County profile · official public datasets

Emanuel County, GA

121 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 81% rated Good, 17.4% Fair, 1.7% Poor.

121
Public bridges: 81%
Good condition: 1.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Emanuel 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.

106th
of 159 on Poor share: 1.7%
Poor-condition share: 121
public highway bridges: 1972
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.

Emanuel County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Emanuel County ranks #106 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.7%). Emanuel County, Georgia contains 121 public highway bridges. Roughly 81% are rated “Good,” 17.4% “Fair,” and 1.7% “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

121

Public highway bridges in Emanuel County

Good condition

81%

98 of 121 rated 7-9

Fair condition

17.4%

21 of 121 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.7%

2 of 121 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#106 of 159

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

Condition distribution

Share of 121 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

81% (98)

Fair

17.4% (21)

Poor

1.7% (2)

Emanuel County's Poor-condition bridges carry 242 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 121 crossings a day against 3,677 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 121 of 121 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

46.3% of Emanuel County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

56 of the 121 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 81% 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 50% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

HALLS BRIDGE ROAD over LITTLE OHOOPEE RIVER, built 1920, carries 121 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 242 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

7
1930s

10
1940s

8
1950s

10
1960s

12
1970s

27
1980s

17
1990s

11
2000s

11
2010s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 27 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1972, 5 years older than the Georgia average of 1977.

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

The 5 Georgia counties nearest Emanuel County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.7% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Emanuel County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Worth County	125	88%	12%	0%	1973
Jackson County	123	66.7%	31.7%	1.6%	1984
Emanuel County (this page)	121	81%	17.4%	1.7%	1972
Rabun County	118	57.6%	40.7%	1.7%	1973
Franklin County	117	70.1%	27.4%	2.6%	1976
Polk County	117	74.4%	23.9%	1.7%	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 Emanuel 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 Emanuel County, both outside Georgia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (121 bridges here).

Sutter County, CA · 121 bridges
Gadsden County, FL · 121 bridges
Union County, LA · 121 bridges
Montcalm County, MI · 121 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1972 here).

Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
Madison County, AL · avg 1972 · 710 bridges
Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
York County, PA · avg 1972 · 569 bridges

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

All 121 Good 98 Fair 21 Poor 2

Good-condition bridges (98)

Sort:

Emanuel County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Emanuel County's Poor-condition bridges carry 242 vehicle crossings a day

46.3% of Emanuel County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 50% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Emanuel 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

Good-condition bridges (98)

FRIENDSHIP CH ROAD

SR 192

SR 192

LAMBS BRIDGE ROAD

US 80/ SR 26

OLD SAVANNAH ROAD

SR 46

KEAS MILL POND RD.

SR 23

I-16 EBL

I-16 WBL

CANOOCHEE ROAD

US 80 / SR 26

US 80 / SR 26

CS 101023 KITE ROA

US 221 /SR171

RAILROAD AVE.

SR 297

SR 297

I-16 EBL

MCGARPH MILL POND

OLD SAVANNAH ROAD

COW FORD BRIDGE RD

MONROE STREET

MODOC ROAD

GREEN SPENCE ROAD

EHRLICH FARM ROAD

CR 158

SAM OVERSTREET RD

SAM OVERSTREET RD

FRIENDSHIP CHURCH

I-16 WBL

SR 56

SR 56

I-16 EBL

SR 57

I-16 WBL

SR 56

SR 56

US 80 / SR 26

I-16 EBL

WAD-COLE LAKE RD

SR 56

US 80 / SR 26

SR 57

I-16

CANOOCHEE ROAD

CANOOCHEE ROAD

CANOOCHEE ROAD

NUNEZ LESXY ROAD

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