County profile · official public datasets

Elbert County, GA

84 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 69% rated Good, 26.2% Fair, 4.8% Poor.

84
Public bridges
69%
Good condition
4.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Elbert 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.

147th
of 159 on Poor share
4.8%
Poor-condition share
84
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.

Elbert County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Elbert County ranks #147 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.8%). Elbert County, Georgia contains 84 public highway bridges. Roughly 69% are rated “Good,” 26.2% “Fair,” and 4.8% “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

84

Public highway bridges in Elbert County

Good condition

69%

58 of 84 rated 7-9

Fair condition

26.2%

22 of 84 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.8%

4 of 84 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#147 of 159

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

Condition distribution

Share of 84 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
69% (58)
Fair
26.2% (22)
Poor
4.8% (4)

Elbert County's Poor-condition bridges carry 675 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 169 crossings a day against 1,417 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 84 of 84 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

51.2% of Elbert County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

43 of the 84 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 69% 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 54.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SWEET CITY ROAD over DOVE CREEK, built 1915, carries 366 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 4-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 675 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Elbert County's bridges were built

84 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 17 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1971, 6 years older than the Georgia average of 1977.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Georgia counties nearest Elbert County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.8% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 9 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Elbert County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Early County 85 0%
Union County 85 4.7%
Glynn County 84 1.2%
Paulding County 84 0%
Elbert County (this page) 84 4.8%
Wayne County 83 1.2%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (84 bridges here).

Similar average build year

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

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

All 84 Good 58 Fair 22 Poor 4

All bridges (84)

SR 72

Good

Over: SAVANNAH RIVER

7.5 MI E OF MIDDLETON, Elbert, GA

Built 1981 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 2,000

SR 368

Good

Over: COLDWATER CREEK

3.5 MI N OF RUCKERSVILLE, Elbert, GA

Built 1982 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,060

SR 72 (WBL)

Good

Over: DOVE CREEK - CSX RR.

6 MI SW OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1995 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 20,300

DR. GEORGE WARD RO

Good

Over: WAHACHEE CREEK

5.3 MI S OF MIDDLETON, Elbert, GA

Built 1978 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 130

BAKERS FERRY RD

Good

Over: WAHACHEE CREEK TRIB.

4.5 MI S OF MIDDLETON, Elbert, GA

Built 1974 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 80

SAND HILL ROAD

Good

Over: DEEP CREEK

5.5 MI S OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1984 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 30

LAWRENCE-CECCHINI

Good

Over: BEAVERDAM CREEK TRIB

2 MI N OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1990 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 366

Needlewood road

Good

Over: FALLING CREEK

IN SW ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1980 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,358

STANLEY MAXWELL RD

Good

Over: FORK CREEK

2.5 MI SE OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1994 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 110

MIDDLETON CK CH RD

Good

Over: BEAVERDAM CREEK TRIB

IN SW MIDDLETON, Elbert, GA

Built 1985 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 130

OLD MIDDLETON RD

Good

Over: BEAVERDAM CREEK TRIB

IN MIDDLETON, Elbert, GA

Built 1993 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 366

CWATER-PLANTATION

Good

Over: GUM LOG BRANCH

8 MI N OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1996 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 103

EIDSON ROAD

Good

Over: WAHACHEE CREEK

3.3MI S OF MIDDLETON, Elbert, GA

Built 1999 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 100

DUNN ROAD

Good

Over: FORK CREEK

3.6 MI S OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 2002 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 20

SR17

Good

Over: ABANDONED RAILROAD

1.6 MI NE OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 2008 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 6,790

CARPENTER ROAD

Good

Over: COLDWATER CREEK

4.5 MI NW OF RUCKERSVILLE, Elbert, GA

Built 2018 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 230

SR 72

Good

Over: LITTLE DOVE CREEK

6.8 MI SW OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1975 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 5,840

SR 77

Good

Over: FALLING CREEK TRIB

2 MI S OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1936 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 1,790

PEACHTREE ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLET COLD WATER CREEK

6 MI NW OF RUCKERSVILLE, Elbert, GA

Built 2008 Load: 37.1 t ADT: 40

CR 183 CWATER-PLA

Good

Over: COLDWATER CREEK

8.3 MI N OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 2013 Load: 37.1 t ADT: 103

SR 77

Good

Over: BEAVERDAM CREEK

2.5 MI N OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1990 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 6,810

RIVER ROAD

Good

Over: FALLING CREEK

8.5 MI S OF MIDDLETON, Elbert, GA

Built 1990 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 120

FORK CREEK ROAD

Good

Over: DEEP CREEK

4.5 MI S OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 2020 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 63

DryFork Landing Dr

Good

Over: SAVANNAH RIVER TRIB

4 MI NE OF MIDDLETON, Elbert, GA

Built 1982 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 103

SR 77

Good

Over: GUM LOG BRANCH

7.5 MI N OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1941 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 4,990

SR 368

Good

Over: PICKENS CREEK

6 MI N OF RUCKERSVILLE, Elbert, GA

Built 2016 Load: 51.7 t ADT: 640

DEMPSEY BROWN RD

Good

Over: NORTH BEAVERDAM CREEK

4 MI E OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1986 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 103

SR 172

Good

Over: BUTLER CREEK

2.5 MI SW OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1990 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 2,690

SR 172

Good

Over: MILL SHOAL CREEK

3.5 MI SW OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1992 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 2,690

DEEP CREEK ROAD

Good

Over: FORK CREEK

3.5 MI S OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1975 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 550

SWEET CITY ROAD

Poor

Over: DOVE CREEK

6.5 MI W OF ELBERTON, Elbert, GA

Built 1915 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 366

BROWNS BRIDGE ROAD

Poor

Over: MILL SHOAL CREEK

3.3 MI SW OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1993 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 103

Turman road.

Poor

Over: FORK CREEK

4.8 MI S OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1956 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 103

CALHOUN ROAD

Poor

Over: LITTLE BEAVERDAM CREEK

6 MI E OF BOWMAN, Elbert, GA

Built 1951 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 103

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.