Total bridges
118
Public highway bridges in Rabun County
County profile · official public datasets
Rabun County, GA
118 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 57.6% rated Good, 40.7% Fair, 1.7% Poor.
- 118
- Public bridges
- 57.6%
- Good condition
- 1.7%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Rabun County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- 107th
- of 159 on Poor share
- 1.7%
- Poor-condition share
- 118
- public highway bridges
- 1973
- 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.
Rabun County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Rabun County ranks #107 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.7%). Rabun County, Georgia contains 118 public highway bridges. Roughly 57.6% are rated “Good,” 40.7% “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.
Good condition
57.6%
68 of 118 rated 7-9
Fair condition
40.7%
48 of 118 rated 5-6
Poor condition
1.7%
2 of 118 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#107 of 159
Among Georgia counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 118 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 57.6% (68)
Fair 40.7% (48)
Poor 1.7% (2)
Rabun County's Poor-condition bridges carry 9,370 vehicle crossings a day
That is 4.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,685 crossings a day against 2,812 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 118 of 118 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
47.5% of Rabun County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
56 of the 118 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 57.6% 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 99.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
SR 15 US 23 US over BETTY CREEK, built 1926, carries 9,330 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 9,370 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Rabun County's bridges were built
118 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 4
1920–1929
4 bridges
- 1930s
1930–1939
10 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
10 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
12 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
16 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
13 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
24 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
14 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
10 bridges
- 2010s 4
2010–2019
4 bridges
- 2020s 1
2020–2029
1 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 24 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Georgia average (1977).
How Rabun County compares with Georgia's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Georgia counties nearest Rabun 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 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 158 Georgia counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson County | 123 | 66.7% | 31.7% | 1.6% | 1984 |
| Emanuel County | 121 | 81% | 17.4% | 1.7% | 1972 |
| Rabun County (this page) | 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 |
| Walton County | 115 | 72.2% | 26.1% | 1.7% | 1981 |
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 Rabun 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 Rabun County, both outside Georgia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside GA (118 bridges here).
- Autauga County, AL · 118 bridges
- Perry County, AR · 118 bridges
- Montrose County, CO · 118 bridges
- Johnson County, IL · 118 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1973 here).
- Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
- Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
- Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
- Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (118)
OLD LIVERY STREET
GoodOver: STEKOA CREEK.
IN CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 2012 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 390
BURTON DAM ROAD
GoodOver: TALLULAH RIVER
7 MI SW OF TIGER, Rabun, GA
Built 1958 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 1,070
BLACKS CREEK RD
GoodOver: BLACKS CREEK
1.2 MI E OF MOUNTAIN CTY, Rabun, GA
Built 1996 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 366
SR15 US23 US441NBL
GoodOver: TALLULAH RIVER
8.5 MI S OF CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 2007 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 11,300
LOW GAP ROAD
GoodOver: TALLULAH RIVER
6.6MI SW OF TIGER, Rabun, GA
Built 2007 Load: 34.4 t ADT: 903
SR 2 SR 15 US 23
GoodOver: SADDLE GAP BRANCH
INSIDE CLAYTON GA, Rabun, GA
Built 1949 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 22,300
SR 2 US 76
GoodOver: CHECHERO CREEK
3 MI SE OF CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 1949 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 2,830
SR 2 US 76
GoodOver: SHE CREEK
4.2 MI SE OF CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 1949 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 2,830
SR 15 US 23 US 4
GoodOver: STEKOA CREEK
INSIDE CLAYTON CITY LIMIT, Rabun, GA
Built 1962 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 20,400
SR15 US23 US441NB
GoodOver: TALLULAH RIVER
8.1 MI S OF CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 2006 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 11,300
SR 197
GoodOver: MOCCASIN CREEK
11 MI W OF CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 1957 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 610
SR 197
GoodOver: DICKS CREEK
10.5 MI W OF CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 1957 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 610
TALLULAH RIVER RD
GoodOver: TALLULAH RIVER
COLEMAN RIVER SCENIC AREA, Rabun, GA
Built 2013 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 106
CAT GAP ROAD
GoodOver: TALLULAH RIVER
7.1 MI NW OF TIGER, Rabun, GA
Built 2022 Load: 50.8 t ADT: 25
BO JAMES ST.
GoodOver: STEKOA CREEK
IN SOUTH CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 2000 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 3,050
SR 15 US 23 US 4
GoodOver: BOEN CREEK
4.5 MI SW OF CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 1962 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 16,400
W.76 LOOP ROAD
PoorOver: TIMPSON CREEK
4.6 MI W OF CLAYTON, Rabun, GA
Built 1928 Load: 10.8 t ADT: 40
SR 15 US 23 US
PoorOver: BETTY CREEK
INSIDE DILLARD CITY LIMIT, Rabun, GA
Built 1926 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 9,330
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.