: AMICALOLA CREEK

5.4 MI W OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1930 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 3,130

SR 136

Fair

Over: TOTO CREEK

7.6 MI SE OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1956 Load: 19.9 t ADT: 5,980

SR 53

Fair

Over: SHOAL CREEK TRIB

2.1 MI W OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1930 Load: 24.4 t ADT: 6,520

SR 9

Fair

Over: ETOWAH RIV OVERFLOW

4.3 MI S OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1955 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 5,370

SR 53

Fair

Over: ETOWAH RIVER

4.3 MI SE OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1980 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 16,400

GOSHEN CHURCH RD

Fair

Over: AMICALOLA CREEK

9 MI NW OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1991 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 10

SR 53

Fair

Over: SHOAL CREEK

1.6 MI W OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1970 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 6,520

STEVE TATE ROAD

Fair

Over: AMICALOLA CREEK

10 MI NW OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1955 Load: 73.4 t ADT: 610

DAWSONVILLE HWY.

Fair

Over: THOMPSON CREEK

7.4 MI SE OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1935 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 16,100

SR 136

Fair

Over: AMICALOLA CREEK

12 MI NW OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Built 1952 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 740

COWART ROAD

Fair

Over: YELLOW CREEK

9 MI W OF DAWSONVILLE, Dawson, GA

Dawson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Dawson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 480 vehicle crossings a day

57.8% of Dawson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 100% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Dawson 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 (45)

SHOAL CREEK ROAD

STEELBRIDGE ROAD

SR 53

SR 136

SR 53

SR 9

SR 53

GOSHEN CHURCH RD

SR 53

STEVE TATE ROAD

DAWSONVILLE HWY.

SR 136

COWART ROAD

SHOAL CREEK ROAD

SR 52

SR 53

SR 53

SR 53

SR 136

SR 9

THOMPSON ROAD

KELLY BRIDGE ROAD

SR 136

BLACKS MILL ROAD

AFTON ROAD

HUGH STOWERS RD

SR 52

SR 136

HOWSERS MILL ROAD

NEW HOPE ROAD

KELLY BRIDGE ROAD

BURT CREEK ROAD

SR 136

AFTON ROAD

HOLCOMB ROAD

SR 9

SR 136

CLEVE WRIGHT ROAD

SR 183

SR 136

ETOWAH RIVER ROAD

SR 52

SR 136

DAWSON FORREST RD

ETOWAH RIVER ROAD

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