County profile · official public datasets

Decatur County, GA

74 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 78.4% rated Good, 20.3% Fair, 1.4% Poor.

74
Public bridges: 78.4%
Good condition: 1.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

92nd
of 159 on Poor share: 1.4%
Poor-condition share: 74
public highway bridges: 1975
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.

Decatur County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Decatur County ranks #92 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.4%). Decatur County, Georgia contains 74 public highway bridges. Roughly 78.4% are rated “Good,” 20.3% “Fair,” and 1.4% “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 Decatur County

Good condition

78.4%

58 of 74 rated 7-9

Fair condition

20.3%

15 of 74 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.4%

1 of 74 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#92 of 159

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

Condition distribution

Share of 74 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

78.4% (58)

Fair

20.3% (15)

Poor

1.4% (1)

Decatur County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 20 crossings a day against 1,837 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 74 of 74 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

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

37 of the 74 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 78.4% 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

KEMP ROAD over DOUBLE BRANCH, built 1993, carries 20 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 20 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

2
1940s

2
1950s

20
1960s

12
1970s

6
1980s

11
1990s

14
2000s

4
2010s

1
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 20 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Georgia average (1977).

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

The 5 Georgia counties nearest Decatur County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.4% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 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 Decatur County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Toombs County	75	73.3%	26.7%	0%	1981
Clinch County	74	63.5%	33.8%	2.7%	1973
Hart County	74	67.6%	29.7%	2.7%	1977
Decatur County (this page)	74	78.4%	20.3%	1.4%	1975
Dade County	73	53.4%	45.2%	1.4%	1967
Dooly County	73	78.1%	21.9%	0%	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 Decatur 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 Decatur County, both outside Georgia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (74 bridges here).

Carlisle County, KY · 74 bridges
Montgomery County, KY · 74 bridges
Wright County, MN · 74 bridges
Cape May County, NJ · 74 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1975 here).

San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges
Monroe County, NY · avg 1975 · 615 bridges

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

All 74 Good 58 Fair 15 Poor 1

All bridges (74)

Sort:

US 84 (EBL)-SR38

Fair

Over: SR1 TALLAHASSEE RD US27

BAINBRIDGE - SOUTHEAST SE, Decatur, GA

Built 1962 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 6,260

US27 (NBL)-SR38-US

Fair

Over: SR 38 BUS (US 84 BUS)

SOUTH BAINBRIDGE-SHOTWELL, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 19.9 t ADT: 10,680

US27 (SBL)-SR38-US

Fair

Over: SR 38 BUS (US 84 BUS)

SOUTH BAINBRIDGE-SHOTWELL, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 19.9 t ADT: 12,300

US27 (NBL)-SR38-US

Fair

Over: FLINT RIVER- CSX RR

BAINBRIDGE - SW SECTION, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 20.8 t ADT: 10,680

US27 (SBL)-SR38-US

Fair

Over: FLINT RIVER- CSX RR

BAINBRIDGE - SW SECTION, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 20.8 t ADT: 12,300

US 27 (NBL)-SR1

Fair

Over: CSX RAILROAD

BAINBRIDGE - NORTHWEST SE, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 20.8 t ADT: 8,510

US 27 (SBL)-SR1

Fair

Over: CSX RAILROAD

BAINBRIDGE - NORTHWEST SE, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 20.8 t ADT: 6,550

SR 97

Fair

Over: FOUR MILE CREEK

4.5 MI SW OF BAINBRIDGE, Decatur, GA

Built 1946 Load: 20.8 t ADT: 2,180

US 27 (SBL)/SR 1

Fair

Over: SWAMP CREEK

5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ATTA, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 5,640

US 27 (NBL)-SR1

Fair

Over: SR 1B DOTHAN RD (US 27B)

BAINBRIDGE - NORTHWEST SE, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 11,090

US 27 (SBL)-SR1

Fair

Over: SR 1B DOTHAN RD (US 27B)

BAINBRIDGE - NW SECTION, Decatur, GA

Built 1959 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 8,510

CR 495

Fair

Over: CSX RAILROAD

APP 1 MI E OF CLIMAX, Decatur, GA

Built 1979 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 160

US27 (NBL)-SR38-US

Fair

Over: CSX RAILROAD

BAINBRIDGE - SOUTHWEST SE, Decatur, GA

Built 1962 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 15,800

US27 (SBL)-SR38-US

Fair

Over: CSX RAILROAD

BAINBRIDGE - SOUTHWEST- S, Decatur, GA

Built 1962 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 12,460

SHOTWELL ST-US 84B

Fair

Over: CSX RAILROAD

BAINBRIDGE - SOUTHWEST SE, Decatur, GA

Decatur County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Decatur County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20 vehicle crossings a day

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

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

How Decatur 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 (74)

US 84 (EBL)-SR38

US27 (NBL)-SR38-US

US27 (SBL)-SR38-US

US27 (NBL)-SR38-US

US27 (SBL)-SR38-US

US 27 (NBL)-SR1

US 27 (SBL)-SR1

SR 97

US 27 (SBL)/SR 1

US 27 (NBL)-SR1

US 27 (SBL)-SR1

CR 495

US27 (NBL)-SR38-US

US27 (SBL)-SR38-US

SHOTWELL ST-US 84B

LANE BRIDGE ROAD

JESSIE BROCK RD

SR 311

US 84 (WBL)-SR38

SR 97

WAUTAUGA ROAD

US 27 (NBL)-SR1

SR 262

WEST STREET

LAKE DOUGLAS RD

DRANE SMITH ROAD

SR 241

SR 262

OLD WHIGHAM RD

SALEM CHURCH RD

CEDAR GROVE RD

TWIN LAKE DRIVE

COLLEGE ROAD

US 27 CALHOUN ST

SR 97

SR 253

HUTCHINSON ROAD

US 84 (EBL)/ SR38

FACEVILLE ROAD

FACEVILLE ROAD

ATTAPULGUS ROAD

LAKE DOUGLAS RD

EDWARDS ROAD

US 27 (SBL)/ SR1

SMITHTOWN ROAD

MILLS ROAD

US 84 / SR38

US 84-SR38

US 84 (WBL)-SR38

SR 309

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