Total bridges
46
Public highway bridges in Towns County
County profile · official public datasets
Towns County, GA
46 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 65.2% rated Good, 30.4% Fair, 4.3% Poor.
- 46
- Public bridges
- 65.2%
- Good condition
- 4.3%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Towns County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.
- 144th
- of 159 on Poor share
- 4.3%
- Poor-condition share
- 46
- 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.
Towns County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Towns County ranks #144 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.3%). Towns County, Georgia contains 46 public highway bridges. Roughly 65.2% are rated “Good,” 30.4% “Fair,” and 4.3% “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
65.2%
30 of 46 rated 7-9
Fair condition
30.4%
14 of 46 rated 5-6
Poor condition
4.3%
2 of 46 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#144 of 159
Among Georgia counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 46 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 65.2% (30)
Fair 30.4% (14)
Poor 4.3% (2)
Towns County's Poor-condition bridges carry 330 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 165 crossings a day against 2,044 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 46 of 46 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
52.2% of Towns County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
24 of the 46 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 65.2% 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 81.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
HIGH RIVER ROAD over HIAWASSEE RIVER, built 1958, carries 270 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 330 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Towns County's bridges were built
46 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s
1930–1939
4 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
9 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
4 bridges
- 1960s 3
1960–1969
3 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
6 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
7 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
5 bridges
- 2000s 3
2000–2009
3 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
4 bridges
- 2020s 1
2020–2029
1 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1940s, when 9 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 75 to 84 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Georgia average (1977).
How Towns County compares with Georgia's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Georgia counties nearest Towns County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.3% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 158 Georgia counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Hill County | 47 | 85.1% | 10.6% | 4.3% | 1973 |
| Long County | 47 | 72.3% | 27.7% | 0% | 1969 |
| Butts County | 46 | 54.3% | 39.1% | 6.5% | 1978 |
| Marion County | 46 | 84.8% | 13% | 2.2% | 1969 |
| Towns County (this page) | 46 | 65.2% | 30.4% | 4.3% | 1973 |
| Dawson County | 45 | 68.9% | 28.9% | 2.2% | 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 Towns 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 Towns County, both outside Georgia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside GA (46 bridges here).
- Russell County, KY · 46 bridges
- Somerset County, MD · 46 bridges
- Hill County, MT · 46 bridges
- Prairie County, MT · 46 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.
Fair-condition bridges (14)
MISTY CREEK LANE
FairOver: BRASSTOWN CREEK
5 MI N OF YOUNG HARRIS, Towns, GA
Built 1997 Load: 12.7 t ADT: 32
MOODY HOLLOW RD
FairOver: HIGH SHOALS CREEK
8.8 MI SE OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1951 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 140
US 76- SR 515
FairOver: BRASSTOWN CREEK TRIB
1 MI S OF YOUNG HARRIS, Towns, GA
Built 1933 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 11,600
CROOKED CREEK RD
FairOver: CROOKED CREEK
5 MI N OF YOUNG HARRIS, Towns, GA
Built 1970 Load: 24.4 t ADT: 1,230
PLOTT TOWN ROAD
FairOver: BRASSTOWN CREEK
2.2 MI S OF YOUNG HARRIS, Towns, GA
Built 1969 Load: 24.4 t ADT: 366
FODDER CREEK ROAD
FairOver: FODDER CREEK
2.5 MI SE OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1952 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 1,950
SR 17- SR 75
FairOver: SOAPSTONE CREEK
8.4 MI S OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1948 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 2,290
SR 17- SR 75
FairOver: STABLE BRANCH
7 MI S OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1939 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 2,420
SWALLOW CREEK RD
FairOver: HIGHTOWER CREEK
4.2 MI SE OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1973 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 366
US 76 SR 2
FairOver: HIAWASSEE RIVER
2 MI SE OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1940 Load: 35.3 t ADT: 12,400
UPPER HIGHTOWER RD
FairOver: HIGHTOWER CREEK
7 MI E OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1953 Load: 37.1 t ADT: 366
US 76/ SR 2
FairOver: HIAWASSEE RIVER
1.2 MI N OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1940 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 14,800
SR 17- SR 75
FairOver: WIKE CREEK
6.2 MI S OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1939 Load: 79.8 t ADT: 3,860
SHALLOW CREEK RD
FairOver: SWALLOW CREEK
5.5 MI SE OF HIAWASSEE, Towns, GA
Built 1973 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 366
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.