County profile · official public datasets

Oglethorpe County, GA

50 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 70% rated Good, 28% Fair, 2% Poor.

50
Public bridges: 70%
Good condition: 2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

115th
of 159 on Poor share: 2%
Poor-condition share: 50
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Oglethorpe County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Oglethorpe County ranks #115 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2%). Oglethorpe County, Georgia contains 50 public highway bridges. Roughly 70% are rated “Good,” 28% “Fair,” and 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 Oglethorpe County

Good condition

70%

35 of 50 rated 7-9

Fair condition

28%

14 of 50 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1 of 50 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#115 of 159

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

Condition distribution

Share of 50 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

70% (35)

Fair

28% (14)

Poor

2% (1)

Oglethorpe County's Poor-condition bridges carry 10 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 10 crossings a day against 1,227 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 50 of 50 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

44% of Oglethorpe County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

22 of the 50 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 70% 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

SAXTON-MATTOX RD over LONG CREEK, built 1950, carries 10 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 10 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1920s

1
1950s

8
1960s

9
1970s

6
1980s

5
1990s

12
2000s

7
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 12 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Georgia average (1977).

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

The 5 Georgia counties nearest Oglethorpe County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Oglethorpe County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
McDuffie County	52	86.5%	11.5%	1.9%	1987
Terrell County	52	67.3%	21.2%	11.5%	1970
Randolph County	50	92%	8%	0%	1980
Oglethorpe County (this page)	50	70%	28%	2%	1977
Crawford County	49	95.9%	4.1%	0%	1973
Johnson County	49	79.6%	20.4%	0%	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 Oglethorpe 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 Oglethorpe County, both outside Georgia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (50 bridges here).

Putnam County, IL · 50 bridges
Simpson County, KY · 50 bridges
Pointe Coupee County, LA · 50 bridges
St. Mary's County, MD · 50 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges

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

All 50 Good 35 Fair 14 Poor 1

All bridges (50)

Sort:

WATSON MILL ROAD

Fair

Over: SOUTH FORK BROAD RIVER

10.9 MI NE OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1885 Load: 5.4 t ADT: 514

DUCK POND ROAD

Fair

Over: DRY FORK CREEK

12.2 MI E OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1950 Load: 14.5 t ADT: 121

SR 77

Fair

Over: BROAD RIVER

16 MI NE OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1975 Load: 17.2 t ADT: 1,020

SMITHSONIA ROAD

Fair

Over: BEAVERDAM CREEK

7.5 MI NE OF ARNOLDSVILLE, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1960 Load: 17.2 t ADT: 1,240

CENTERVILLE ROAD

Fair

Over: INDIAN CREEK

7 MI E OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1972 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 430

LEM EDWARDS ROAD

Fair

Over: SULFUR SPRING BRANCH

6.9 MI NW OF ARNOLDSVILLE, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1960 Load: 24.4 t ADT: 300

CTRVILLE-SMITHSONI

Fair

Over: BIG CLOUDS CREEK

8 MI N OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1985 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 1,240

US 78 SR 10

Fair

Over: BUFFALO CREEK

6 MI SE OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1964 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 2,290

LEVINGTON-GARLSTON

Fair

Over: SOUTH FORK BROAD RIVER

12.5 MI NE OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1955 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 1,200

HUTCHINS-WOLFSKIN

Fair

Over: BARROW CREEK

5.3 MI SW OF CRAWFORD, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1993 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,200

VESTA-PALMETTO RD

Fair

Over: MACKS CREEK

11.5 MI E OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1988 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 121

YOUNG ROAD

Fair

Over: BUFFALO CREEK

2.9 MI SE OF LEXINGTON, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1992 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 121

DOUBLE BRIDGES RD

Fair

Over: MOSS CREEK

5 MI SW OF ARNOLDSVILLE, Oglethorpe, GA

Built 1990 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 140

McWHORTER ROAD

Fair

Over: NORTH FORK LITTLE RIVER

1.2 MI E OF MAXEYS, Oglethorpe, GA

Oglethorpe County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Oglethorpe County's Poor-condition bridges carry 10 vehicle crossings a day

44% of Oglethorpe County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

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

How Oglethorpe 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 (50)

WATSON MILL ROAD

DUCK POND ROAD

SR 77

SMITHSONIA ROAD

CENTERVILLE ROAD

LEM EDWARDS ROAD

CTRVILLE-SMITHSONI

US 78 SR 10

LEVINGTON-GARLSTON

HUTCHINS-WOLFSKIN

VESTA-PALMETTO RD

YOUNG ROAD

DOUBLE BRIDGES RD

McWHORTER ROAD

CRAWFORD-SMITHONI

WOLFSKIN ROAD

CENTERVILLE ROAD

SR 22

CENTERVILLE ROAD

WILSON ROAD

US 78 SR 10

SMITHSONIA ROAD

CRAWFORD-SMITHSONI

HARGROVE LAKE RD

HARGROVE LAKE RD

SR 22

SR 22

US 78 SR 10

GENE SMITH ROAD

SR 22

SANDY CROSS ROAD

MELTON ROAD

ARNOLD CALDWELL RD

PHILOMATH-WOODVILL

PENNY HARRIS ROAD

VESTA-PALMETTO RD

OLD STEPHENS ROAD

SAXTON-MATTOX RD

US 78 SR 10

SR 22

SR 22

SR 77

SR 22

SR 77

BULL BRAY ROAD

SR 77

HARGROVE LAKE RD

PENNFIELD WIREBR R

McWHORTER ROAD

SAXTON-MATTOX RD

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