County profile · official public datasets

DeKalb County, GA

392 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 73.7% rated Good, 24.7% Fair, 1.5% Poor.

Compiled by PlainBridges

392
Public bridges: 73.7%
Good condition: 1.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

DeKalb 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.

99th
of 159 on Poor share: 1.5%
Poor-condition share: 392
public highway bridges: 1971
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.

DeKalb County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, DeKalb County ranks #99 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.5%). DeKalb County, Georgia contains 392 public highway bridges. Roughly 73.7% are rated “Good,” 24.7% “Fair,” and 1.5% “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

392

Public highway bridges in DeKalb County

Good condition

73.7%

289 of 392 rated 7-9

Fair condition

24.7%

97 of 392 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.5%

6 of 392 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#99 of 159

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

Condition distribution

Share of 392 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

73.7% (289)

Fair

24.7% (97)

Poor

1.5% (6)

DeKalb County's Poor-condition bridges carry 53,504 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 8,917 crossings a day against 36,168 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 392 of 392 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

63.3% of DeKalb County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

248 of the 392 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 73.7% 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 52.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SNAPFINGER ROAD over SNAPFINGER CREEK, built 1954, carries 27,900 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 53,504 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1920s

4
1930s

14
1940s

7
1950s

56
1960s

151
1970s

36
1980s

63
1990s

29
2000s

20
2010s

4
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 151 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 38.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1971, 6 years older than the Georgia average of 1977.

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

The 5 Georgia counties nearest DeKalb County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is 11 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for DeKalb County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Cobb County	414	89.1%	10.9%	0%	1987
DeKalb County (this page)	392	73.7%	24.7%	1.5%	1971
Gwinnett County	317	89.3%	10.7%	0%	1989
Chatham County	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

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (392 bridges here).

Ulster County, NY · 392 bridges
Minnehaha County, SD · 393 bridges
Arapahoe County, CO · 391 bridges
Lee County, FL · 391 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1971 here).

Wayne County, MI · avg 1971 · 1,026 bridges
Baltimore County, MD · avg 1971 · 783 bridges
Washington County, PA · avg 1971 · 655 bridges
Linn County, OR · avg 1971 · 566 bridges

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

All 392 Good 289 Fair 97 Poor 6

All bridges (392)

Sort:

DeKalb County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

DeKalb County's Poor-condition bridges carry 53,504 vehicle crossings a day

63.3% of DeKalb County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 52.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How DeKalb 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 (392)

PANOLA ROAD

RIVER ROAD

NORTHLAKE PARKWAY

STONE MTN. ROAD

WALDROP ROAD

E/B CENTURY BLVD

RAINBOW DRIVE

ROCK SPRINGS ROAD

HILLVALE ROAD

JOHNSON FERRY

I-285

BOULDERCREST RD

US-17 (SR-5)

PONCE DE LEON

FLAT SHOALS ROAD

I-20

CLIFTON ROAD

COLUMBIA DRIVE

JOHNSON ROAD

I-85 NBL OFF RAMP

WILLIVEE DRIVE

MARTINS CROSSING

CRESENT CENTER BLD

WOODWAY DRIVE

HENDERSON ROAD

RMP US 23 TO M9265

OLD BRIARCLIFF RD.

I-95 NB (SR-9)

GARDEN LANE

I-285

FAIRINGTON ROAD

US-1 NB (SR-15)

US-1 SB (SR-15)

CHAMBLEE-TUCKER RD

I-285

ROTHERWOOD DRIVE

MEMORIAL DRIVE

I-20

I-20

I-285

I-285

I-285

BRANNEN ROAD

MCAFEE ROAD

GLENWOOD AVE.

MAYNARD TERR.

DESMOND DRIVE

LULLWATER PKWY

COVINGTON HIGHWAY

N. DEKALB MALL ACC

Related